CORVALLIS — The largest women's basketball crowd at Gale Coliseum this season will have to pay a little extra for their tickets upon exiting the building after what they saw Friday night.
Talia von Olhoffen hit a career-high 3-pointer with no time remaining, giving No. 11 Oregon State a 79-77 win over No. 9 UCLA. It capped off a stunning finish as the two teams combined for 10 points over the final 6.6 seconds.
Oregon State (21-3, 10-3 Pac-12) has captured second place in the Pac-12, one game behind first-place Stanford. A crowd of 8,525 watched in awe and amazement, including 2,369 students, a school record for a women's basketball game.
The Beavers, who played most of the game without their leading scorer and rebounder in Raegan Beers, orchestrated a thrilling rally over the final 2:30 to win their sixth straight game.
Trailing 72-65, OSU ran off nine straight points to take a two-point lead with 15 seconds left on two free throws by Timea Gardiner. It turned out that both teams were just warming up.
First up was UCLA, where Angela Dugalic hit a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left. Then, after the teams called three timeouts, Von Olhoffen took an inbounds pass, drove off a high screen for a layup and a 77-76 OSU lead.
The Bruins (19-5, 8-5) weren't finished. Lauren Bates, who led UCLA with 24 points, calmly hit a 15-foot jumper in 1.1 seconds to put the Bruins back in front. That left Oregon State with one pass and one shot to win. Lily Hansford fed the ball to Von Olhoffen, who circled near the top of the key just behind the three-point line and knocked down the game-winning goal.
Von Olhoven hit four 3-pointers and led Oregon State with 22 points. Gardiner was behind von Olhoffen with 21 points.
The Oregon State Bears lost a minute into the second quarter. While defending under the UCLA basket, Beers took a hard elbow to the nose from UCLA's Kiki Rice and collapsed to the floor. There was no immediate news after the game about Bears' injury or condition.
UCLA led 34-32 after a wild first half that saw the Bears leave the game, two intentional fouls and one technical foul, and OSU trying to figure out how to cope without its leading scorer.
The Beavers scored the final eight points of the first quarter to take a 12-11 lead. Bears left the game 56 seconds into the second quarter, upsetting the Beavers. But OSU stayed in the game, trading several times with UCLA. The Bruins' Londen Jones scored a goal during the final minute to give UCLA the lead at halftime.
UCLA led by as many as seven points during the third quarter, only to have the Beavers roar back. Gardiner hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score at 58-58 heading into the fourth.
OSU traded baskets early in the fourth, but UCLA took control after Rice hit a three-pointer with 7:58 left to put the Bruins ahead 65-62. A few minutes later, UCLA was able to increase the lead to seven points, but it was not enough to hold off the surging Beavers.
Oregon State completes its homestand this weekend at noon on Sunday when the Beavers take on No. 10 USC at Gill Coliseum.
– Nick Daschel covers football, basketball and other topics related to Oregon State athletics. Contact him at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nikdashiel.
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