No. 25 Beavers overwhelm No. 16 Utes women in 91-66 blowout

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State wouldn't be denied.

As the newest Pac-12 team included in the Associated Press Top 25 last week, the Beavers sent a message to the rest of the conference Sunday afternoon that their rankings were merited (after already upsetting Colorado on Friday).

Oregon State had 49 points — a season high — and shot 75% from the field at halftime to control a 17-point lead over the 16th-ranked Utes. And if that wasn't impressive enough, the Beavers added to that effort in the second half to come away with a 91-66 win at home

The Beavers (17-3, 6-3 Pac-12) opened up the second half on a 7-0 run and used that to build up a 38-point lead with 15 seconds left in the third quarter. By then, there wasn't much fight left for the visiting Utes (15-6, 5-4 Pac-12), who were held to 42 points and 34% shooting through three quarters.

Outside of a 28-point performance by Alissa Pili, Utah had no answer for an Oregon State team that couldn't miss. No other player scored in double digits until the fourth quarter when Utah made a 9-0 run and Maty Wilke had 11 points and Dasia Young added 10 points.

In all, though, it was a rare shooting day for the Utes.

For the Beavers, it wasn't just one person but a collective effort by the team to overwhelm the Utes. In total, five Oregon State players scored in double figures, with Raegan Beers leading the charge with 20 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Donovyn Hunter added 17 points and 10 assists, and Timea Gardiner finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds to have two players finish with a double-double.

But it was former Utah player Kelsey Rees, who opened up the game on a personal 8-0 run and set the early tone against her former team. Rees finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added five rebounds and four blocks in the revenge game effort.

Until its performance Sunday, Utah had hit a good rhythm with its team and had back-to-back wins over top-10 teams.

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