Conference Update: Beavs topple Ducks twice in WBB; Men’s Rivalry looms

Welcome back to 750 The Game’s Conference Update, brought to you by Pacific Seafood, the official meat & seafood provider of the Pac-12 Conference.

This week’s update:

Oregon State gets twin wins over Oregon in women’s hoops

The OSU women ensured the state of Oregon is a Beaver State in women’s hoops, thanks to a pair of defining victories over in-state rival Oregon.  The Beavs won in Eugene on Sunday, 88-77, then turned around five days later and beat No.19 Oregon again, this time a 71-64 final in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.  It was the first time the Ducks and Beavs squared off in the conference tournament.  Freshman guard Talia von Oelhoffen delivered the big performance Oregon State needed, scoring 19 points off the bench along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.  Captain and senior Aleah Goodman scored 13 points and dished 11 assists.  The Beavs try to keep their momentum going as the five-seed in the Pac-12 Tournament, taking on 1-seed and No.4 ranked Stanford on Friday night.  ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme most recently projects the Beavs as a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, while he projects Oregon as a five-seed.

Rivalry in men’s hoops goes down on Sunday

The Oregon Ducks men’s team is rolling, winners of nine of their last ten games.  Oregon beat UCLA this week in Eugene 82-74 led by senior Chris Duarte’s 24 points.  On Friday Duarte was named to his first All-America team of the season, being selected to the College Hoops Today third team by Jon Rothstein.  Oregon has surged to the top of the Pac-12 standings, and needs one win – over rival Oregon State this Sunday in Corvallis – to secure the regular season conference title and the top-seed in next week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.  But Oregon State will not be an easy out.  The Beavs have won three in a row, and defeated Oregon in the first matchup of the rivals in January 75-64, though Oregon was shorthanded in that game.  The Beavs defeated Utah on the road this week 75-70, and have won three straight conference road games, the first time that has happened since the 2002-03 season.  Oregon visits Oregon State in the regular season finale on Sunday, tip off at 5pm on Fox Sports 1.

Tune in to the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano every Friday for your Conference Update brought to you by Pacific Seafood, and found right here on 750TheGame.com.