Oregon State women pull away late to avoid upset against Alaska Anchorage

That was close. At least for a while.

Oregon State women’s basketball avoided an upset loss to Division II Alaska Anchorage on Sunday at Gill Coliseum, going on a 15-3 run to end the game and beat the visiting Seawolves, 69-53.

The Beavers (6-4) started slow but took control in the second half, surviving a barrage of three-pointers (11 of 37) from Alaska Anchorage (7-2) to pull out a win.

OSU was led by Tiara Bolden with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists. Katelyn Field poured in 11 as well for the Beavers on 3 of 6 three-point shooting.

10 different players scored as OSU coach Scott Rueck relied on his bench to get the team out of a funk.

The Beavers got off to a sluggish start. Alaska Anchorage came out firing, and took a 10-8 lead at the midpoint in the first quarter on a three by Kimberly Carrada.

After one, with the Seawolves shooting 56%, the Beavers trailed 24-18.

In the second quarter, Rueck emptied his bench and put typical reserves in the game, seemingly to send a message after a lackluster effort by his starters.

Alaska Anchorage extended its lead to 34-27 at one point, but OSU rattled off a 7-0 run to end the half and tie things up. The Beavers had 10 turnovers at half, with the Seawolves hitting six of an eye-popping 20 three-point attempts.

Rueck kept reserves in the game to start the second half, but when he re-inserted his starters, the Beavers opened up a 44-36 lead thanks in large part to Bolden’s scoring.

Jenna Villa hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third, her first basket of the game after a cold start, which gave OSU a 52-42 lead through three.

Alaska Anchorage kept chucking from downtown as the fourth quarter began, and a pair of makes cut the OSU lead down to 54-48.

Despite going cold from the field, the Beavers tightened up their defense to keep it a six-point lead for an extended period. It got as close as four.

But Field nailed a three to get it to 59-50 with under four minutes remaining, and Bolden hit a pair of jumpers to extend the run to 10-0 and lead to 64-50 with 1:35 to go. The Beavers didn’t look back.

Next game: Oregon State (6-4) vs. Arizona State (10-0)

• When: Sunday, Dec. 14
• Time: 1:00 pm PT
• Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis
• Stream: ESPN+