WBB: Oregon State Season Superlatives
MVP: Marie Gulich
Was there really any debate here? OSU’s “German Sensation” took the Pac-12 and eventually the national spotlight by storm this season after being the straw that stirred Scott Rueck’s Beavers. After the departures of Sydney Wiese, Breanna Brown, Kolbie Orum, and Gabby Hanson, OSU was considered to be in a rebuilding year in what was going to be Gülich’s final season. Yet, Gülich had other plans.
Her leadership, toughness, grit, poise, and playmaking ability was unleashed this season and she wrecked havoc on nearly every team and player she came in contact with. Whether it was locking down Lauren Cox and Kalani Brown in the Sweet Sixteen against Baylor, denying UCLA’s Monique Billings or slowing down Oregon’s Ruthy Hebard, the Beavers’ star always delivered. Gülich was Pac-12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and averaged 17.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. She’ll leave OSU as one of the most decorated low post players in its history, and she did it with such high expectations. It’s not easy to follow in the shoes of former Pac-12 POY Ruth Hamblin, but Gülich never complained. She went about her business and let her toughness and on the court play do all the talking for her. The Beavers will have a massive void in the middle next season as they are not only losing their MVP, but a backbone of their program.
Most improved: Mikayla Pivec
You’ve got to give credit to Mikayla Pivec. After the graduation of Wiese, Pivec was tasked with becoming the primary ball-handler for a team that has expectations that are nearly as high as Mt. Everest. She hadn’t played point-guard in years and is more comfortable off the ball, but Rueck and Co. needed a one year fill in point guard before Maryland transfer Destiny Slocum becomes eligible.
What Pivec did over the course of the season was unprecedented. Anytime you ask a player to learn a new position and change their game, the results are going to be unpredictable. Yet, despite frustrations along the way, Pivec took the challenge in stride and proved a lot of doubters wrong by leading her team to the Elite Eight. Pivec averaged 11.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in her new role and grew more comfortable game by game. By the time OSU’s season ended, Pivec was playing as well or better than expected and that is only going to help OSU moving forward. With a new, diverse skill set, Pivec will be a much better player when she settles back into an off-the-ball role in 2018-19.
Top Freshman: Taya Corosdale
If you’d asked me this question prior to the postseason, I would have given you a different answer for top freshman, but Corosdale play in March is the reason she earns the nod of top-freshman. Aleah Goodman had a strong case here, but the way that Taya Corosdale settled into her role and made plays that were well beyond her years in the postseason, it’s impossible to not give her due credit.
After having an up and down regular season where she started the final 25 games of the season, Corosdale made her mark in the Big Dance. It all started with her ability to stretch the floor and take pressure off of Gülich. Once Gülich started to command double-teams, Corosdale became the recipient of open looks from the three-point line and she cashed in on nearly half of her three-point attempts in the postseason. She knocked in seven threes in OSU’s four postseason games and secured important rebounds that made a crucial difference. With Corosdale finding her groove late in the season, the hope is that she will take a bigger maturation step on and off the court in the offseason to be a consistent scorer and shooter that the Beavers will need next season and they once again have to reload after losing their best player. Corosdale is a very intriguing player and I’m excited to see her over the next couple years because I don’t think we’ve seen her scratch the surface of her potential.
Most to prove in 2018: Destiny Slocum
So how is it that a player who has yet to log a minute in a Beaver uniform has the highest expectations on her shoulders next season? Well, naturally a player who was the national freshman of the year at Maryland in 2016-17 carries a certain amount of hype and that hype is now something the Beavers will have in their arsenal in 2018. It was considered a major coup from Rueck and his staff landing Slocum and if she is the same player she was at Maryland, the Beavers will be a handful in 2018.
Slocum averaged 11.1 points, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in her freshman year at Maryland and is the epitome of a true point guard. One of the biggest knocks on the Beavers this year was that they were without a true point guard all season as Pivec was playing out of position and that narrative lingered with the team all season despite a surprising Elite Eight run. The amount of eyes on Slocum now that’s she’s eligible will only continue to grow and with Gülich headed for the WNBA, the Beavers will need Slocum to deliver just like she did at Maryland in 2018-19 to keep their expectations at a high level.