March Madness Preview: Oregon State WBB is Locked and Loaded

The regular season has come to an end and the bracket has been set. What does that mean? It’s March folks, and the Oregon State women’s basketball team is gearing up to make another deep postseason run led by head coach Scott Rueck and star point guard Sydney Wiese.

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The Beavers are coming off an “off week” of sorts after losing to the Stanford Cardinal in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game in early March. Despite the loss, the Beavers still won the Pac-12 regular season title and have the second most wins in program history for a season with 29. Last year’s Final Four team holds the record with 32 wins in a season. If the Beavers are to make it to the Final Four again, they would break that record.

The Beavers were selected as a 2 seed in the Stockton Region, keeping them on the West Coast right up until the Final Four if they should make it that far. One of the advantages that the Beavers have over anyone else in the Stockton Region is that they are one of three teams in the region to be located on the west coast. All of the remaining teams having to travel at least one time zone to get to Stockton should they make it that far. It may not play a big factor, but it could be something worth keeping an eye on.

The No. 2 seed Beavers (29-4; 16-2 Pac-12) will start March Madness in the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum this weekend as they open with LBSU. The Beavers have been an extremely formidable team at home all season, only losing to Marquette and USC in Gill. From top to bottom, the Beavers are the best team on paper of these four, and based on what I’ve seen from the team this week, it’s Final Four or bust. So many current and now former players have said that the Final Four is the standard for OSU WBB, and I do believe that when the Beavers are playing at the top of their game, that they are one of the most complete teams in the country.

Long Beach State (23-10; 12-4 Big West) comes into Corvallis as the No. 15 seed in the Stockton Region, after winning the Big West Tournament Championship.

The 49ers won the Big West title for the first time since 1991, and this will be their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1992.

Despite the 49ers coming in as a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Rueck emphasized how good this LBSU team is. The Beavers got the opportunity to see the 49ers firsthand in Las Vegas in the Play4Kay Tournament earlier this season. Rueck mentioned that they are a very long and athletic team that likes to force a lot of turnovers. They rank 15th in NCAA women’s basketball with 20.58 turnovers forced per game.

For the Beavers, this poses a bit of a concern, because OSU at times has a tendency to turn the ball over. Turnovers cost OSU in a loss to USC earlier this season, and if the Beavers are going to make a run in the postseason this year, they have to assert their dominance on their home court.

Prediction: OSU 75, LBSU 50

On the opposite side of the coin, No. 7 seed Creighton and No. 10 seed Toledo will also be playing in the Corvallis regional this weekend as well. The winners of the two games will meet up on Sunday with a spot in the Sweet Sixteen on the line.

Creighton (23-7; 16-2 Big East) comes into Corvallis after finishing second in the Big East. The BlueJays were most recently defeated by the red-hot Marquette Golden Eagles in the Big East Tournament. Creighton is a very dangerous team in my opinion. They only lost two games in the Big East all season (Depaul twice) and perhaps most impressively beat Marquette two times in the regular season including a 83-63 shellacking in the first meeting. Even though they lost in the Big East Tournament to Marquette, this team has the benefit of playing in a really good conference, and could play spoiler in Corvallis.

The Toledo Rockets (25-8; 12-6 Mid-American) head into Gill Coliseum on fire, winning their last eight games, and most importantly fighting their way through four rounds of Mid American Conference Tournament play to earn the conference’s automatic bid. The interesting thing about Toledo is that they are winners of eight straight, and actually finished 5th in the Mid-American Conference. If the Rockets hadn’t won the tournament, they would have most likely ended up in the WNIT. The Rockets are also extremely familiar with Pac-12 teams, having played the UCLA Bruins earlier this season. As Beaver fans know well, the Bruins are one of the best teams in the country when they are playing at the top of their game and the Rockets only lost to UCLA by 2 points.

Prediction: Based on Toledo’s hot streak, I’m picking them to pull an upset on the BlueJays. Toledo 66, Creighton 64

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Scott Rueck on being on west coast for Stockton Region...

“I love it,” Rueck said with a smile. “This team has earned it, and the crowd has earned it. The fans have been so much a part of what we have accomplished over the years and we got to play in front of a sellout this year, and we’ve been the best team on the west coast. The fact that we get to stay home potentially if we can make it to the sweet sixteen is very fitting.”

Mikayla Pivec on her first NCAA Tournament...

“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Pivec said. “This season has been all that I’ve wanted and more. We still have hopes and dreams to get to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and Final Four and that would be the cherry on top of this season.”

Sydney Wiese on Long Beach State...

“We played with them in the Play4Kay tournament in Las Vegas during the Christmas season and based off that tournament they switch defenses a lot, run in transition, and try and keep you on your heels because of that switching defense,” Wiese said. “They are a very talented team.”

Sydney Wiese on playing in Pac-12 conference...

“Having seven Pac-12 teams make the NCAA Tournament is unheard of,” Wiese said. “It shows how difficult the conference season has been for us and how we beat each other up but now it’s paying off because of the number of teams that made it. It’s #BackthePac time. Our conference is going to represent very well.”