Beavers Picked Third in Pac-12 Media Poll
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State women’s basketball team has been picked third in the Pac-12 Media Poll, the conference office announced today. The third-place projection is the highest OSU has ever placed in Pac-12 media polling, which dates back to 1998. The Beavers received 162 points, including one first-place vote.
This announcement comes one week after the Beavers were selected third in the Pac-12 Coaches’ Poll, also the highest projection in school history.
Season tickets for an exciting 2014-15 Oregon State women's basketball are now on sale by calling 1-800-GO BEAVS or logging onto beavertickets.com. Season tickets are $99 reserved and $64 general admission.
Oregon State will host an exhibition against Western Oregon on Sunday Nov. 9, before opening its season against Portland on Nov. 14 at Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers return all five starters from a team that went 24-11 last year, and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Oregon State, which finished 2013-14 ranked 25th in the nation, also brings back 95 percent of its scoring and 96 percent of its rebounds from a year ago.
Senior Ali Gibson will look to close out her collegiate career on a high note, after starting all 99 games the Beavers have played since she joined the program. The Woodbridge, Calif. native is just 15 points away from becoming just the 17th player in Oregon State history to reach 1,000 career points, and will look to provide leadership for the squad both on and off the court.
Sophomore guard Sydney Wiese returns to the team as one of the squad’s most promising players. Wiese, the first OSU freshman since Tanja Kostic in 1993 to receive a spot on the All-Pac-12 Team, obliterated the school record for 3-point makes, draining 112 last season, the most ever for a Pac-12 freshman and second overall in single-season conference history. That number is tied for 20th in NCAA single-season history and tied for fourth among NCAA freshmen all-time.
Junior post Ruth Hamblin will aim to build on a strong sophomore campaign. The center from British Columbia set the Pac-12 single-season blocks record with 141 last year, and posted the first Oregon State triple-double in over 30 years when she went for 23 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Oregon. For her efforts, Hamblin was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
Junior guard Jamie Weisner has made 103 three-pointers in her career, and was one of just four pure-guards in the Pac-12 to finish 2013-14 with at least three double-doubles. Sophomore Gabriella Hanson will aim to continue building on a strong 2013-14 Pac-12 campaign, after scoring 9.7 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting during conference play a year ago.
Junior forward Deven Hunter will look to pick up where she left off, coming off a 2013-14 season that saw her average 8.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Hunter’s 258 rebounds last season was the 10th-highest total in school history.
The front-court trio of junior Samantha Siegner, and sophomores Kolbie Orum and Breanna Brown will all look to contribute, heading into the upcoming campaign. Siegner scored in double-figures against Stanford last season, and posted a six-point, six-rebound performance against UCLA. Orum appeared in 22 games, posting 16 points and eight rebounds against Sacramento State. Brown finished the year 11th in the conference in blocks, with 0.93 per game.
Oregon State also welcomes a trio of new players in transfer Jen'Von'Ta Hill and freshmen Marie Gülich and Alex Kalmbach. Hill recorded 322 assists for Hutchinson Community College, helping the Blue Dragons to a 35-1 record during her sophomore season. Gülich has extensive experience in the German national system, while Kalmbach was a two year starter at Bishop O’Dowd High School, where she played in three California State Championship games.
The Beavers also announced a contract extension for head coach Scott Rueck on Monday. You can read all about that by clicking here.
Pac-12 Media Poll Results
School-(First-Place Votes)-Total Points
1. California (9) 194
2. Stanford (7) 190
3. Oregon State (1) 162
4. UCLA 144
5. Washington 126
6. ASU 111
7. USC 106
8. Washington State 98
9. Oregon 74
10. Utah 57
11. Colorado 42
12. Arizona 22