Oregon State Beavers
Overall Rank: #10
Conference Rank: #1 Pac-12
Oregon State put together its best season in program history last year by winning a Pac-12 Conference regular season championship and once again reasserted themselves as one of the best teams along the West Coast for women’s basketball. Scott Rueck has quickly built this program up thanks to a tremendous commitment to playing high quality defensive basketball and efficient team oriented offensive basketball.
2014-15 Record: 27-5, 16-2
2014-15 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Scott Rueck
Coach Record: 90-71 at Oregon State, 378-159 overall
Strengths:
There are multiple strengths with this Beavers team as they have experience with a very senior laden starting lineup and they play total team basketball as well as anyone in the country. Senior Jamie Weisner and Junior Sydney Wiese will take care of things in the backcourt. The duo combined for over 26 points per game last season and both shot well over 40 percent from behind the three-point line. Ruth Hamblin is back at center and Hamblin should be in the conversation for potential national player of the year honors if she continues her dominance shooting the basketball down in the post. She shot 58 percent from the field a year ago. Deven Hunter rounds out this balanced starting lineup and Hunter is always a threat for a double-double on any given night.
Weaknesses:
Free throw shooting has to get better in order for Oregon State to get to the Sweet 16 and beyond in the NCAA Tournament. The Beavers shot just under 69 percent from the charity stripe last season. Also, the ability to start faster in the NCAA Tournament is going to be another key point of emphasis for Oregon State during this season. In the loss to Gonzaga in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs got off to a great start shooting the basketball at 55.2 percent in the first half and were able to wear down the Beavers in the second half to pull off the upset. So faster starts against lower seeded teams will be critical to their success in the 2016 NCAA Tournament without question.
Final Projection:
The three most challenging games for Oregon State in non-conference play will be a neutral site game on November 28th against Arkansas down in Puerto Rico, along with a visit from Tennessee on December 19th and then a road trip out to Notre Dame on December 28th. The ability to go at least 2-1 in those three games will really bolster the Beavers NCAA Tournament seeding resume. The conference schedule is relatively balanced with a road trip to USC and UCLA to start the conference schedule. The home and home series with Stanford and the game against Arizona State are also going to be swing games for Oregon State in its quest to win another Pac-12 conference regular season championship. All of the ingredients are in place for a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament for the Beavers and, as long as they stay healthy, they will break through and get to the Sweet 16 and beyond this season.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Jamie Weisner, Senior, Guard, 13.7 points per game
Sydney Wiese, Junior, Guard, 12.7 points per game
Gabriella Hanson, Junior, Guard, 6.7 points per game
Deven Hunter, Senior, Forward, 8.2 points per game
Ruth Hamblin, Senior, Center, 12.9 points per game
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.8 (33rd in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 57.2 (31,2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.4 (9,1)
Field-Goal Defense: 35.2 (13,1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.3 (10,1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.1 (13,3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 68.3 (185,7)
Rebound Margin: 8.5 (15,1)
Assists Per Game: 18.6 (5,1)
Turnovers Per Game: 14.0 (45,4)
Madness 2016 WNBA Draft Rankings:
#15 Ruth Hamblin
Madness 2015 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#43 Katie McWilliams
See All Top 44 Women’s Basketball Previews
