Women's basketball roundup: Utah falls to Oregon State, 62-49

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Despite a late comeback, the Utah women's basketball team couldn't overcome a double-digit deficit for the second-straight game before falling to Oregon State, 62-49.

Michelle Plouffe led the Utes (10-12, 3-8 Pac-12) in scoring with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Taryn Wicijowski also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Oregon State (15-7, 6-5 Pac-12) led by four at halftime, 26-22, but pushed that lead up to 16 in the opening minutes of the second half with a 13-3 run over the first 6:30 of the half for a 41-25 lead.

With the Beavers leading by 14, 50-36 with eight minutes left in the game, the Utes began a 9-0 run that would see them cut the lead down to five points with 3:50 remaining, 50-45. Iwalani Rodrigues had a three-pointer in the run, while Plouffe went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the span.

Back-to-back layups for Oregon State put the lead back up to nine points, and the Beavers made free throws down the stretch to pull ahead in the final minutes.

Oregon State shot 52 percent compared to 31 percent for the Utes. Utah held a 37-33 rebounding advantage. The Beavers had 46 points in the paint. OSU was led by Earlysia Marchbanks' 22 points and 10 rebounds.

"It was obviously a difficult weekend," Utah head coach Anthony Levrets said. "We must remain positive, and understand that what we are going through is very difficult for everyone involved. We have to continue to strive to get better on a daily basis so that we are playing our best basketball at the end of the season."

OSU took an 8-0 lead through the first three minutes of the game, but the Utes scored the next five points to put the score at 8-5 before a six-point run for the Beavers pushed the lead up to nine, 14-5 with 12 minutes left in the first half.

Oregon State would lead by as many as 15 points in the first half, 26-11 with 7:20 remaining, before going cold from the floor and allowing Utah to go on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to four by halftime, 26-22.

Utah returns to the Huntsman Center this weekend for its second round through the Pac-12, facing Arizona State and Arizona beginning on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. MT.

NORTHERN COLORADO 70, WEBER STATE 57: At Greeley, Colo., junior guard Megan Patterson knocked down a game high-tying 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, but the Wildcats fell short against Northern Colorado.

Lauren Oosdyke led the Bears with 17 points.