Who knew? Beaver women in driver’s seat in WCC race

Senior Jenna Villa rebounded from a scoreless performance in Thursday’s win over San Diego, scoring 15 points in the Beavers’ 75-53 romp past San Francisco (courtesy Dom Cusimano)

Updated 2/3/2026 7:20 AM

CORVALLIS — Even the heartiest optimist must have wondered how Oregon State would fare this season without Catarina Ferreira.

When the Beavers lost standout senior guard — last season’s West Coast Conference Tournament MVP — to a season-ending knee injury in October, the doomsday patrol swarmed the scene quickly.

Best player gone, your favorite scribe surmised. Uh oh. Trouble in paradise for Scott Rueck’s crew. Perhaps a middling season lay ahead.

Even Rueck, who sees sunlight on the darkest of days, was left to wonder.

But look at the Beavers after their impressive 75-53 victory over San Francisco Saturday before an appreciative crowd of 4,381 that included more than 40 OSU women’s basketball alumni.

Oregon State (17-6 overall) leads the WCC with a 9-1 record and only a month of the regular season still remaining. Junior point guard Kennedie Shuler has blossomed into a star, junior forward Jenna Villa has assumed a scorer’s role — she averages a team-high 15.9 points — and the Beavers may have found a center in Lizzy Williamson.

The 6-5 Williamson blocked four USF shots in her 26 minutes (courtesy Dom Cusimano)

“Given the circumstances, I am pretty pleased with where we are at,” Rueck said after Saturday’s victory. “Who knew what we were going to do once Cat went down? Had we had Cat, maybe I would have told you before the (season), ‘Yeah, I expect to be right here.’ After she went down, it was, ‘Well, it will be interesting.’

“We didn’t know how (players) would grow and develop. For where this team is and the level that they’re improving every week, I am very encouraged.”

In his 16th season at the OSU helm, Rueck continues to work his magic with a crew that doesn’t wow you with talent but is beginning to take on the look of a team that might successfully defend its WCC Tournament championship of a year ago.

Against USF, Shuler — the reigning Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week — contributed 19 points and seven assists despite sitting out the entire second quarter with two fouls. Williamson, a 6-5 senior in her seventh season of collegiate ball, collected a season-high 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots in 26 minutes. And the 6-1 Villa got back into the scoring column with 15 points after being shut out in Thursday’s 61-43 win over San Diego.

The 6-foot Ferreira has been a cheerleader from the OSU bench this season and intends to use a medical redshirt season in 2026-27.

“It was so unfortunate for Cat (to get injured),” Shuler said. “She is really good, and I absolutely love playing with her. I was upset to not have her out there this season.

“But we had to rally together and find a way, and we did a good job of that. Jenna hasn’t played the ‘4,’ but now she is doing really good at it. We have stepped up as a group and played hard for (Cat) this season. Can’t wait to get back out there with her next year.”

Oregon State had four players scoring in double figures, including sophomore guard Ally Schimel with 11 points.

“With the best teams, you don’t know where it is coming from,” Rueck said. “We always want to be the team that is unselfish. We rarely have anyone average more than 16 points. We spread it around. That unselfish play is a nightmare for teams to deal with.”

Had Rueck said “more than 17 points,” he would have been right on. In the Rueck era in Corvallis, no player has averaged 18 points. Jamie Weisner (17.3 in 2015-16), Marie Gulich (17.5 in 2017-18) and Raegan Beers (17.5 in 2023-24) have been the highest scorers.

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The Beavers jumped in front of USF (13-9, 6-5) 18-8 en route to a 23-14 lead after one quarter. But Shuler picked up her second foul in the final minute of the period; Rueck chose to sit her for the rest of the half. The coach was asked afterward if it is an automatic decision not to play a starter with two fouls in the first half.

“I am not locked into any decision,” Rueck said. “There is a time and a place for everything. I told her when she came off, you are going to have to play with three fouls. I thought that might be the way it would go.

“I was pleased for the most part the way it went without her. I also thought it was a great opportunity for Cloe (Vecina, the backup point guard) in a big moment. Just the way the game went, it felt right. It didn’t seem it was worth the gamble to put (Shuler) back out there in the first half.”

I have watched Rueck’s teams play for 16 years, and I can say he pretty much has a rule that players sit with two fouls before halftime. It makes more sense with “bigs,” who have more of a tendency to commit fouls. Perimeter players have less trouble with that, and Shuler averages just over two fouls a game. (Rueck takes pride in the fact that his teams annually are among the lowest-fouling teams in Division I.) She is smart enough to know not to commit a cheap third foul. You see what I am getting at.

I am not sure what in Oregon State’s second-quarter performance Rueck could have been pleased about. The Beavers’ offense went stagnant in Shuler’s absence. They scored eight points on 4-for-12 shooting — 0 for 4 from 3-point range — in the period and went into the half clinging to a 31-28 lead.

With Shuler back in the lineup, the Beavers kicked into gear offensively and put together quarters of 23 and 21 points in the second half to win going away. The Barlow High grad was aggressive with her drives, either scoring on an underhand layin (she even hit one left-handed), stopping for a step-back 8-foot jumper or dishing out to a teammate for an open shot. Shuler’s plus-minus for the game was 25 points, but it seemed even higher. And she didn’t commit a foul in 19 second-half minutes.

A couple of times, Shuler dropped the ball off to Williamson, who may have had her best game since her redshirt freshman season at Southern Utah in 2021, when she dropped 35 points and 23 rebounds in a 120-59 win over SAGU American Indian College of Phoenix. The veteran southpaw, who transferred from North Carolina State after last season, sank 9 of 12 shots and showed good footwork in her best performance as a Beaver.

