CORVALLIS – Oregon State women’s basketball coach Scott Rueck says he’s pushed this current team as hard as any during his 23-year college tenure.

It’s part necessity because of inexperience at key positions.

“It hasn’t been easy every day. It hasn’t even been fun, to be honest, for me,” Rueck said. “I would love for them not to hear my voice like fingernails on a chalkboard.”

It’s part what Rueck believes the 2018-19 Beavers could be. And that is a team capable of great things, like Monday night’s 67-62 win over No. 2 Oregon before 9,301 in Gill Coliseum.

The No. 12 Beavers produced the season’s signature win with a performance that was at times stylish, other times blue-collar.

OSU’s offense had it going for big stretches of the first half, particularly Aleah Goodman, who hit four 3-pointers and led the Beavers with 22 points. Oregon State’s defense put forth perhaps its finest 40 minutes, holding the Pac-12 leading Ducks to their lowest point total and shooting percentage of the season.

“This team continues to mature right in front of our eyes,” Rueck said. “They’re just scratching the surface of what they’re capable of, in my opinion.”

These Beavers could be headed anywhere, including a step past last season, when Oregon State made a run to the Elite Eight round.

A win over Oregon is the kind of that resonates nationally. It was the Ducks’ first defeat in 18 games, and only their second loss this season. In Oregon’s past two games, they beat a top-10 team in Stanford by 40 points, then beat then-No. 9 Oregon State last Friday in Eugene.

“Definitely one I’ll never forget,” senior wing Katie McWilliams said. “Hopefully we’ll have some more big wins coming up.”

Oregon State had 72 hours to unpack what happened during Friday’s 77-68 loss to the Ducks. The Beavers had their moments, but not enough to overcome an Oregon offense that scored when it needed a burst.

“The other night, I didn’t think we were quite mature enough defensively,” Rueck said.

Oregon State added a wrinkle Monday by starting 6-foot-8 senior Joanna Grymek. She, along with 6-7 freshman Patricia Morris and 6-1 Madison Washington, were able to patrol the middle and keep Oregon from easy looks inside.

“She impacted the game,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said of Grymek.

Oregon played for just over half the game without junior post Ruthy Hebard, who sustained a knee injury during the second quarter. While the loss of Hebard, who averages 16.8 points and 9.1 rebounds a game, impacted the Ducks, it forced both teams to tear up game plans.

The Ducks ended up playing most of the second half with five guards and wings, which forced OSU to counter with a small lineup of its own.

“It became a chess match that neither of us had probably prepared for,” Rueck said.

Oregon State led 33-27 at halftime, but faced a challenge in the third quarter, as Sabrina Ionescu helped fuel a rally that pulled the Ducks even at 45. Still, it felt like Oregon State had things under control until the early stages of the fourth quarter, when suddenly the offense went ice cold.

Oregon’s zone gave OSU fits, as it took the Beavers nearly six minutes to score their first basket of the fourth quarter. Oregon State was able to lean hard on its defense, as the Ducks were having trouble scoring as well.

It wasn’t until the final three minutes of the game that the Beavers regained its first-half elegance. Tied at 52, Destiny Slocum took the ball from the wing, drove into the lane and hit a 7-foot jumper to give OSU the lead with 2:25 remaining. On the following possession, Slocum buried a corner 3-pointer to increase the lead to 57-52.

From there, Oregon State had the Ducks playing up hill. Oregon scored some, but the Beavers always had an answer, particularly at the foul line, where they made eight free throws during the final 14 seconds.

It capped what is probably the most memorable regular-season weekend in Oregon women’s college basketball history. Sold out arenas in Eugene and Corvallis, where some 21,000 fans watched nationally-ranked teams play two games to the wire.

“We’re the standard in the country,” Graves said. “And I don’t see it changing.”

The win allowed Rueck to remain unbeaten against Oregon at home, 9-0 during his tenure. More importantly, it was the 200th win of Rueck’s OSU career.

“It’s going to be one I don’t forget,” Rueck said. “What a way to get a milestone.”

--Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel