Weisner leads Oregon State past St. Bonaventure, 69-40

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Pac-12 Player of the Year Jamie Weisner only scored two points in Oregon State's tournament opener, and then shot 1-for-6 from the floor in the first quarter on Sunday.

"Kind of a rocky start, just kept pushing through it, tried to get to the basket and from there my shot started falling," the senior guard said.

Weisner broke out of a slump and scored 23 points as Oregon State took control after halftime to beat St. Bonaventure 69-40 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.

Sydney Wiese added eight points, six rebounds and six assists, Ruth Hamblin had 16 rebounds and Deven Hunter scored 11 points for the Beavers (29-4), the No. 2 seed in the Dallas Regional. Oregon State advances to play DePaul on Saturday in the Sweet 16.

Miranda Drummond scored 12 points and Katie Healy had eight points and six rebounds for the 10th-seeded Bonnies (23-8).

"I don't think we played as well as we could have, but we played our hearts out today," said Healy, a senior forward.

Oregon State outscored the Bonnies 21-4 in the third quarter to go ahead 52-25. During that span, the Beavers made 50 percent of their field goals and held St. Bonaventure to 1-for-14 shooting from the floor.

"Obviously, I love the energy we played with on defense the whole night, but that third quarter was special," said Oregon State coach Scott Rueck.

For the game, the Beavers shot 42 percent, compared to 25.5 percent for St. Bonaventure, and also outrebounded the Bonnies 48-33.

"They just weren't going to be denied," St. Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley said, of the Beavers.

Oregon State had a huge height advantage for the second straight game, as the 6-foot-6 Hamblin was sometimes matched up with the 6-1 Healy, though the Bonnies provided plenty of defensive help.

The first quarter featured scrappy defense -- and poor shooting -- from both squads. But just before the first quarter buzzer, Marie Gulich's offensive rebound and put-back put Oregon State ahead 13-8.

The Beavers went on a 9-0 run to jump ahead 23-12 about midway through the second quarter. Hunter fueled the surge with seven points.

Oregon State led 31-21 at the break.

In the first round on Friday, the Beavers routed 15th-seeded Troy 73-31.

TIP-INS:

St. Bonaventure: The at-large bid out of the Atlantic 10 defeated No. 7 seed Oklahoma State 65-54, with Healy scoring 23 points, to move on to the second round. ... The tallest player on St. Bonaventure's roster is 6-foot-2. The Beavers suited up seven taller players. ... The last time the Bonnies lost by 20 or more points was a 77-54 defeat to DePaul on Nov. 15.

Oregon State: The Pac-12 champs are making their third straight NCAA appearance, but were eliminated in the second round the previous two seasons. ... Oregon State's previous Sweet 16 appearance was in 1983, when the tournament only had 32 teams.

SWARM D: Whenever Hamblin touched the ball, the St. Bonaventure defense swarmed her. But while the senior center only had four points, she grabbed seven offensive rebounds. "That was the one thing we knew: Ruth needs to make a big impact with this game on O boards," Rueck said.

OVERACHIEVERS: St. Bonaventure was picked ninth out of 14 teams in an Atlantic 10 preseason poll. "Getting picked ninth was just motivation for us and it led to a pretty awesome season," said Emily Michael, who played four years for the Bonnies.

UP NEXT

St. Bonaventure: Season's over.

Oregon State: Travels to Dallas to play DePaul in Dallas on Saturday.