Nov. 19, 2012

Tweet

osubeavers.com Radio | Game Notes (PDF) | Tournament of Hope Bracket

The Games: Oregon State will make only the third international trip in program history when it journeys to the famous resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to participate in the first ever Hardwood Tournament of Hope this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. OSU opens the event with a game against UCSB on Nov. 20 followed by a meeting with either Mississippi State or Winthrop on Nov 21. Oregon State's third, and final, game in Mexico will be against Louisville, Central Florida, Gonzaga or Missouri State on Nov. 22.

Tracking the Beavs: The three games in Mexico will air on the radio on either KLOO 1340 AM or KEJO 1240AM, depending on the date and time, with Ron Callan on the call for each. The game against UC Santa Barbara will air on KLOO 1340 AM on Tuesday at 11 a.m. PT. If the Beavers defeat the Gauchos, their game on Wednesday will be carried on KEJO 1240AM at 1:30 p.m. PT. If OSU loses its game against UCSB on Tuesday, its Wednesday contest will be broadcast on KLOO 1340AM at 11:00 a.m. PT. No matter the earlier outcomes, Oregon State's Thursday game will be carried on KEJO 1240AM. Fans can also follow @OregonStateWBB on Twitter for all game day information, including score updates, photos and observations.

There will be no live stream or live stats available for games played at the Hardwood Tournament of Hope.

The Rundown: Oregon State started its season with a 1-1 mark at home, defeating WWU, 80-55, and dropping a contest to Cal Poly, 72-62 ... The Beavers will be making their first international trip since 2008 ... Oregon State owns a 2-3 all-time record in games played outside the 50 U.S. states ... Alyssa Martin leads Oregon State in scoring at 18.0 points per game and is seventh in the Pac-12 ... The junior guard also made her 100th career three-pointer against Cal Poly, becoming just the sixth player in OSU history to reach that mark ... Martin, along with Sage Indendi (121), gives the Beavers a pair of active players with 100 or more makes from deep, one of only two Pac-12 schools that can claim such three-point prowess (Utah) ... Deven Hunter is fifth in the league in rebounding (10.0/game) and Ali Gibson is third in steals (3.5/game) ... Last year's Pac-12 blocks champ, Patricia Bright, has picked up right where she left off, swatting seven in two games, tops in the Pac-12, and moving into sixth on the school's all-time list.

Mexico Matchups: The Beavers and Gauchos have met five times previously, with UCSB owning a 4-1 edge in the series. OSU's last win came in a 91-63 triumph in Corvallis in 1993. Oregon State won its only-ever meeting against Mississippi State, 72-69, in 1985 and is 2-0 all-time against Gonzaga, defeating the Bulldogs most recently in 2004, 69-64. OSU took on the Bears in both 2003 (W, 49-42) and 2004 (L, 71-69) when the school was known as Southwest Missouri State. The Beavers have never played Central Florida, Louisville or Winthrop.

History Abroad: The tournament, being held in the resort city on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas, will be the Beavers' first international trip since 2008 when they traveled to Freeport, Grand Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam, which featured games against Arkansas (W, 69-56) and #2 North Carolina (L, 82-78). Oregon State's only other journey outside the 50 U.S. states occurred in 2004 when it played in the Paradise Jam on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. OSU lost games against Kentucky (73-70) and #17 Rutgers (77-53) before defeating South Dakota State, 68-65.

A Good Start: OSU's freshman class had a sterling debut in the season opener against Western Washington, scoring over 60 percent of the team's points (43-of-71) on more than 55 percent shooting (16-of-29). In that game, Khadidja Toure (13) and Jamie Weisner (11) became the first freshman duo to reach double figures in their debuts since 2006-07; Deven Hunter's 12 rebounds were the most for an Oregon State freshman in her first game since Judie Lomax grabbed 14 against Southern Utah on Nov. 11, 2006; and Ruth Hamblin's three rejections in her first game is the highest total for an OSU freshman since Ericka Brosterhous swatted the same number in the first contest of the 1998-99 season against San Diego State on Oct. 17 (W, 71-67).

Formidable Front Line: The Beavers have six players on the roster 6-2 or taller and that size advantage has proven fruitful in helping OSU control the paint. Oregon State has outscored its opponents 72-38 down low so far this season. Last year, the Beavers outscored each one of their non-conference opponents in the paint en route to an 11-2 record against all foes outside the Pac-12.

A Look At The Long Ball: Alyssa Martin is 5-for-11 from three-point range this year and now has 100 treys in her career. Martin, along with Sage Indendi (121), gives the Beavers a pair of active players with 100 or more makes from deep, one of only two Pac-12 schools that can claim such three-point prowess (Utah). 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.

More Martin: The junior guard is also seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game. She posted the fifth 20+ point game of her career in the season opener, her first since she scored 21 on Jan. 23, 2011 against Oregon and just four off her career high (24). Following that performance up with 16 against Cal Poly gave Martin her first back-to-back contests with at least that many points since Nov. 30 and Dec. 3, 2010 when she went for 21 and 18 against CSU Bakersfield and Pepperdine.

Ali G: Sophomore guard Ali Gibson tied a career high with six steals against WWU and is third in the conference with 3.5 per game. Gibson, who now has 74 thefts in her career, swiped 67 balls a season ago, the third-highest total for a freshman in Oregon State history behind Brenda Arbuckle's 75 in 1983-84 and Lisa Channel's 70 in 1982-83.

Block Party: Patricia Bright has seven blocks through two games to lead the Pac-12 and give her 122 in her career, moving her into sixth place on Oregon State's all-time list. In 2011-12, she blocked 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).

Block Party II: 6-foot-6 freshman center Ruth Hamblin put up nine points, four rebounds and three blocks against the Western Washington in the season opener. Her three rejections are the most for an OSU freshman in a debut since Ericka Brosterhous swatted the same number in the first contest of the 1998-99 season against San Diego State on Oct. 17 (W, 71-67). The Oregon State freshman record for blocks in a season is owned by Brenda Arbuckle, who had 47 in 1983-84.

You Can't Win If You Don't Score: Oregon State has held its opponents to 35.5 percent shooting in the season's first two games. The Beavers notched all but two of their wins last season when holding opponents to less than 40 percent from the floor. 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).

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.

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. 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).

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.

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.

Building For The Future: On Thursday, Head Coach Scott Rueck and his staff announced the signing of three prep standouts to National Letters of Intent. Gabriella Hanson (Fullerton, Calif./Troy), Kolbie Orum (Maple Ridge, British Columbia/Maple Ridge) and Sydney Wiese (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), collectively ranked in the top 10 percent in the country according to All Star Girls Report, will join the Beavers in 2013-14. Wiese is the 80th ranked prospect in the nation according to ESPN HoopGurlz and is the third top-100 commit of the past two years to choose Oregon State, joining current student-athletes Jamie Weisner and Samantha Siegner. Hanson (Sweden) and Orum (Canada) have both suited up multiple times for their countries at FIBA tournaments across the globe.

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.

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.