Oregon State moves on to face Creighton after close call (Mar 17, 2017)

Second-seeded Oregon State very nearly left the NCAA Tournament early but survived a first-round upset and advanced to play seventh-seeded Creighton.

The Beavers and Bluejays, who had a much easier outing in their tournament opener, will square off Sunday in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament at Gill Coliseum in Corvalis, Ore.

It was certainly a survive-and-advance performance for Oregon State in the first round. The Beavers barely avoided being upset by No. 15-seed Long Beach State on Friday.

Senior guard Sydney Wiese hit two free throws with just over a minute to play to give the Beavers the lead. Long Beach State got two shots off on its final possession but missed and Oregon State avoided becoming the first No. 2 seed to lose in the first round since the field expanded to 65 teams in 1985.

"Credit to Long Beach State, they played a great game today," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck told reporters. "They were well-coached and they played like they played like they had nothing to lose.

"This was a great game, and good win for us. I think this game showed that we're gritty and tough. All year this team has found a way to win games, and that's what they did today."

Wiese, the Beavers' leading scorer, got into early foul trouble and was held to seven points but came through in the clutch with the winning free throws. She'll need to have a bigger impact against a Creighton team that has won 10 of its last 11 games and thumped Toledo in the first round.

Senior guard Marissa Janning scored 19 points, 15 in a dominating first half, and Creighton cruised to a 76-49 win over Toledo.

Creighton is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 and is a single-digit seed for the first time since 1992. The Bluejays have lost only once since late January

Junior Sydney Lamberty has been hot for Creighton. She scored 16 points in the win over Toledo, following up on her performance in the Big East tournament, where she was selected first-team all-tournament.

For Oregon State, despite the uneven performance, the Beavers improved to 15-2 at home this season.

"Our defense was key most of the day," Rueck said when asked about what the hard-fought win over Long Beach State said about his team. "I think it says that we're greedy and tough.

"I kind of joked with one of their assistants before the game. It seems like this year with this team, we either win by one or eight or somewhere in between. We've had a hard time getting away from people, but that's been our M.O. It's who we are. We find ways to win games."