Greer’s Career Night Leads Oregon State Women’s Basketball to Win over Bakersfield

(Corvallis, Oregon) - Senior El Sara Greer (Waterloo, Iowa) did it all for the Oregon State women’s basketball team (5-2) with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, as the Beavers defeated Cal State Bakersfield (6-2) on Tuesday evening in legendary Gill Coliseum.

“I thought it was a great team win tonight,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “Bakersfield is a team that has had success on the year, they’re a proud team and we knew it was going to be a 40-minute game. I was just proud of our team for weathering the storm in the first half, when they weathered the storm in the second half and when [Cal State Bakersfield] made it back all the way to four points and we just found a way to continue to score and get the stops we needed. I was really proud of the heart that this team showed tonight.”

Greer shot 64 percent from the field (9 of 14), hitting 7 of 12 free throws in her solid all-around performance. Freshman Alyssa Martin (Portland, Ore.) backed up Greer offensively with 21 points on 38 percent shooting, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and adding three big blocks.

The Beavers went down low from the start to Greer, who went a perfect 3-for-3 to start to help the Beavers take the early one-point lead at the 13:42 mark. Oregon State continued to build on its lead to widen the margin to as many as four at 17-13.

Cal State Bakersfield cut the Beavers’ lead to two with the two teams trading buckets back and forth between media timeouts with Oregon State still holding on by two with 5:25 left in the first.

The Beavers went on a 6-0 run after a basket by Breana Fields when play resumed, quickly followed by another short run with redshirt sophomore Sage Indendi (Livingston, Mont.) sending the teams into halftime with a jumper at the foul line to give Oregon State the 36-28 advantage at halftime.

Momentum carried into the second half for the Beavers as it started the second half on an 8-0 run before another long three-pointer by Britney McGee stopped the long scoring drought for the Roadrunners.

Cal State Bakersfield was unable to cut the game to single digits, only able to make the margin 10 in the second half until a put back layup by the Roadrunners with 9:08 left in the game to make the score 51-42.

The Beavers’ lead was cut to just six after Cal State Bakersfield put on the full court pressure, scoring off a pair of turnovers despite a pair of Martin free throws at the third media timeout with 5:56 left.

Martin continued to keep the Beavers on top with a bucket and four more made free throws, coupled by Greer’s 1 of 2 from the line to give Oregon State the 65-57 lead with just over a minute left in the game.

Three more made free throws by Oregon State capped by a big Martin block on a three-point attempt by Breana Fields sealed the Beaver victory.

Oregon State shot 42.6 percent as a team, holding Bakersfield to just 31.4 percent. The Beavers outrebounded the Roadrunners 49 to 41 and outblocked Cal State Bakersfield 7 to 2.

Cal State Bakersfield was led by Amber Williams with 17 points, while Jana Smith pulled down seven rebounds and Kristine Herman tallied three steals.

Oregon State continues its home stand against Pepperdine on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in legendary Gill Coliseum.

Catch the game live on KJOE 1240-AM in the Corvallis area, KKAD 1550-AM in the Portland area or through Beaver Nation Online (osubeavers.com). Ron Callan will call all of the action for the season.

Oregon State Notes
* Oregon State’s 36 first half points are the most the team has scored this season.
* Cal State Bakersfield has been held to under 30 points in the first half only one other time – its loss to Idaho.
* Senior El Sara Greer set a new career high for points with 25, besting her previous 14, with a team season-high for an individual.
* Greer earned her second career double-double, first of the season, with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
* The last time two Oregon State players reached 20-plus points was on January 22, 2009 against California with Brittney Davis scoring 24, Talisa Rhea 20.
* Oregon State is now 2-1 all-time against Cal State Bakersfield, 2-0 at home.
* Oregon State’s 42.6 field goal percentage is a season high, besting the previous 40.7 percent against Long Beach State.
* The Beavers’ 71.4 percent free throw shooting resets the season-high of 58.3 percent set against Rutgers.
* Freshman Alyssa Martin ties her career best for blocked shots with three.
* Greer’s seven made free throws sets a new career best; the 12 attempts also sets a new high.