Slocum scores 26 points, No. 7 Oregon State women beat Cal
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — One of the nation's best perimeter shooting teams found a way to win on a day when its 3-point shots weren't falling.
Destiny Slocum scored 26 points and No. 7 Oregon State overcame an 11-point deficit to beat California 82-74 on Sunday.
Aleah Goodman added 15 points, and Mikayla Pivec had 14 to help Oregon State (20-4, 10-2 Pac-12) win for the 12th time in 14 games.
Oregon State, which led the nation in 3-point shooting percentage before going 4 for 21 from beyond the arc in Friday's 61-44 loss to Stanford in, connected on five 3-pointers on 17 attempts (29.4 percent) on Sunday. The Beavers were 2 for 8 from beyond the arc in the first half and 1 for 7 to start the third quarter.
That they were able to grind out a comeback win without one of the team's most important weapons points to growth, Goodman said.
"Preseason especially, we would've — not crumbled — but kind of fell apart a little when shots aren't falling, so I think we definitely see our growth in these last Pac-12 games," Goodman said. "When our shots are not falling, we're able to create. We're able to get to the rim and score."
Kristine Anigwe led the Golden Bears (14-9, 5-7) with 31 points and 18 rebounds. She became the program's career leading rebounder, passing Gennifer Brandon. Asha Thomas added 15 points, and Jaelyn Brown had 11.
Oregon State trailed 35-24 midway through the second quarter. Goodman scored five points during a 7-0 run, helping send the Beavers into halftime trailing 37-35. Goodman completed a three-point play that capped a 10-run late in the third quarter that gave the Beavers a 56-48 lead.
"I was proud of our team for being resilient, shaking off a little bit of doubt that creeps in after each loss," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. "There's really no way around that, and they worked through that and then they played with so much grit and toughness. Destiny did her thing but we had great performances across the board."
Anigwe scored on a layup with just under two minutes left pull California to 76-74, but Joanna Grymek scored on Oregon State's next possession, starting a 6-0 run to close out the game.
"People aren't just 'up' by (11) to Oregon State," Anigwe said. "They're a Top 10 team for a reason. We were up by (11) but we lost it because we lacked urgency. I guess that's what this game really taught us. Staying urgent ... just keep going and don't be satisfied and don't give up."
The Golden Bears lost for the fourth time in six games, They were facing their fourth straight Top 10 opponent. They went 1-3 over that stretch, with an 81-80 victory over Stanford on Jan. 31.
"We're not happy that we got one out of four," California coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "We lost a really tough game today and that's not taking anything away from Oregon State. that's saying we know how good they are and yet we had a chance to win a game at home and that's what our goal was. We fell short of that."
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: The Beavers won their eighth straight game against California going back to 2014. The Golden Bears won the previous 15 meetings.
California: The Golden Bears are 5-9 since a 9-0 start that catapulted them to a No. 14 ranking.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: At No. 3 Oregon on Friday night.
California: At Southern California on Friday night.
