Jenna Villa and Ally Schimel led Oregon State to a 73-67 victory Monday afternoon over top-seeded Loyola Marymount in a West Coast Conference women’s semifinal matchup.
The win puts the Beavers into Tuesday’s final against conference rival Gonzaga.
Oregon State shot nearly 50% from beyond the arc with Schimel leading the way, knocking in 5 of her 6 three-pointers to score 21. Villa added 22, hitting all 10 of her free throws.
Kennedie Shuler contributed with seven assists while Lizzy Williamson grabbed nine rebounds to help in the paint.
The Beavers’ victory over the Lions comes after a tough 71-69 overtime loss in Corvallis during the regular season. In that matchup, Oregon State shot only 25% from beyond the arc.
Three-point shooting could be a factor in Tuesday’s final between the Beavers (23-10, 15-5 WCC) and the Gonzaga Bulldogs (23-9, 15-4 WCC).
Gonzaga made 45.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.6 percentage points higher than Oregon State has allowed to its opponents (37.0%). Oregon State averages 67.3 points per game, 2.8 more than the 64.5 Gonzaga allows to opponents.
The teams meet for the third time this season. Gonzaga won 67-37 in the last matchup on Feb. 6. Ines Bettencourt led Gonzaga with 15 points, and Tiara Bolden led Oregon State with nine points.
In the previous game, however, Villa scored 31 to lead the Beavers to a 92-87 overtime win in Corvallis.
Villa is averaging 14.9 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Beavers. Kennedie Shuler is averaging 14.7 points over the last 10 games.
Lauren Whittaker is averaging 19.2 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Allie Turner is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.
The Bulldogs’ record in WCC play is 15-4, and their record is 8-5 in non-conference games. Gonzaga scores 74.3 points and has outscored opponents by 9.8 points per game.
The Beavers are 15-5 in WCC play. Oregon State averages 67.3 points and has outscored opponents by 6.8 points per game.
Tipoff for the game is at 1 p.m. PDT.
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OPB contributed to this report. The Associated Press created parts of this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
