Oregon State turns the game over to Arizona

"We forced a lot of turnovers, especially in the second half, and we did a good job of capitalizing," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said.

The Wildcats had 22 steals, six by junior Monika Crank and five by Barnes, and scored 45 points off Oregon State turnovers.

"The key was our defensive intensity," Bonvicini said.

Arizona (12-4, 6-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) used a 29-4 run midway through the second half to break open a close game and make sure it wouldn't lose on a last-second shot like it did in a 68-66 defeat at Oregon on Thursday.

Barnes, a forward, scored 17 points during the spurt, mostly on layups after Oregon State (6-11, 1-7) lost the ball under its own basket on inbound plays in the face of full-court pressure. During one stretch, Arizona scored 19 straight points and Oregon State went 12 possessions without a shot.

"The panic button went off again," Oregon State coach Judy Spoelstra said. "It's very frustrating.

"But you have to give Arizona a lot of credit. They did what good teams do. We rattled them a couple times, and pulled within five points, but they regrouped and came back out with the resolve to finish the job."

Barnes was 11 for 20 from the field and 6 for 8 from the free-throw line. She had 20 points in the second half, when Arizona outscored Oregon State 48-33, and also keyed the Wildcats' full-court pressure by guarding the player trying to inbound the ball.

Senior Marte Alexander added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona, which hadn't won in Corvallis since the 1992-93 season.

Tanesha Wade had 12 points for Oregon State, which has lost nine of its last 10 games. Oregon State pulled within 50-45 on a basket by Wade with 9:09 remaining, but didn't score again until Monica Watts made a free throw with 4:23 left.

No. 7 ARIZONA 84, OREGON ST. 58

ARIZONA (12-4)

Bristol 2-7 0-0 4, Barnes 11-20 6-8 28, Alexander 5-9 6-10 16, Griffith 3-5 0-1 8, Crank 4-7 0-0 11, Willis 0-2 0-0 0, Minter 3-7 1-2 8, Giordano 3-4 0-0 6, Hambrick 0-0 0-0 0, Paige 0-0 1-2 1, Phoenix 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 31-61 16-25 84.

OREGON ST. (6-11)

Watts 4-12 3-6 11, Wade 6-7 0-1 12, Ross 0-3 0-1 0, McAllister 4-7 1-3 10, Barrett 0-1 0-0 0, Walsh 0-1 0-0 0, Morris 5-9 0-2 11, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 1-1 2-3 4, Salea 3-4 1-2 7, Busen 1-4 0-0 3, Byars 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 7-18 58.

Halftime Arizona 48, Oregon St. 33. 3-Point goals Arizona 6-12 (Crank 3-5, Griffith 2-4, Minter 1-1, Willis 0-2), Oregon St. 3-15 (McAllister 1-2, Busen 1-3, Morris 1-4, Barrett 0-1, Rosales 0-1, Watts 0-4). Rebounds Arizona 35 (Alexander 7), Oregon St. 3 5 (Wade, Salea 6). Assists Arizona 17 (Barnes, Alexander, Griffith 3), Oregon St. 14 (Watts 4). Total fouls Arizona 20, Oregon St. 24.

A 1,066.