Reese, No. 8 Arizona women hold off Oregon State 73-61

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Cate Reese had 19 points and Koi Love came off the bench to score a season-high 16, helping No. 8 Arizona beat Oregon State 73-61 on Sunday.

It was the 15th consecutive home win for the Wildcats (17-3, 7-3 Pac-12). Despite leading for all but 76 seconds, they struggled to put away pesky Oregon State (11-7, 4-4) until the fourth quarter.

Love, a Vanderbilt transfer who came in averaging 4.4 points per game, was 7 of 10 from the field. She got a season-best 29 minutes after starting post player Lauren Ware picked up two fouls in the first four minutes.

Reese, Arizona’s leading scorer, had nine points in the fourth but was just 6 of 18 from the field overall.

Arizona led 36-34 at halftime and increased the margin to nine points midway through the third quarter by getting to the foul line. Point guard Shaina Pellington drew three shooting fouls in a 58-second span, making five of six free throws to put the Wildcats up 45-36.

Oregon State finished the third quarter on a 6-0 run to trail 49-47 but couldn’t get a stop in the final period. Arizona hit three 3-pointers in the first five minutes after making only three in the first three quarters, with Sam Thomas’ triple starting a 7-0 run to give the Wildcats a 66-55 advantage with 4:20 left.

Talia Van Oelhoffen led Oregon State with 17 points, but she also had three of the Beavers’ 16 turnovers that led to 19 Arizona points.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon State: Recently locked in coach Scott Rueck, signing the most successful coach in program history to a contract through the 2030-31 season. The 52-year-old Rueck, in his 12th season at OSU, is 251-121 with seven NCAA Tournament appearances.

Arizona: A couple of big crowds at McKale have moved the Wildcats closer to the top of the Pac-12 in attendance. The 7,505 on hand Sunday increased Arizona’s season average to 7,462, just behind Oregon’s conference-leading 7,609.

UP NEXT

Oregon State: The Beavers head home to host rival Oregon on Friday, before visiting the Ducks two days later.

Arizona: The Wildcats head up Interstate 10 on Friday to take on in-state rival Arizona State before hosting the Sun Devils two days later in Tucson.

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