Women’s NCAA Tournament Recap: Gonzaga Upsets Oregon State 76-64 to Advance to Sweet Sixteen

The Gonzaga women will advance to the Sweet Sixteen after taking down #3 seed Oregon State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Corvallis, Oregon on Sunday. This is the second straight upset for the #11 seed Bulldogs after they beat #6 George Washington in the first round on Friday.

Though Oregon State started the game with a 9-2 run and later was able to tie the game at 64-64 with 3:30 remaining, Gonzaga was in the lead for the most of the game. Having trouble across the board in landing baskets, Beavers sophomore guard Sydney Weise explained simply that her “shots just didn’t drop.” Normally a scoring pillar for the Beavers, she shot just 1 of 9 from 3-point range and finished with a total of 7 points.

Junior guard Jamie Weisner was the scoring leader for Oregon State with 24 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Ruth Hamblin, another customary top scorer for the team, finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds. The low point totals for Oregon State is a testament to the strong defense the Gonzaga ladies played against the Beavers.

As they built a slim 37-34 halftime lead, Gonzaga was devastating from the floor, making 13 consecutive baskets during one run in the first half.

Redshirt freshman center Emma Wolfram led Gonzaga players in scoring with 17 points. Elle Tinkle, practically playing in her parent’s Corvallis backyard, finished the game with 14 points and led the team with 7 rebounds. Sunny Greinacher and Keani Albanez finished with 12 points each.

More from 2015 NCAA Tournament

• Looking Back on Gonzaga’s Season
• West Coast Convo Bracketology Competition Results
• Playing “What if….?” With Gonzaga and the NCAA Tournament
• West Coast Convo Writers Bracketology Competition Update
• NCAA Elite Eight Recap: Gonzaga Ends Historic Season Against Duke

Gonzaga had a big 27-2 advantage in points off the bench in this game, keeping the pedal to the floor on offensive.

Head Coach Lisa Fortier said that her team had the “can-do mentality” and that the team’s “experience is helpful. We didn’t just come out and wilt, we fought and wanted to fight” particularly after the slow going at the beginning of the game. Applying a steady hand to not only the team but Keani Albanez early on helped the ladies settle down and concentrate on the task at hand.

Gonzaga will return home to Spokane to play the winner of the contest between Pittsburgh and Tennessee on Monday. Their Sweet Sixteen game will be next Saturday. With a victory, the Bulldogs can stay home in Spokane to play their Elite Eight game with a chance to move on to the Final Four.

While the sting of this loss at home will last for a while, Oregon State has a number of accomplishments to be proud of this season which includes them getting closest to a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1983. The team will only lose one senior in Ali Gibson, which puts them at a huge advantage next year.