No. 10 Oregon State rallies in 4Q to beat UCLA 83-73
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oregon State had plenty of bad memories at Pauley Pavilion, having lost three in a row by an average of 21.7 points.
Especially irksome was last year's 35-point loss to UCLA.
The 10th-ranked Beavers erased all that on Friday night, pulling away in the fourth quarter for an 83-73 victory.
"To put the memories of last year, which was not a fun experience, behind us was great," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said.
Destiny Slocum scored 22 points and Mikayla Pivec added 21 for the Beavers (13-2, 3-0 Pac-12), who won their fifth in a row. They never trailed in the third and fourth quarters, but UCLA made it close.
The Bruins (9-7, 2-2) got within three points once in the third and twice in the fourth.
The Beavers shot 73 percent in the fourth, making 8 of 11 shots.
"Our execution was really, really good," Slocum said. "There was a level defensively and offensively that we reached and see ourselves carrying throughout the season."
Leading 61-58, Oregon State ran off nine straight points to extend its lead to 70-58. Aleah Goodman hit an open layup and Taya Corosdale had a basket and three free throws before Pivec scored to close out the spurt.
Slocum shook off a slow start, going scoreless in the opening quarter when Pivec had nine of the Beavers' 13 points. Slocum had eight assists. Corosdale added 13 points and nine rebounds.
"Our defense was the key in this game and held them down," Rueck said. "We settled in and understood where our looks were going to come from."
Michaela Onyenwere led UCLA with 24 points. Lajahna Drummer had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Kennedy Burke had 18 points.
"We came out with good energy," Bruins coach Cori Close said. "We just weren't able to sustain when we weren't getting rewarded."
The Bruins closed within three on Burke's three-point play late in the third. Joanna Grymek scored the Beavers' last four points to extend their lead to 59-52 going into the fourth. Grymek, the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-8, had her team's last four points of the game. She finished with 12 points.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon St.: The Beavers survived their first true road game of the season and beat the Bruins away from home for the first time since 2015. They've won five in a row and eight of nine since losing to current No. 1 Notre Dame on Nov. 24. They're one of five Pac-12 teams ranked in the Top 25 and will be strongly tested the rest of the way in league play.
UCLA: The Bruins are 26-2 in Pac-12 play at home over the last four seasons. They'll need whatever advantage they can get when No. 5 Oregon arrives next.
COLD FROM LONG RANGE
UCLA chased the Beavers off the 3-point line. Oregon State was 4 of 9 from long-range after coming in as the nation's second-leading 3-point shooting team. The Beavers had made at least nine 3s in nine of their last 11 games.
NEXT PLAYER UP
The Beavers are down two players because of injuries to third-leading scorer Kat Tudor and Janessa Thropay. Tudor got hurt last week against Washington State. She was averaging 12.3 points and 4.0 rebounds. Thropay has missed three straight games.
"There were not enough minutes to go around and now it's like, 'Hey, can you keep going?" Rueck said.
UP NEXT
Oregon St.: At Southern California on Sunday.
UCLA: Hosts No. 5 Oregon on Sunday.
