It may come as a surprise, but the Oregon State women’s basketball team is in the middle of what could be their best season of all time. After a gutsy win against then #12 ranked Arizona State on Saturday and a total annihilation of Arizona on Sunday morning, the Beavers are in the driver’s seat to win the Pac-12; they are currently ranked seventh in the nation.
Where did this season come from? The last time I paid attention to the women’s basketball team, most of the team had quit on former coach Lavonda Wagner (it turns out throwing chairs at halftime and telling players to sign up for Weight Watchers sessions isn’t a successful coaching practice), only four players remained on the roster, and many wanted to shut down the program temporarily because they didn’t want the team to turn into beaver stew in the competitive Pac-12.
Head Coach Scott Rueck inherited this skeleton of a program in 2010 and is playing the roll of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. After being told that teams generally need at least five players to compete, he held open tryouts and added new bodies to his roster (my favorite anecdote is about a 47-year-old women who showed up based on her rec league experience). If he saw a tall girl on campus, she was invited in for a practice. On the court, the Beavers used grit and determination to stay competitive. Rueck has done everything for his team short of sporting a wig and taking the floor. Last year, it finally paid off: Cinderella finally made it to the ball as the Beavers participated in their first NCAA tournament since 1996.
En route to March Madness in 2014, the Beavers were the biggest turnaround story in the country. This year, the Beavers are looking for more than just a tournament bid. The Beavers are led by sophomore sharpshooter Sydney Wiese (shooting a Wesley Matthewsesque 46% from three point land), center Ruth Hamblin (leading the Pac-12 in blocks), and all-around athlete Jamie Weisner, who was named espnW player of the week at the end of January. If the Beavers roll through their last four games and the Pac-12 conference tournament, they could be looking at a #1 or #2 seed for the tournament.
The Beavers are undefeated at home and fans are beginning to notice. 7,652 showed up for the girls’ Civil War last month, which was the most since 1996. They could use the crowd support to finish out the season. The Beavers are on the road this weekend against Utah and Colorado before finishing the regular season at Gill Coliseum against Stanford and California, two very good Pac-12 teams. However, this time the Beavers will be the favorite.
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