Beavers win, finish 3rd in Pac-12 standings
Published 12:00 am Monday, February 26, 2018
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TEMPE, Ariz. — Marie Gulich put an exclamation point on her final regular-season game in an Oregon State uniform.
The senior center displayed her repertoire of shots, using her myriad moves to score inside, her soft touch with the midrange jumper and her ability to fade away to score in a dominating final 20 minutes.
Gulich was 13-for-13 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line as she poured in 30 of her career-high 36 points after halftime.
That performance was crucial as the No. 12 Beavers rallied from 10 points down at the half to pull out a 64-60 Pac-12 women’s basketball victory over Arizona State on Sunday.
Gulich finished 16-for-18 from the field and the Beavers were 17-for-23 after halftime, when they outscored ASU 42-28 after scoring just 22 points in the first two quarters.
“It just felt good,” Gulich said in a postgame radio interview. “I was in a good rhythm today and honestly the passes from the guards were really good. They set me up really good. It was fun.”
One of those guards, Katie McWilliams, was more than happy to see Gulich take over.
“What a way for her to finish off her Pac-12 play,” McWilliams said on the radio. “Just what an amazing player and leader we have and that I’ve gotten to play with for three years.
“I love getting her the ball, so whenever we run those plays for her, I’m so ready. She hit a lot of tough shots too, so you have to give her a lot of credit for just working down there and getting whatever she could.”
Oregon State (23-6, 14-4) finishes in a tie for third place with UCLA but will be the No. 3 seed in this week’s Pac-12 tournament at KeyArena is Seattle. The Beavers get the nod because of their win over first-place Oregon; the Bruins lost both matchups with the Ducks.
Arizona State (19-11, 10-8) will be the No. 6 seed and will face Arizona (6-23, 2-16) in the first round of the tournament on Thursday. The Beavers will play the winner of that game on Friday.
McWilliams finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists and Mikayla Pivec chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Beavers.