Rueck on Beaver women: ‘A dangerous team this time of year’

Junior Jenna Villa, here losing the ball for a critical turnover near the end of Saturday’s overtime loss to Loyola Marymount, is the Beavers’ leading scorer and a key cog in their bid to claim the WCC tourney title (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

CORVALLIS — The regular season didn’t end the way it was supposed to for Oregon State’s women’s basketball team.

The Beavers wanted to send their seniors off with a victory over Loyola Marymount Saturday that could have thrust them into a tie for the West Coast Conference regular-season title.

Instead, Andjela Matic’s 3-point shot with 2.8 seconds left lifted the Lions to a 71-69 overtime victory and broke the hearts of the Beavers and the partisans among the Gill Coliseum crowd of 4,452.

“It came down to one shot, and (the Lions) hit it,” OSU coach Scott Rueck told the media afterward. “Congrats to them.”

All is not lost, however.

Oregon State (21-10 overall, 13-5 in WCC play) heads into the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed behind champion Loyola Marymount (21-8, 15-3), Gonzaga (22-9, 14-4) and Santa Clara (23-8, 13-5). After a first-round bye, OSU advances to a quarterfinals matchup, likely against No. 5 seed Portland (17-13, 11-7).

Beaver Nation remembers what happened in a similar situation a year ago.

Oregon State ended the regular season in fourth place in the conference, then swept through the opposition to claim the post-season tournament title and pave its way into the NCAA Tournament.

“I see us as in the same position as we were last year,” senior guard Tiara Bolden said. “We won the WCC (Tournament), and beforehand, people didn’t expect us to.

“There are a bunch of lessons we have learned along the way. Anything can happen in March. I feel very optimistic of what can happen.”

Rueck does, too.

“We are not at our best yet,” he said. “But we are so close … this is a very dangerous team at this time of the year. We have found ourselves, and who we are competitively.”

Saturday’s game was a chance for payback for the Beavers, who fell to the Lions 55-51 in L.A., on Jan. 15 to snap their seven-game win streak. The Beavers went without a basket for the final 5:15 in that one before a crowd announced at 249. (Average attendance for 15 LMU home games: 283. No wonder Rueck appreciates the interest in his program in Corvallis.)

The rematch was a roller coaster, with 12 lead changes and eight ties. The Beavers led 16-13 before the Lions closed with a 7-0 run, capped by Jess Lawson’s 40-foot prayer that was answered, banking in as the clock expired to end the first quarter.

It brought a hush to the crowd and proved to be a pivotal basket in the outcome.

Oregon State closed to within 35-34 at the half and took control in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 20-11 to take a 54-46 lead into the final period. Then the Beavers went cold, became tentative offensively and found themselves trailing 62-58 with 40 seconds remaining.

OSU point guard Kennedie Shuler went right to the rack for a layin to cut it to 62-60 with 36 seconds left. Rueck called for a trap, which helped create a Loyola turnover, and Shuler was quickly back the other way for another underhander at the rim. She made the basket and was fouled but missed the free throw, and the Lions called timeout with the score tied at 62-62 and 22 seconds to go.

Loyola didn’t even get a shot off, turning the ball over to Oregon State with 1.1 seconds on the clock. After a timeout, the Beavers inbounded in the frontcourt, but Shuler wound up taking a forced, contested jumper that wasn’t close. And it was on to overtime.

Oregon State led 67-64, but Loyola regained the lead on a Maya Hernandez layup and a pair of free throws by Lawson, going ahead 68-67 with 1:04 remaining.

Jenna Villa’s driving layup pushed the Beavers back on top 69-68 with 48 seconds to go. At the other end, Lawson missed a jumper, got the offensive rebound and then lost the ball, giving Oregon State the ball with 11 seconds to play.

The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.

After a timeout, the Beavers in-bounded in frontcourt. Villa took the inbounds pass and started to dribble with her left hand toward the baseline, but the ball slipped away and out of bounds with 11 seconds left. After a timeout, the ball wound up in the hands of Matic, a .405 shooter from 3-point range. She drilled one to make it 71-69. The Beavers, out of timeouts, got it to Shuler, who let loose from around midcourt with a Hail Mary that bounced off the backboard as the final whistle sounded.

“We fought like crazy today,” Rueck said. “We matched their physicality. The will to win was so intense from both teams. We wanted that game so badly.”

Had the Beavers won, they would have finished in a three-way tie with Loyola and Gonzaga for the WCC title. Due to head-to-head matchups, though, they would have entered the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. Instead, they are No. 4, which also provides for a first-round bye.

Oregon State would have won Saturday if not for the ferocious effort of Lawson, a 5-7 senior guard who scored 15 points and scrapped for a game-high 21 rebounds in 39 minutes.

