Spokane regional roundup: Sydney Wiese scores 23 points, Oregon State surges past SDSU

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The shots weren’t falling and Oregon State briefly found itself in danger of becoming the first team to lose to a No. 14 seed in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Beavers coach Scott Rueck looked at the first-half box score and immediately saw the problem: defense.

Third-seeded Oregon State turned up the defensive pressure after halftime, as Sydney Wiese scored 23 points and Ruth Hamblin scored 10 of her 17 during a key second-half run to lead the Beavers past South Dakota State 74-62 Friday in the opening round.

Oregon State (27-4) trailed by seven points in the first half, and four early in the second half before taking control of its first home game in the NCAA tournament.

Though the 6-foot-6 Hamblin led the second-half comeback, it was Oregon State’s defense that changed the game’s momentum.

“They had four turnovers in the first half, in probably 35 possessions. That means we’re not enforcing our will,” Rueck said. “We got two turnovers right away to set the tone, and that turned into transition points.”

South Dakota State (24-9) committed eight turnovers and shot 1 of 9 from 3-point range during the second half.

The Beavers’ defensive surge actually started late in the first half, after South Dakota State had built a seven-point lead. Oregon State ran off 11 consecutive points to briefly take the lead, although the Jackrabbits rallied to lead 34-32 at halftime.

“I think we started to get some traction defensively late in the first half,” said Hamblin, the Pacific-12’s defensive player of the year who had seven rebounds and four blocked shots against the Jackrabbits.

Wiese hit five 3-pointers and tied her season high for points. Ali Gibson added 16 points for Oregon State, which earned its first Pac-12 championship this season.

The Beavers, led by Deven Hunter’s 12 rebounds, outrebounded SDSU 38-31.

Trailing 36-32 early the second half, Hamblin scored five layups during a 12-0 run for the Beavers.

Wiese hit two 3-pointers during the next 6 minutes to increase the Beavers advantage to double digits, which they maintained until the end.

“They had that stretch in the second half, and we kind of got a little out of rhythm because of that. … Oregon State played at a high level, and we weren’t able to match that,” South Dakota State coach Aaron Johnston said.

(4) Duke 54, (13) Albany 52: Rebecca Greenwell hit a 3-pointer with 14.9 seconds left to lift the host Blue Devils past the Great Danes in Durham, North Carolina.

Greenwell finished with 20 points for Duke. The Blue Devils overcame a season-worst 27 turnovers, and have won their NCAA tournament opener in each of their 22 appearances.

Imani Tate had 17 points for Albany, which was denied their first NCAA tournament victory.

The Great Danes had two chances to retake the lead after Greenwell’s big shot in the final seconds put Duke up 53-52. Tate missed on a drive down the lane with about 8 seconds left and Erin Coughlin’s 3 clipped off the back iron at the buzzer.

( 5) Mississippi State 57, (12) Tulane 47: Breanna Richardson scored 15 points and the Bulldogs used a big run to defeat the Green Wave in Durham, North Carolina. Morgan William added 14 points for MSU (27-6). Kolby Morgan had 17 points for Tulane (22-11), which ended the season by losing four of six. Richardson had 11 points during the 22-2 run that pushed the Bulldogs’ lead well into double figures.