CORVALLIS — A dominant second half allowed Oregon State to pull away for its fourth straight win.
Lizzy Williamson scored 14 of her season-high 18 points after halftime and added nine rebounds and four blocks to send the Beavers to a 75-53 win over San Francisco Saturday afternoon in front of 4,381 at Gill Coliseum.
“All props to my teammates; we got to get me the ball and we work on that a lot in practice,” Williamson said. “It was great to see that come together. I was happy to be able to be able to contribute in the way I know I can.”
It was the most points for the sixth-year senior since Jan. 19, 2023, when she was at Southern Utah. Her previous high this season was 14 against Vanderbilt on Nov. 27.
“I thought Lizzy was absolutely fantastic in this game,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “Shutting down the rim, maintaining post position. It’s typically hard to get the ball to the post against them and this team did a great job.”
Kennedie Shuler had 19 points, four rebounds and seven assists for Oregon State (17-6, 9-1 WCC), which pulled away amid a 44-25 second half.
Candy Edokpaigbe and Olivia Williams each had 13 points and five rebounds for San Francisco (13-9, 6-5).
Jenna Villa scored 10 of her 15 points points and Shuler had eight during a 23-14 first quarter.
The Dons narrowed the deficit to 31-28 at halftime as Shuler sat out the second quarter due to foul trouble. The Beavers went 4 of 15 from the field, including 0 for 6 from three, and committed four turnovers without their point guard on the floor, but Rueck was willing to play backup Cloe Vecina all of the second quarter while the game was competitive.
“Now we have great game film for her to continue to learn from,” Rueck said. “The way the first quarter went, I was very optimistic about what the second half could be once we were back to whole.”
Shuler and Williamson each scored eight points and combined to go 6 of 6 from the field during a 23-14 third, during which the Beavers shot 53.3% from the floor and won the boards 12-4.
Ally Schimel had 11 points and four assists for OSU, which continued its dominance during the fourth. Williamson added six more in the final frame and OSU pulled away with a 13-2 closing run.
Oregon State enters the final month of the regular season atop the WCC with a rematch with Gonzaga on Thursday in Spokane that will determine whether the conference race remains a battle or if the Beavers widen their lead.
“The only thing that we can control is taking care of business ourself and if you win, you get what you want,” Rueck said. “This league is fun. It’s exciting.”