Nov. 6, 2012

Tweet

Free Live Stream | Gametracker | Tickets | Game Notes (PDF)

The Game: Oregon State opens its 2012-13 schedule when it hosts Western Washington on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.

Tracking the Beavs: The game will be streamed live for free on Oregon State's Pac-12.com channel and air on the radio on KTHH 990AM with Devin Higgins on the call. Live stats are also available via Gametracker and fans can follow @OregonStateWBB on Twitter for all game day information, including score updates, photos and observations.

Tickets: Tickets for the game are available by visiting beavertickets.com , calling 1-800-GOBEAVS or visiting the Oregon State Athletic Ticket Office located at Gill Coliseum, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Update For Monday's Game Against Cal Poly: The Beavers' second game of the season is on Monday, Nov. 12 against Cal Poly at 7 p.m. Some tickets, printed before the schedule was finalized, say that game is on Tuesday the 13th. Please be aware of the correct date and time. Tickets with the wrong date will still be honored for the tilt against the Mustangs on Monday.

Title IX Celebration: The Oregon State women's basketball team will honor past greats during halftime of Saturday's game as part of the Parade of Champions Title IX celebration. A reception and dinner will be held Saturday night beginning at 5 p.m. to honor former women's student-athletes from all sports at Oregon State. Registration is $40 and can be made via ourbeavernation.com/parade-of-champions.

The Rundown: Oregon State enters 2012-13 coming off a trip to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT and only the team's third 20-win season in the past 28 years ... OSU was picked to finish fifth in the 2012 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll, the highest projection in program history ... Oregon State set school records for rebounds (1,302) and blocked shots (183) last season and scored the second-most points (2,141) in program history ... Head Coach Scott Rueck was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year by the conference media after leading the Beavers to their greatest single-year improvement since 1991 ... OSU led the Pac-12 in blocked shots for the second consecutive season and has finished in the top 30 nationally both years ... The Beavers' defense held their opponents to 35 percent shooting from the floor a season ago, the 18th best mark in the country ... Oregon State's six-game Pac-12 winning streak last season was the Beavers' longest such string of victories since 1995 ... Patricia Bright is coming off a season in which she 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 ... Ali Gibson's 56 three-point field goals last year are the eighth most in school history ... Sage Indendi (3rd; 121 3FGM) and Alyssa Martin (7th; 95 3FGM) are already amongst the best career three-point shooters at OSU.

How We Got Here: Oregon State's 20-13 overall record in 2011-12 was one of the school's best marks in quite some time. It was only the third time in the past 28 seasons that OSU has reached the 20-win plateau. OSU went 20-12 in 2008-09 and 21-8 in 1994-95. The team's run to the Sweet 16 of the 2011-12 WNIT was also noteworthy. No Beaver squad has had a better postseason run since the 1996 team advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In March 2004, Oregon State also played three games in the WNIT, eventually dropping a 74-64 decision to Creighton in Omaha, Neb.

Versus The Vikings: Oregon State is 2-4 all-time against Western Washington, but hasn't played the Vikings since 1979. OSU lost two meetings each in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons before winning both 1978-79 encounters. WWU is ranked No. 14 in the USA Today Sports/ESPN Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll.

One And Not The Other: While it's a regular-season game for Oregon State, Saturday's contest will be an exhibition for Western Washington. Under NCAA rules a Division II institution may count as an exhibition game a contest against a non-Division II four-year collegiate institution played between the first permissible date for practice and the first permissible contest date. That same contest may be counted as an official countable game for the Division I or III institution that the Division II school played.

Season-Opening Success: Oregon State has a 30-6 all-time record in its first game of the season, winning the last 14 in a row. The Beavers last fell in an opener to San Diego State on Nov. 16, 1997 (63-56).

Now It Counts: Alyssa Martin dropped in 16, Ali Gibson added 12 points and six assists and Patricia Bright swatted away five shots as the Oregon State women's basketball team utilized a nearly flawless second half to dismantle Seattle Pacific, 80-55, in the Beavers' lone exhibition last Sunday evening. Everyone got into the act as Ruth Hamblin not only had three blocks, but was one of a trio of OSU players in double-figures (10) and fellow freshman Khadidja Toure filled up the stat sheet with nine points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Debut Deja Vu?: The two season-openers under Scott Rueck have provided some outstanding individual performances. Against Western Oregon on Nov. 11, 2011, ShaKiana Edwards-Teasley, in her first game for the Beavers after transferring from North Idaho Junior College, posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was only the fourth time in program history that an OSU player had done that in their debut. Chassie Wiersma was the last to turn the trick when she put up 16 and 12 against San Diego State on Nov. 17, 1998. On Nov. 13, 2010 against Long Beach State Alyssa Martin scored a career-high 24 points, the highest total ever for a player's first game in the Orange & Black.

Pac-12 Prognosticators: Oregon State was picked fifth in the 2012 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' poll. That preseason recognition is the highest the Beavers have ever been selected since the league began tallying coaches' votes before the 1998-99 season. Previously, OSU had been tabbed as high as seventh on three occasions, prior to the start of play for the 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2009-10 campaigns.

