Gardiner, Beers lead No. 11 Oregon State women to 79-58 win over Cal to close regular season

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Timea Gardiner scored 16 of her 19 points in a dominating second half, leading scorer Raegan Beers returned to action and No. 11 Oregon State closed the regular season with a 79-56 win over California on Saturday.

Gardiner scored 11 points in the third quarter when the Beavers poured in 27 points to turn a one-point halftime advantage into a 55-41 lead. Led by Gardiner’s 4 of 5 performance, Oregon State made 6 of 10 3-pointers in the second half and shot 20 of 31 overall (64.5%) after halftime.

Beers had 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting after missing the previous four games for the Beavers (23-6, 12-6 Pac-12 Conference), who lost 3 of those 4. Donovyn Hunter had 13 points and nine assists and AJ Marotte had 12 points. Second-leading scorer Talia von Oelhoffen did not attempt a shot in 25 minutes.

Marta Suarez scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (17-13, 7-11), who last the first meeting 71-64 and haven’t won at OSU since 2013. Leilani McIntosh had 13 points and reserves Lulu Laditan-Twidale and McKayla Williams both had 12.

Oregon State made 10 of 15 shots, including three 3s, to take control in the third quarter. Gardiner had a 3-pointer in a 9-0 burst that made it 41-29. She had a layup and another 3 in a 7-0 surge that made it 53-37.

The Beavers made another three triples in the fourth quarter when they made 10 of 16 shots.

There were nine lead changes and three ties in the first half that ended with the Beavers on top 28-27 following a free throw by Lily Hansford with 21 seconds left. Neither team led by more than five and the largest spread in the second quarter was three.

Cal went 5 of 10 from 3-point range but 4 of 18 inside the arc in the first half. Oregon State was 2 of 8 from distance, 9 of 18 on 2-pointers.

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