Putting the Michigan win aside in a class of its own, Friday night in Corvallis may well have been the best night of the trip. 

Taco Vina was spectacularly delish. I’m drooling as I type this. But the the Oregon State vs ‘Zona women’s basketball game took the cake.

First, Maire gave us earplugs because our seats were near the band. How big a band? Well, there were nine tubas for starters. Here’s about 40% of it.

It’s a gorgeous place to play ball: the Ralph Miller Court in the Gill Arena. We arrived early to soak it in and watch the warmups.

The Beavs (OSU) got off to good start but ‘Zona is good and took a 5-point lead into the halftime break. Then it was back and forth until ‘Zona pulled ahead again by 5 and suddenly the clock bled down to 52 seconds. Yikes! We got two, and the ball back with 13 seconds left. Long shot missed, rebound, miss, rebound again, and this time we drilled a trey. Game tied. Overtime. Whew.

OT was tight and we managed to tie it again, but with 21 seconds left they had the ball. Their best player killed the clock and drove for the winner as time expired. But missed! On to a second overtime.

By this time, everyone was exhausted, especially me. But the Beavers refused to lose, and battled to the end. And won. Great game.

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Our flight home boards in an hour. It was a good trip, but I miss the owls, and the g’kids and Caity and Danny. And the regular Owl Chatter. Thanks to Norrie for picking up the mail! And to you for stopping by. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a new joke.

See you then!