Proving Them Wrong: OSU, which was predicted to finish last in the conference in 2011-12, leaped over more than half of the league during the season. The Beavers ended up with a 9-9 mark in Pac-12 action to finish in a tie with UCLA for fifth. In ending the year 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 conference history. No school had ever outperformed expectations by more than five places in the league's final standings. In 2000-01, Washington was predicted to finish tied for sixth and actually ended up in a three-way tie for first with Arizona State and Stanford. In 2004-05, USC was tabbed seventh in the preseason poll, but tied the Sun Devils for second place at the end of the year.

You Can't Win If You Don't Score: Stingy defense has been a hallmark of Scott Rueck-coached teams and his tenure at Oregon State has been no different. OSU has led the Pac-12 in blocked shots the past two seasons and finished in the top 30 nationally both years. In 2011-12 the Beavers swatted a total of 183 shots after rejecting 143 the year before. Oregon State held its opponents to a miniscule 35 percent shooting last season, the 18th best mark in the country and third best in the Pac-12 (Stanford - 33.9; Arizona State - 34.2).

A Golden Opportunity: Oregon State will be aiming for its first back-to-back 20-win seasons since the early 1980's this year. The Beavers last reached that mark in consecutive seasons during a stretch of five straight 20-win campaigns under the legendary Aki Hill from 1979-80 to 1983-84.

Challenging Slate: OSU, which had the 60th toughest schedule in the nation last season, should see a significant uptick in that number in 2012-13. The Beavers will be playing in the Hardwood Tournament of Hope in Puerto Vallarta in November, the team's first international trip since 2008 and only third ever. Depending on how the bracket plays out in Mexico, Oregon State could face three 2012 NCAA Tournament teams in the non-conference portion of its schedule for the first time since 2002-03 (UC Santa Barbara, Michigan State, Louisville or Gonzaga).

Proficient From Deep: The Beavers drained 182 three-point buckets last season, the fourth-highest mark in the Pac-12 and number two in Oregon State annals. OSU's 2010-11 team made 194 triples to set the school record. Leading that charge is a trio of sharpshooting guards: Ali Gibson, Sage Indendi and Alyssa Martin. Gibson's 56 treys last year are eighth-highest total in single-season history at OSU. Indendi holds the record with 75 bombs in 2010-11 and is currently third all-time at the school with 121 three-point field goals. Martin is seventh in career made baskets from behind the arc with 95 in 63 games.

Stringing W's Together: Oregon State's six-game conference 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. That year they defeated Washington State, Arizona State, Arizona, California, Stanford, Oregon and No. 10 Washington from Jan. 21 to Feb. 17. In 2011-12, OSU trounced USC, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Washington State and Washington consecutively.

Huge Improvement Under Rueck: After a 20-13 season, 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.

Nice Try: Patricia Bright sent many opponents away from the hoop demoralized and dejected in 2011-12, blocking a school-record 115 shots to finish sixth in the nation. That total is the second highest in Pac-12 history and comes just one year after former OSU center and current professional El Sara Greer swatted a then-school record 92 in 2010-11. Oregon's Stefanie Kasperski is the only other league player to ever reach triple digits (119 - 1988; 111 - 1989). Bright single-handedly had more blocks than five Pac-12 teams last year (UCLA - 103; Cal - 110; Colorado - 110; Washington State - 86; Arizona - 80).

Ali G: As a newcomer on the squad last season, current sophomore Ali Gibson had one of the most impressive freshman campaigns Oregon State has seen in some time. The St. Mary's High School alum averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while leading the team in three-point field goals (56) and minutes played (1,091). Her 387 total points are the fifth most for a freshman in Oregon State history and her 56 treys are the eighth highest ever for the Beavers. She also made her presence felt when it mattered most, pouring in a career high 23 points, more than a third of her team's total, in OSU's 67-60 victory over Oregon on Jan. 28. Gibson, who was named to both the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention squad at season's end, was the conference's second-leading scorer among freshmen and 17th overall. Her .416 field goal percentage was good enough for 15th in the league and her 56 makes from deep placed her sixth in that category as well.

Heralded Freshmen: OSU will have the opportunity to place someone on the Pac-12's All-Freshman Team for the fourth consecutive year as it welcomes in one of the nation's top recruiting classes, ranked as high as 17th in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz. The group includes two consensus top-100 players in Jamie Weisner (#41) and Samantha Siegner (#94) to go along with Ruth Hamblin, Deven Hunter and Khadidja Toure. Ali Gibson made the conference squad last year after averaging 11.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. In 2010-11, Alyssa Martin was a part of the prestigious group thanks to her 12.4 points per game and 60 three-pointers made.

Missing Marchbanks: Last year, All-Pac-12 performer Earlysia Marchbanks became the first player in Oregon State history to lead the team in points (12.5), rebounds (7.6) and assists (3.7). She also was the program's initial first team all-conference performer since 2007 (Casey Bunn).

Increased Exposure: With the advent of the Pac-12 Networks comes increased exposure, as the Beavers will have at least nine regular-season games televised in 2012-13, more than the program has had in the last five years combined and the fourth-highest total in the league this season.

Filling Gill: More people came through the doors of Gill Coliseum to watch the Beavers play last year (25,763) than had in any of the past 16 seasons. Oregon State's last NCAA Tournament team in 1995-96 drew an astounding 63,093 fans at 12 home games. The 1,431 average attendance in 2011-12 is the 10th most in OSU women's basketball history.

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.

Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.