Oregon State Beavers
Pac-12 (29-4, 16-2)
So much for a rebuilding year in Corvallis as Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck and his staff reloaded this Oregon State women’s basketball roster very quickly and got the Beavers back in the mix for a very high seed in the NCAA Tournament. The ability to defend the basketball at a high level is still at a high level even without a dominant center like Ruth Hamblin, who moved on to the WNBA. Offensively, Sydney Wiese, a semifinalist for the Naismith Award for Player of the Year, has continued her run of excellence scoring the basketball and can take over a game at the drop of a hat.
Big Wins: 1/1 Washington (73-70), 1/8 at Stanford (72-69), 2/12 UCLA (68-61)
Bad Losses: 11/22 Marquette (73-74), 1/13 at UCLA (56-66), 2/10 USC (50-70)
Coach: Scott Rueck
Why They Can Surprise:
Gil Coliseum has evolved into a very nice home court advantage for Oregon State and that alone will position the Beavers for a chance to get to the Sweet 16 without much of a problem. Sydney Wiese and Gabriella Hanson provide the experience and leadership that you need in order to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. Wiese is averaging 15.7 points per game and is very clutch free throw shooter as well. Hanson is the Defensive Player of the Year in the Pac-12 Conference so look for her to be assigned to the opposing teams’ best scorer in the backcourt more often than not this postseason. Marie Gulich has done a nice job down in the post as she is averaging 10.0 points per game along with 8.1 rebounds per game. Mikayla Pivec is an outstanding freshman who plays well beyond her years and has the ability to be a difference maker in the postseason.
Why They Can Disappoint:
In the loss at home to USC by 20 points back in February, it was the inability to take care of the basketball that was the undoing of the Beavers. So if Oregon State gets careless with the basketball and gives away possessions, especially as the tournament goes on, it could come back to bite them. Free-throw shooting could be an issue in the NCAA Tournament too as the Beavers are only shooting 65.6 percent from the foul line on the season. So it is going to be important for Oregon State to create opportunities for themselves at the foul line.
Probable Starters:
Sydney Wiese, Senior, Guard, 15.7 ppg, 4.6 apg, 4.9 rpg
Gabriella Hanson, Senior, Guard, 6.4 ppg, 2.6 apg, 4.2 rpg
Mikayla Pivec, Freshman, Guard, 7.4 ppg, 2.0 apg, 4.8 rpg
Marie Gulich, Junior, Center, 10.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.7 bpg
Breanna Brown, Junior, Center, 7.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg
Key Role Players:
Kolbie Orum, Senior, Forward, 6.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg
Katie McWilliams, Sophomore, Guard, 4.9 ppg
Kat Tudor, Freshman, Guard, 5.2 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 67.3 (123rd in nation, 8th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 54.5 (10, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.1 (43, 5)
Field-Goal Defense: 34.4 (7, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.7 (93, 2)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.0 (13, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 65.6 (275, 11)
Rebound Margin: 11.2 (4, 1)
Assists Per Game: 16.8 (17, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 14. 4 (80, 6)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2016 NCAA Round of 64 win over Troy
2016 NCAA Round of 32 win over St. Bonaventure
2016 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over DePaul
2016 NCAA Regional Final win over Baylor
2016 NCAA National Semifinal loss to Connecticut
2015 NCAA Round of 64 win over South Dakota State
2015 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Gonzaga
2014 NCAA Round of 64 win over Middle Tennessee State
2014 NCAA Round of 32 loss to South Carolina
2012 NIT First Round win over UC Davis
2012 NIT Second Round win over Saint Mary's
2012 NIT Third Round loss to Washington
2009 NIT Second Round win over Portland State
2009 NIT Third Round loss to New Mexico
2006 NIT Opening Round win over Santa Clara
2006 NIT First Round loss to Wyoming
2004 NIT First Round win over Gonzaga
2004 NIT Second Round win over Nebraska
2004 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Creighton
2003 NIT First Round win over UNLV
2003 NIT Second Round loss to Fresno State
2002 NIT First Round win over Hawaii
2002 NIT Second Round loss to Oregon
*all team stats through 3/2
