ALBANY, N.Y. — All-American Raegan Beers’ layup with 29 seconds left was enough to allow No. 3 seed Oregon State to squeeze past No. 2 seed Notre Dame 70-65 in the Albany 1 region semifinal of the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday.
In a game that featured an astounding 26 turnovers for the Beavers compared to just five for the Irish, Oregon State shot 60.4 percent and outrebounded Notre Dame 42-24 to move into the Elite Eight for the first time since 2018.
For the Beavers (27-7), it was their first-ever win against the Irish (28-7). The two teams had never met in the NCAA Tournament.
Next up for Oregon State is a matchup against top-seeded South Carolina (35-0) on Sunday.
Timea Gardiner led the Beavers with 21 points plus 11 rebounds, followed by Beers, who scored 18 and had 13 rebounds. Donovyn Hunter added 11 points for Oregon State.
Gardiner pointed to the toughness of the Pac-12 as a prime help in the victory.
“Every night in the Pac-12 is a dogfight,” Gardiner said. “… Prepared us for pretty much anything that’s thrown our way.”
It was a game to forget for Notre Dame’s freshman All-American Hannah Hidalgo, the Irish’s leading scorer at 22.9 points per game. She was held to 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting and missed the first four minutes of the second period as trainers struggled to remove her nose ring — which she has played with all season — when ordered by officials to do so.
The Irish were led by Sonia Citron, who played all 40 minutes, scored 22 points and had a team-leading seven rebounds. Maddy Westbeld scored 19 and Anna DeWolfe contributed 12.
“Tough experience. Tough loss for us,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. “I love my team. This is an incredible team. … Just proud of who we are.
In a game of streaks that featured 11 lead changes and eight ties, Oregon State threatened to pull away in the third quarter, using a 12-0 run spanning halftime to build a 43-33 lead. The Irish, however, cobbled together a 17-7 run to tie the game at 50 before Gardiner drained a 3-pointer with four seconds left to give the Beavers a 53-50 lead after three periods.
With the score tied at 57 with 4:58 to go after Citron converted a three-point play, she recorded Notre Dame’s 12th steal of the game, but the Irish couldn’t capitalize.
Back-to-back 3s by Hunter and Lily Hansford put Oregon State up 63-59, and Beers’ layup sealed the win.
“It was a great representation of who we are,” said 14th-year Beavers coach Scott Rueck. “It wasn’t always perfect, but we found a way.
“They made the plays when it mattered.”
Oregon State took a 32-31 lead into the locker room after a half of missed opportunities, despite shooting a blistering 57.7 percent (15-of-26 shooting). Notre Dame’s tenacious defense forced the Beavers into 12 turnovers, including five on steals.
Beers scored 12 points and drew five fouls in the first half, with the Irish often double-teaming her in the paint. She pulled down seven of Oregon State’s 23 rebounds — Notre Dame had just nine.
“Credit to Beers. She’s a phenomenal player,” Citron said of Beers. “… We tried to throw a couple different things at her. She was sometimes able to beat what we threw at her.”
The loss snapped Notre Dame’s 10-game winning streak. The Irish hadn’t lost since Feb. 15.
–Jami Farkas, Field Level Media
