Nov. 2, 2012

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CORVALLIS, Ore. - One of the more anticipated Oregon State women's basketball seasons in recent memory kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 3:30 p.m. when the Beavers host Seattle Pacific in an exhibition at Gill Coliseum.

The game will be streamed live on Oregon State's Pac-12.com channel at this link. Live updates will also be available through Gametracker as well as by following the team on Twitter @OregonStateWBB.

The contest, OSU's lone tune-up before starting regular-season play next Saturday, highlights a busy day at Gill. The Oregon State women's volleyball team plays host to California at 11 a.m. and the men's basketball team caps off the action with an exhibition against Lewis & Clark at 7:30 p.m. Women's basketball single game reserved tickets can be purchased for $10, while general admission tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for youth and senior citizens and $2 each for a group of 12 or more.

Fans that purchase a ticket to Sunday's women's basketball game can get into the morning's volleyball match for free. Volleyball ticket holders can also get into the women's basketball game for free. Tickets for all home games can be purchased by visiting beavertickets.com, calling 1-800-GO-BEAVS or visiting the Oregon State Athletic Ticket Office located in Gill Coliseum, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

OSU returns nine letterwinners, including four starters, to a team that shattered expectations a year ago, claiming 20 victories for only the third time in the last 28 years and earning a trip to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT. No Beaver squad has had a better postseason run since the 1996 team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Patricia Bright, Ali Gibson, Sage Indendi and Alyssa Martin started all 33 games a season ago. Bright set the school record with 115 blocks to finish sixth in the nation and in the process became the first league player in 22 years to reach triple digits. That total is the second-highest in Pac-12 history and came just one year after current professional El Sara Greer swatted a then-school record 92 in 2010-11.

Gibson's 56 three-pointers made in 2011-12 are the eighth most in team history and her 387 points are the fifth-most for an OSU freshman. Indendi and Martin are also in the top 10 all-time from long range. The former's 121 career three-pointers put her just 57 shy of All-American Felicia Ragland for the top spot and Martin's 95 place her seventh.

Those four, along with fellow returners ShaKiana Edwards-Teasley, Quortni Fambro, Thais Pinto, Katie Schrock and Mollee Schwegler, are joined by an impressive crew of five freshmen. One of the nation's top recruiting classes this year, the quartet from the Pacific Northwest - Ruth Hamblin, Deven Hunter, Samantha Siegner, Khadidja Toure and Samantha Siegner - was collectively ranked as high as 17th in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz.

The 11-game improvement in the win column from Head Coach Scott Rueck's first year at the helm (2010-11; 9-21) was the greatest single-year leap in that category since Oregon State's 1990-91 squad went 17-11 after winning just five games the previous season. That leadership also earned Rueck Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors as voted on by the conference media last March.

Predicted to finish 12th by the conference's coaches prior to last season, OSU rode a 9-9 mark in Pac-12 action to secure fifth place at year's end. In finishing 2011-12 seven spots above where they were picked at the beginning of the season, Oregon State made the largest jump between expected finish and actual result in Pac-12 history. No school had ever outperformed expectations by more than five places in the league's final standings.

Oregon State's six-game Pac-12 winning streak from Jan. 21 to Feb. 11 last season was the Beavers' longest such string of victories in conference since their 1995 squad reeled off seven in a row en route to an NCAA Tournament berth. OSU has led the Pac-12 in blocked shots the past two seasons and finished in the top 30 nationally both years. The Beavers' defense also held their opponents to a miniscule 35 percent shooting a season ago, the 18th best mark in the country.

As a team, OSU set a number of records last season, becoming one of the most statistically successful groups in school history. The 2011-12 Beavers set the mark for total rebounds (1,302) and blocked shots (183). Their 2,141 points are now second in school history and their 64.9 points per game average was the most in more than a decade (2001-02; 66.4).

Individually, Alyssa Martin's Pac-12 All-Academic recognition capped off an impressive string of postseason accolades. Earlysia Marchbanks was the team's first All-Pac-12 First Team selection since 2007, Patricia Bright earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and Ali Gibson was tabbed Pac-12 Honorable Mention and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Marchbanks also became the first player in Oregon State history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists.

That success helped the Beavers draw more spectators through the doors of Gill Coliseum to watch the team in 2011-12 than had attended in any of the past 16 seasons.

Oregon State and Seattle Pacific have played once before, with the Falcons claiming a 60-50 win at the Area Qualifying Tournament in Portland on March 4, 1977. SPU has advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for 15 consecutive seasons, including two Final Four appearances.

OSU will be aiming for its first back-to-back 20-win seasons since the early 1980's when it kicks off the regular season with a home tilt against Western Washington on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.

Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.

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