“She is a baller,” Rueck praised. “She is a lot like Ken (Shuler) — similar size, and she impacts a game in every aspect. Twenty-one rebounds — that is incredible. Her midrange (shot) is so good. She plays angles defensively so well. Her will to win is a huge part of why they are doing what they are doing.”

Shuler contributed 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go with five assists, but she also had nine turnovers. At least half of them were on traveling calls. The Beavers turned it over 22 times, resulting in 24 Loyola points.

Rueck clearly was annoyed with the officiating.

Coach Scott Rueck believes his team is ready to make a run at a second straight WCC Tournament championship (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

“I have to go back and watch (video),” he said afterward. “But have we traveled this many times this whole month as opposed to what we were called for today in one quarter? You have to tell me how (Shuler) traveled, because none of us actually know. (Conference officials) start off the year telling us, ‘We are not going to call traveling. It’s not a point of emphasis anymore.’ That was confusing.”

Not sure about the emphasis, but most of the traveling calls seemed correct Saturday — shuffling the feet or walking before a dribble. And a couple of those went against the Lions, too.

Oregon State shot poorly from 3-point range — 5 for 20 — but did plenty of damage inside, outscoring Loyola 40-26 on points in the paint. The Beavers shot .518 from the field but made only 6 of 12 free throws. And they were 2 for 8 from the field in the fateful fourth quarter before Shuler clicked into motion late.

OSU defended Loyola well most of the game. The Lions made only 4 of 17 3-point attempts and shot .411, but they got off 73 shots from the field, 17 more than the Beavers.

Oregon State started the conference season 9-1, then lost three in a row before rebounding with a four-game win streak. Saturday’s loss costs some momentum, but in Rueck’s mind, it was nothing to worry about.

“Today’s game had some weirdness to it,” he told me. “I told the team, ‘Do not put any thought into this game. We are playing very good basketball right now. Let’s keep it up.’ ”

Through the long regular season, the Beavers have had Shuler, Bolden and Villa carry them to victories with high scoring outbursts.

“I don’t know when I have had a team that has three 30-point scorers on it, with the ‘bigs’ not being one of them,” Rueck said.

The goal going into the WCC tourney will be to get at least two — and hopefully three — of them going at the same time.

Shuler isn’t counted upon for help beyond the 3-point line — she is 4 for 33 this season — but needs to contribute offensively in ways other than her patented drives to the hoop. She has a nice turnaround jumper in the key that can be effective. While she shoots only .570 from the foul line, the Beavers need to be able to count on her in the clutch. And she must take care of the ball better than she did Saturday.

Villa and Bolden are both outstanding foul shooters and have had their moments offensively, but they will draw plenty of attention by defenses the rest of the way. Senior center Lizzy Williamson needs to be a factor, and sophomore guard Ally Schimel has to step up.

Prior to the Loyola game, Schimel had gone through a stretch of four games in which she had gone scoreless in 62 collective minutes. Schimel — shooting a team-high .434 from 3-point range —    hit two of five 3-point attempts against the Lions, but the Beavers would benefit from her being more aggressive looking for her shot.

“Ally is such a competitor,” Rueck said. “She stretches the floor for us.”

Rueck tightened his bench against Loyola, with only six players commanding as many as eight minutes on the court. A post-season spark from freshmen Lara Alonso, Keira Lindemans and Katelyn Fields would come in handy.

Oregon State’s ace in the hole is the man calling the shots. Rueck, 56, has coached the Beavers to 20-win seasons 11 times in his 15 full seasons at the helm. He has coached OSU teams to the Final Four, to conference championships, in the biggest of games. He knows how to win, and he has done it this season without OSU’s most talented player, Cat Ferreira, who is redshirting following knee surgery.

The Beavers have done it with a structured offense and a scrappy, switching man-to-man defense that has held opponents to .369 shooting from the field and .305 from beyond the arc. They rarely foul; they have shot 517 free throws to just 321 for foes this season. They have enough size and toughness to outrebound foes by an average of more than six a game.

“They are understanding how important the defensive end is,” Rueck said. “We have really grown there, and in our rebounding, which gives us a chance every night.”

Though there is no dominant team in the WCC this season, there will be no pushovers to face in the tournament. If the Beavers win in the quarterfinals, they will face Loyola in the semis. On the other side of the bracket is Gonzaga, with whom OSU has split a pair of games this season, and Santa Clara, an 83-70 winner in their only meeting.

This Oregon State team is a together group, one that will play with unity and passion. A lot of things have to go right for them to repeat history with a second straight conference tournament title. With Rueck manning the first seat, though, don’t bet against them.

► ◄

Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below. On the comments entry screen, only your name is required, your email address and website are optional, and may be left blank.

Follow me on X (formerly Twitter).

Like me on Facebook.

Find me on Instagram.