“Lizzy was absolutely fantastic,” Rueck gushed. “It is typically hard to get the ball to the post against (the Dons). We did a great job doing that today. We are syncing up timing. Now the inside presence is coming along as a scoring threat. Our ability to feature (the post players) is getting better.”

San Diego focused its defense on Villa, who went scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting against San Diego. The transfer from Washington State scored seven of Oregon State’s first nine points Saturday and, though she was only 4 for 15 from the field, helped keep the Don defense honest.

Defense is always a priority for Rueck, and the Beavers work hard at that end. They are tied with Pepperdine for first in the WCC in opponents field goal percentage (.376) and second in opponents scoring (60.6) and limit foes to .318 in 3-point percentage. At the offensive end, the Beavers are second in both field goal percentage (.448) and 3-point percentage (.355).

Shuler, Schimel and senior Tiara Bolden are elite perimeter defenders. They took turns on 6-foot sophomore Candy Edokpaigbe, USF’s leading scorer, holding her to 13 points on 6-for-20 shooting. And Williamson showed Saturday that she can be an anchor in the middle at that end of the court.

Through the middle parts of Saturday’s game, Oregon State traded baskets with USF when the Dons got the ball up quickly in transition. But they managed only 10 points in the final period when the game got away from them.

“They pushed the ball well at us,” Rueck said. “The most foundational thing you can do is get back and defend. Once that tightened up late in the third quarter, it was like the game was over. Our fourth-quarter defense was lockdown. It didn’t give them anything they wanted. They were going to a tough shot every single possession. That is Beaver basketball.”

I asked Rueck about things he would like to see his team improve upon through the remainder of the season. The Beavers are averaging 15 turnovers a game. There were a few careless passes on Saturday.

“We are giving away too many possessions offensively,” he said. “I would like to see our depth develop a bit more. There is a standard defensively we still have to get to. We have seen it in stretches, but not for the full 40 minutes. I would like to see that continue to develop. I think they can; I think they will.”

From the bully pulpit, I offer a few more. The Beavers ought to get into transition more and get some easy baskets. They walk it upcourt too often. Schimel, shooting .467 from 3-point range, needs to look for her shot more. She even had a nice drive to the hoop on Saturday. More of that, please. Williamson may have turned the corner as the Beavers’ center, but 6-8 backup Nene Sow played only four minutes against the Dons. For 10 minutes, Rueck went small with 6-3 freshman Lara Alonso in the post. The Beavers need 15 minutes of good post play behind Williamson.

Senior center Lizzy Williamson swirls for two of her 18 points in Saturday’s win over the Dons (courtesy Dom Cusimano)

All three of Rueck’s freshmen — Alonso, 6-foot Keira Lindemans and 5-11 Katelyn Field — are promising. If they don’t fly the coop for more NIL money somewhere, they should develop into starters down the road.

“We have a lot more weapons that I see in practice that still aren’t quite there in games,” Rueck said. He may have been talking about his rookie trio.

Oregon State’s remaining schedule — four games at home, four away — is not easy. The Beavers have at least one game with each of the four teams immediately below them in the standings. They play at Gonzaga (16-7, 8-2) next Thursday. There is a home-and-home series with Portland (13-10, 7-4). There are home games with Santa Clara (18-6, 8-3) and Loyola Marymount (14-8, 8-3). The Lions handed OSU its only conference loss 55-51 on Jan. 15 in L.A.

The other remaining dates are at home against Washington State (4-20, 3-8) and on the road against Pacific (8-13, 3-7) and San Diego (8-15, 2-). A prediction: Oregon State loses its next two games — at Gonzaga and Portland — then sweeps the final six games to finish 15-3. That would leave only the Zags with a chance to finish ahead of them in conference, and I don’t see them going unbeaten the rest of the way.

It was an emotional weekend for Rueck, with so many of his former players taking the time to make the trip to Corvallis for a very large reunion. It was a reminder that there is more to college athletics than the chance to make some quick money.

“For lack of a better phrase, it warms the heart,” he said. “It is the mission and vision of this program to create a home for our (players), and that stretches beyond their time here (as students). To have more than 40 alums back, and most of the Final Four alums back to celebrate their (2016) season, was so special.”

It was alumni weekend, and members of the 2016 Final Four team were on hand, including (from left) Jamie Weisner Scott, Ruth Hamblin Davis, Kate McWilliams Stanley, Marie Gulich, Gabby Hansen and Kolbie Orum Pomeroy. Two other starting members of the team, Sydney Wiese and Deven Hunter, were in Oregon State’s huddle at the time the photo was taken — as assistant coaches for the Beavers (courtesy Nick McWilliams)

Rueck took a punch to the gut in 2024 when six of his top seven players left via the transfer portal. He rolled with it, won the WCC Tournament and a spot in the NCAA Tournament last season, and has this team in position to do it again next month.

There is stability in the lineup. Shuler, Schimel, Bolden and Villa have started every game this season. Williamson took over for Sow as a starter at center after nine games and has been there since. Perhaps the freshmen will step up through the next four weeks and provide a bigger spark off the bench.

“I think about how much better we are playing right now than we were in November,” Rueck said. “The difference is light years — defensively especially, but overall. That progression will continue to happen as we fine-tune. We are adding pieces as we move toward the final moments that this group will get to play together.

“The leadership is in place. The spirit is great in the locker room. They play for each other. And we are getting better. Our coaching staff is functioning at such a high level, I am pleased with the way we prepare across the board. We are giving ourselves a great chance (to win) every night.”

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