A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
NCAA WOMEN’S: 1ST ROUND
No. 8 Oregon State 83, No. 9 Florida State 59
Goodman leads OSU to impressive win
Up Next • No. 1 seed South Carolina in the 2nd round
Associated Press
S
AN ANTONIO — Aleah Good-
man scored 24 points with
five rebounds, five assists and
zero turnovers, Taylor Jones added
18 points and eight boards, and No.
8-seed Oregon State beat ninth-seeded
Florida State 83-59 on Sunday in the
opening round of the women’s NCAA
Tournament.
Oregon State (12-7) advances to play
the top seed in the Hemisfair Region,
South Carolina, while Florida State
(10-9) is exiting after the first round
for the first time in its last 17 appear-
ances.
Oregon State scored 20 of the first
26 points of the second quarter, includ-
ing an 11-0 run, to take the first dou-
ble-digit lead of the game after a 16-all
first. Goodman scored seven of her
14 first-half points during the spurt.
First Round
Goodman also had four rebounds and
three assists and Jones added 11 points
with seven rebounds as Oregon State
built a 41-27 lead.
The Beavers dominated the glass in
the first half with a 26-16 advantage
— including 23 defensive rebounds.
Florida State’s second-leading scorer,
Morgan Jones, was held to two points
on 1-of-6 shooting.
Oregon State opened a 20-point lead
midway through the third quarter as
Florida State made only one of its first
six shots following halftime. Goodman
only played four minutes in the fourth
and Jones three.
Sasha Goforth added 14 points for
Oregon State, which shot 55.2% from
the floor. Goodman, averaging 16.1
points, was 8-of-12 shooting with three
3-pointers.
See Women / A6
NCAA MEN’S: 2ND ROUND
• No. 11 South Dakota Coyotes
vs. No. 6 Oregon Ducks
• Monday, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Different expectations
Stephen Spillman/AP
Last year, the Ducks were odds-on
favorites to not only make the Final
Four for a second straight season, but
to take home the program’s first na-
tional title.
Instead, the tournament was can-
celed due to the spread of COVID-19.
Last year’s team had three first-
round WNBA picks on the roster and a
plethora of experience.
This year’s team? Well, it has three
players — Taylor Mikesell, Erin Boley
and Lydia Giomi — who have NCAA
tournament experience. And Mikesell’s
came with Maryland in 2019.
Oregon State’s Taylor Jones (44) blocks the shot of Florida State
forward Valencia Myers (32) in San Marcos, Texas, on Sunday.
No. 12 Oregon State 80, No. 4 Oklahoma State 70
Second Round
FLYING HIGH
Beavers bounce Oklahoma State, Cunningham | Up Next • No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago on Saturday
Paul Sancya/AP
Oregon State guard Ethan Thompson (5) drives on Oklahoma State forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (12) during the second half of the second round of the NCAA
tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Sunday. Thompson scored 26 points to lead the Beavers past the Cowboys, 80-70.
BY CLIFF BRUNT
Associated Press
NDIANAPOLIS — Ethan Thompson
scored 26 points and No. 12 seed Ore-
gon State neutralized Oklahoma State
and star freshman Cade Cunningham,
rolling to an 80-70 upset in the second
round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday
night.
Maurice Calloo, who transferred from
Oklahoma State, scored 15 points and Jarod
Lucas also had 15 for the Beavers, who ad-
vanced to play eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago
in a Midwest Region Sweet 16 matchup that
few could have predicted. Loyola overmatched
No. 1 seed Illinois earlier Sunday.
Cunningham, a first-team All-American
and possible top NBA draft pick, scored 24
points for Oklahoma State (21-9), but the
I
fourth-seeded Cowboys wasted possessions
down the stretch by failing to get him the ball.
Avery Anderson scored 16 points and Key-
lan Boone added 13 for Oklahoma State in a
game that was delayed for 20 minutes at the
start by a power outage.
Oregon State (19-12) was picked to finish
last in the Pac 12 and had to win the confer-
ence tournament just to make the NCAA
field. The Beavers pulled that off, then rolled
past No. 5 seed Tennessee in the first round.
They became the third double-digit seed to
reach this year’s Sweet 16, joining 15 seed Oral
Roberts and Syracuse, an 11.
Oregon State went ahead 26-15 after an
early 22-6 run.
A 3-pointer by Lucas rolled out, then in to
give the Beavers a 32-19 edge. Minutes later,
Lucas drove took contact, drew a foul and
— Albany Democrat-Herald
scored in close, energizing the Oregon State
fans. His free throw pushed Oregon State’s
lead to 38-22. The Beavers led 44-30 at half-
time.
Oklahoma State began pressuring late in the
first half with some success, and it continued
in the second half. Cunningham made two
3-pointers in the opening minutes — the sec-
ond of which cut Oregon State’s lead to 50-42.
The Cowboys got as close as two points on
a basket by Cunningham before Oregon State
responded and went up 11, leading the players
to exhort their fans during an Oklahoma State
timeout with about five minutes to play.
Oklahoma State made one last rally. Boone
made a 3-pointer, then Cunningham stole the
ball and made a 3 to trim Oregon State’s lead
to 70-67 with 3:39 remaining. Oregon State
pulled away at the free-throw line.
• No. 7 Oregon Ducks vs.
No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes
• Monday, 9:10 a.m. (CBS)
Oregon anxious
after advancing
without playing
The Oregon Ducks
moved on in the West
Region without the usual
excitement that accompa-
nies moving on.
Or with that momen-
tum boost, either.
The Ducks earned a
free pass to the second
round after positive vi-
rus tests bounced VCU
from the NCAA Tourna-
ment hours before Sat-
urday’s scheduled tip-off.
Waiting for Oregon on
Monday will be No. 2
seed Iowa, which is now
tournament-tested after
an 86-74 win over Grand
Canyon.
Meanwhile, the sev-
enth-seeded Ducks strad-
dle a fine line between
rested and rusty. By the
time Oregon takes the
floor, it will have been
10 days since the Ducks
played in the Pac-12 Con-
ference Tournament.
“I don’t think there will
be rust,” Oregon guard Will
Richardson said. “We’ve
been practicing every day,
going hard, treating every
day like game day. I think
there will be a little nerves
for some of us. But we’ll
quickly get over that.”
Oregon coach Dana Al-
tman is hoping the Ducks
can weather the first 10
minutes, just to settle in
and get back “in the flow
of things after a 10-day
layoff,” he said.
It certainly was a wild
swing of emotions for
the Ducks on Saturday.
Altman said he was in
the middle of a pregame
meal when athletic di-
rector Rob Mullens sum-
moned him out of the
room.
VCU had multiple
players test positive for
COVID-19. The Rams re-
ceived the news of the
cancellation — officially
declared a “no contest”
— after they had finished
their pregame meal.
For the Ducks, it was
off to the court for a late-
night practice session.
The intensity was low
at first, but then quickly
“picked up, realizing we’ve
got a game on Monday,”
Altman explained. “It’s not
the way you want to ad-
vance. You want to go out
and play and win games
and get some momen-
tum going.”
— Associated Press