Oregon State Women's Basketball: Wednesday Report
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The Oregon State women's basketball team continues to roll like a well-oiled machine two weeks into Pac-12 play.
Despite losing sharpshooting junior guard Kat Tudor for the season, Beavers' head coach Scott Rueck has been pleased with his groups' 4-0 start to conference play.
"There's not much not to like," Rueck said with a smile. "We've responded to adversity of losing Kat and we've started the Pac-12 very nicely. We survived the first weekend and played okay, but this past weekend with our backs against the wall without Kat and I loved the way we competed. We played at a different level and our focus and execution was the best that it has been all season. We played really good basketball."
The Beavers (14-2, 2-0 Pac-12) responded to the adversity of losing Tudor's production in a variety of ways against UCLA and USC as the Beavers had multiple players step up in each game. Whether it was Maddie Washington and Aleah Goodman leading the way against the Trojans, Destiny Slocum, Taya Corosdale and Jo Grymek against the Bruins, or Mikayla Pivec scoring 20 plus points in each game, the Beavers had different playmakers rise to the occasion to lead them to just their third sweep in Los Angeles in program history.
"The way we approached both games competitively was excellent," Rueck said. "The way we prepared all week long was excellent. They were probably a little scared going into the games and that's a good place to be. You better have that healthy fear to motivate you and we were playing two teams that went into the Bay (Area) and played Cal and Stanford extremely well. We knew these were two teams absolutely capable of beating us if we had an off night and we came out and got great performances from everyone."
Pivec, who's became more of a scoring presence since the loss of Tudor, noted that the Beavers had this weekend circled on their calendars since last season as the sting of losing to both USC and UCLA on the road last year hung in their minds.
"It was a huge weekend for us against the L.A. schools. Last year we had a not so great trip and so we had a little revenge that we wanted to get this year. We had a really bad taste in our mouth after last year and it wasn't a fun trip home. We remembered how painful it was and during a practice the next week, we had 27 down and backs for each turnover in the USC game, so it was easy to remember how poor that weekend went."
Added Rueck: "We did a really nice job of getting to the rim and taking what they gave us. Jo (Grymek) is emerging as a scorer, Maddie (Washington) is emerging, which gives us a fifth scorer. Most of the time this season, that position has been a peripheral role, taking handoffs and rebound cutbacks, and now we're able to throw the ball inside because they're feeling more capable and confident in their game. When you five scorers who can beat you at the rim, that's a hard team to beat."
Washington, who scored a career high 19 points against USC, feels that the team has handled the loss of Tudor in stride and have had several players throughout the roster step up and rise to the occasion.
"Everybody in some way had to grow up or rise up to the challenge and our team has handled that very well thus far," Washington said.
Added Pivec: "We know injuries incur, and so everyone has to step up in their role and do a little more of what they can to help the team. I was really proud of Maddie and Jo to see them increase their confidence and be able to contribute more has been a big plus."
This weekend, the Beavers are back in the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum as they're set to host Arizona (13-3, 3-2) on Friday and Arizona State (12-4, 3-2) on Saturday.
"ASU is ASU... It's always a war against them," Rueck said. "They do a great job and play as hard as anyone. They're an energy based team and they play as hard as anyone does. It's particularly evident on the defensive end and they're always so focused so it feels like a wrestling match out there on the court. Arizona is one of the teams that has really taken a step forward from a year ago. They had an eye-opening experience against Stanford (78-48 loss) that taught them what Stanford can do to you. However, they've had a ton of success with point guard Aari McDonald who was at Washington a couple years ago. They've got belief, confidence, a new hope, and talent. We're playing two teams that are capable of beating us and so we're excited to get back in Gill for a great weekend."
Rueck also talked about just how unique and special it is that the Oregon State men's and women's basketball teams are one of just two schools in the country (South Carolina being the other) to be undefeated in conference play.
"We hope they keep winning," Rueck said. "It's incredible, and we're so happy for the guys to get off to the great start they have. Like any program does, you pay your dues to learn how to win and there's no shortcuts to it... it takes a while. We were there several years ago and then it all aligns and you realize you can beat anybody. It's fun to have both of us going and I hope we can both keep it up. There's nothing like winning."
Added Washington: "It's great to see them winning. They work just as hard as we do and put in the same amount of hours as we do and so it's great to see it all finally paying off for them."