TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Sydney Wiese left her ’hometown’ a winner on Friday night. That’s no surprise. She’s been a winner almost all the time since she left her native Arizona for Oregon State.
Marie Gulich had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Wiese added 16 points and the No. 11 Beavers beat the No. 23 Sun Devils 54-45.
The Beavers (21-2, 10-1 Pac-12) won their sixth in a row to remain tied with Stanford for the conference lead.
Quinn Dornstrauder scored 17 for the Sun Devils (14-8, 5-6), who have lost four straight and five of their last six. She was the only Arizona State player in double figures.
With more than 200 of her friends and family cheering her on, Wiese made 6 of 11 shots, 4 of 6 3-pointers and dished out six assists.
“To be able to come home in front of my friends and family, it means the world to me,” Wiese said. “These people have been with me, helped me, since day one. I have to give so much credit to them for coming out here and supporting us and I’m so happy that we could get a win for them on Arizona State’s home floor.”
Oregon State beat the Sun Devils for the fifth straight time, dating to the freshman season of Wiese, who grew up and was a high-school standout in nearby Phoenix.
“I was nervous for this one,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “I wanted this thing so bad for her.”
Leading by five at the break, the Beavers outscored the Sun Devils 12-5 to start the second half to lead 43-31 when Gulich scored just at the shot clock buzzer with 2:02 left in the third quarter. She was fouled but missed the free throw and Oregon State led 45-36 entering the fourth quarter.
ASU trimmed its deficit to five points on a layup by Reili Richardson with four minutes left. Richardson had a chance to get it closer but her 3-pointer bounced twice off the rim and fell out, the first of four straight Oregon State misses to end the game.
Meanwhile, Gulich took a pretty bounce pass from Gabriella Hanson and scored and Wiese found Kolbie Orum alone inside to clinch the victory.
“What this team’s done is find ways to win,” Rueck said. “Down the stretch that is the signature of this team. We get stops we need and we execute very well.”
Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne praised her team’s defense and effort.
“I really loved the way we competed today,” she said. “That’s a really good team. Every time we didn’t do something, they pretty much made us pay. We didn’t have too many mistakes. We just needed to shoot a little bit better and gave up a few key offensive rebounds down the stretch. So, just learning and growing.”
The Sun Devils were within one four times in the second quarter, the last at 25-24 when Robbi Ryan made one of two free throws with 3:09 left in the half.
But Wiese hit consecutive 3s to make it 31-24 before Dornstrauder scored with six seconds left to slice Oregon State’s lead to 31-26 at the half.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State, with a victory over Stanford in hand, could well move into the top 10 with the victory and is in a strong position to stay in first the rest of the way. Arizona State finds itself in unfamiliar position of having a losing conference record.
WIESE AT HOME
Weise had big support in her final game in her hometown.
And her mom was a big reason why. Wiese said her mother sold more than 200 game tickets at her church.
Weise starred at Pinnacle High School in north Phoenix.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: The Beavers are at Arizona on Sunday afternoon.
Arizona State. Sun Devils are home against Oregon on Sunday.
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