CORVALLIS, Ore. — Arizona never gave up. The Wildcats dug deep for the final 10 minutes — outscoring Oregon State 25-18 — but it wasn’t enough to overcome a sizable gap as they dropped the final game of the regular season 78-70 on Saturday.
Arizona lost its final two games to fall to 21-8, 11-7 in the Pac-12. OSU ended a nine-game losing skid on Senior Day to finish 12-17, 4-14.
Arizona is the No. 4 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament and will play the winner of the game between No. 5 UCLA and No. 12 Arizona State game on Thursday at 1 p.m. (Tucson time) in Las Vegas. Oregon State holds the 11-seed and plays sixth-seeded USC on Wednesday.
“We had a lineup in there that fought and played with urgency, cut the lead and played good defense,” UA coach Adia Barnes said.
The comeback for the Wildcats started at the end of the third quarter with baskets from Maya Nnaji, Shaina Pellington and Paris Clark to close the gap to 15 points, 60-45. The Beavers had led by as many as 20.
UA scored seven straight points in the fourth on a jumper by Nnaji, a steal and basket from Pellington and a 3-pointer from Lauren Fields to get within eight points, 60-52, with 8:49 left. Raegan Beers converted a three-point play and added two more free throws to put the Beavers back up by 13.
Madi Conner drained three 3-pointers in a 14-3 run that got the Wildcats within 72-68 with 1:03 remaining. Beers then hit two free throws, OSU’s Jelena Mitrovic blocked a layup. Clark missed two free throws. After the second miss, former Wildcat Bendu Yeaney and Esmery Martinez were tied up on the rebound, with possession going to Oregon State. The Beavers made 4 of 6 from the line to close it out.
The Beavers didn’t hit a field goal in the last 4:13 of the game.
The Wildcats got into foul trouble in the first half. Barnes said that it was about “being undersized; we had to be heavy in help, and they did a great job of skipping the ball and hitting 3s.”
A crucial point in the game came in the second quarter when OSU outscored UA 25-11 to take a 44-28 lead into halftime. The Beavers went on a 14-1 run after Helena Pueyo bumped heads with Mitrovic. Pueyo left the game with around three minutes left in the half with a bump and cut on her forehead. She would not return. Barnes said Pueyo isn’t in concussion protocol right now. Pueyo had three assists and two steals at the time.
There was also a little jawing between Yeaney and Wildcats Martinez and Fields in the waning minutes. Yeaney finished with six points, eight assists, two steals and nine rebounds against her former teammates. Freshmen Beers had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Adlee Blacklock scored 22 for Oregon State.
Martinez led the Wildcats with 16 points and eight rebounds. Conner scored 11 points off the bench. Pellington had nine points, seven assists and four steals. Fields chipped in nine points.
UA was outrebounded 38-27 and shot 40% from the field. OSU shot 46%.
