Oregon State, Kennedie Shuler rescue another WCC road win in overtime

Oregon State found overtime road magic again, as Kennedie Shuler converted a three-point play with one second remaining Thursday night to give the Beavers a 74-72 win over Santa Clara.

It was the third time during West Coast Conference play that the Beavers (9-9, 5-2) won a road game in overtime.

Trailing 72-71 with three seconds left, Shuler drove to the basket and drew a foul. It was the second time in two weeks that Shuler, a sophomore guard from Barlow High, has scored a last-second basket to pull out a victory.

Overtime didn’t seem in the equation when OSU led 60-48 with 3:40 left during regulation. But Santa Clara finished the fourth quarter with a 13-1 run to force overtime. The Broncos made the Beavers sweat when Malia Latu jumper with three seconds left gave Santa Clara a 72-71 lead.

Sela Heide and AJ Marotte scored 18 points each, while Shuler had 16 and Kelsey Rees 13 to lead Oregon State. The Beavers shot 48% from the floor, and made seven three-pointers, including three from Marotte.

Madison Naro and Alana Goodchild scored 17 points each for Santa Clara (9-10, 3-6).

It was the second time in a week that an Oregon State team went to the wire in overtime at Santa Clara. Last Thursday, the Beavers’ men lost 82-81 on a last-second tip-in.

Oregon State scored the final six points of the second quarter to take a 30-28 halftime lead. The Beavers trailed for most of the first half, the result of a 10-0 Broncos run during the game’s first four minutes. But OSU cut the deficit to one by the end of the first quarter, then kept contact the rest of the half.

The Beavers held Santa Clara scoreless for the final three minutes of the second quarter. Bolden hit a three to tie the game at 28-28, then Marotte hit a short jumper two seconds before halftime to put Oregon State in front.

OSU had a strong finish to the third quarter as well. Trailing 42-40 with five minutes left, the Beavers went on a 9-2 run to take a 49-42 lead. Santa Clara had a 10-minute stretch extending into the fourth quarter where it hit only 2 of 14 shots.

Heide scored back-to-back layups midway through the fourth quarter, followed by a three from Marotte for a 58-46 lead.

Santa Clara didn’t roll over, though. Down 60-48, the Broncos went on an 8-0 run, closing to within four points on a layup by Goodchild with 2:18 remaining. Santa Clara then closed to within 60-58 on a layup by Naro with 27 seconds left.

Heide’s free throw with three seconds left increased the lead to three, but the Broncos tied it at the buzzer by Goodchild.

Oregon State returns home for its next game, a 6 p.m. Saturday contest against Portland at Gill Coliseum. Earlier this season, the Beavers beat the Pilots 76-72 in overtime at UP.

—Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.

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