GAME THREAD - Pac-12 Tournament - ASU 2:30 Wed.

Our offensive execution sucks we need skilled passers and slashers. If you can’t shoot from the outside why aren’t we forcing cuts to the basket to either score or dish off. We are lost in the post area. We throw up missed 3,s all day and call that a half court offense. Our present guards will go inside but are afraid to shoot and kick the ball out of desperation. We timed out twice in the second half because we couldn’t wouldn’t can’t drive to the hoop and possibly get fouled. Our half course offense almost cost us this game. Geez I’ll close my eyes tommarow. To think we almost got Clark from Iowa to come here. Coach keep slugging it out on the recruiting trail one of these days we could get lucky. We can only hope. But go beavs

Re: Clark...really? Is that confirmed or just a rumor? Most thought she was headed to Notre Dame, I find it hard to believe OSU was the runner up. Also, she just wouldn't be the same player if she was in Corvallis. Rueck simply wouldn't allow her to play with as much freedom as she enjoys at Iowa.

I actually enjoyed that game. Beavers led wire to wire and overcame a typically physical ASU team. OSU’s first ever W vs ASU in the Conference Tournament. 

We now return to the regularly scheduled bitching session. 

Really… Your plan is to have a point guard dribble through a trapping defense? 

Hmm

Nick D's O-Live subscriber article on the game:

By Nick Daschel | The Oregonian/OregonLive
LAS VEGAS – It didn’t seem in the cards, the frenetic finish that capped Oregon State’s 59-54 win over Arizona State.

The Beavers were well on their way to crushing ASU in their Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament first-round game Wednesday at Michelob Ultra Arena. Leading by 17 with 5:34 remaining, it was all but time to pull out the Sharpie and write Oregon State’s name on the tourney bracket as Stanford’s quarterfinal opponent.


A comeback, from a team that made 10 of its first 50 shots?

But it happened, and it came fast. Arizona State was canning shots from all distances. Taya Hanson hit three three-pointers, one a bank shot. Jade Loville, once 0 of 14 in the game, made a corner three. ASU ramped up the full-court pressure and the Beavers were on the verge of wilting.

Then, as quickly as Arizona State made its run, Oregon State pushed back with a brilliant play from a couple freshmen.

With OSU leading 53-51 and less than minute remaining, Arizona State had the Beavers rattled in the backcourt. The ball got loose at one stage, but Talia von Oelhoffen saved it. Nonetheless, OSU was on the verge of a 10-second backcourt violation.

“I looked up and I thought I needed a timeout, to be honest,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said.

Then von Oelhoffen, who already during her young college career has thrown a highlight reel of spectacular passes, fired a 40-foot dime to Greta Kampschroeder, who had slipped past the defense in front court. Rather than turn, secure the ball and wait for her teammates to reach front court, Kampschroeder went on the offensive. She took the ball straight to the basket for a layup, giving Oregon State a 55-51 lead with 49 seconds left.




“I was just trying to be safe and I saw (Kampschroeder) had broke away from her defender,” von Oelhoffen said. “Threw it and she ended up scoring, so it was a good play.”


Kampschroeder’s bucket didn’t end the game, but it put Arizona State back on its heels. Down four points, the Sun Devils started missing shots, and OSU was on its way to Thursday.




“It was like we couldn’t catch a break there for a few minutes, and that was a break,” Rueck said. “You stick with it, and good things happen. That was the theme today, in a lot of instances.”

Speaking of sticking with something because good things happen, that’s Ellie Mack. The senior has been through a lot during her six-year college career, including a Patriot League player of the year campaign while at Bucknell. This season, the 6-foot-3 senior forward comes off the bench, because it works.

Mack added to her stellar bench play résumé Wednesday when Rueck put her into the game two minutes into the third quarter. Mack took over, helping OSU increase a six-point lead to 18 as she scored 11 points during a six-minute stretch.

Mack led OSU with 14 points. She might not start, but Mack is as valuable as anyone on the Beavers’ roster in her role as a superb sub.

“It honestly takes some of the pressure off, just because I get to come in when everybody’s been playing for five or six minutes. I’ve kind of already seen what the flow of the game is looking like, and I kind of fit seamlessly in,” Mack said.

Oregon State leaned hard on its defense, particularly in getting Loville under wraps. Loville became the focus of the Beavers’ game plan after scoring 33 points in the Sun Devils’ win over OSU earlier this season. Loville scored the toughest nine points ever, as she missed her first 14 shots and went 3 of 20 overall.


“We defended her with a different intensity,” Rueck said. “She gave us a lesson in the first game at their place.”

Now the stakes increase. Oregon State (14-12) faces a game that’s likely make or break for an NCAA Tournament berth when the Beavers play top-seeded Stanford in a 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal pairing Thursday.

Win, and the Beavers’ NCAA hopes perk up considerably. Lose, and Oregon State is probably headed to the WNIT.

Throughout the season, Rueck has talked about the Beavers going through new experiences, because of the team’s first-year transfers and freshmen. But he feels ready to play Stanford, even if the Cardinal whacked OSU by margins of 23 and 24 points during the regular season.

“Today was new, this venue for many people. Tomorrow, it won’t be … tomorrow, this will be the third time all of us on this team play against Stanford,” Rueck said. “So there’s really no excuses. We’re all veterans now.”

-- Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel

I saw a much better defensive effort from this OSU team including how our perimeter players got a hand in the face on nearly every 3-point attempt (minus the 4th quarter scramble by ASU). Additionally, I saw our perimeter defenders force their perimeter players into our defensive posts, like the old days of Beaver defenses. It was a much better defensive effort. Stanford will be a much different challenge as all the Stanford players are excellent shooters and they are much better offensive unit on the court. I'll be happy if the game ends with the winning margin less than 10 points.

AMEN on the Greta we saw yesterday--she is a very good defender already.  I liked how Greta fought through the ASU elevator screen, even though the refs thought Greta fouled ASU (which was not the case).  That is the kind of Jamie Weisner defensive effort needed on the perimeter.  Good going Greta!