INDIANAPOLIS — Oregon State coach Scott Rueck wouldn’t let the Beavers’ loss in the women’s Final Four dampen the special season that his team had.
His senior-led group helped bring the school’s basketball program from one of the worst in the country to one of the best.
“This group sitting next to me and in the locker room right now, you know, the greatest season in the history of our school, in our sport ended tonight,” Rueck said after the 80-51 loss to UConn on Sunday night. “And there’s one reason that I’m sad, and that it’s the last game that this team gets to play together.
“This group is an absolute dream. I wish I could describe to people what it’s like to be their coach, where you walk in the gym every day and you just can’t wait to see them, has nothing to do with basketball. They’re committed to each other. They’re a true family.”
Oregon State (32-5) was playing in its first national semifinals and the Beavers expect this to be the beginning, not the end.
“It’s really exciting, the future,” said senior Ruth Hamblin, who had 10 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. “We’ve kind of set the bar high for this program and everyone’s expectations are going to continue to be high, and we know how to handle that now.
“And I think we’ve got a lot of young talent coming in. And our recruiting class is good. I’m really excited to see what the team does in the future and how they respond next year.”
The Beavers won their first conference tournament title, and accomplished the goal of the senior class — getting to a Final Four.
Sydney Wiese scored 13 points to lead Oregon State, which gambled by leaving Morgan Tuck open and focusing on stopping Breanna Stewart. Tuck responded with 21 points, including 16 in the first half.
“I thought we could have done a little better job of showing a little bit more at Tuck than we did certainly, but you also hope maybe she misses one,” Rueck said.
“And so that’s part of the gamble with this team. And tonight, especially in the game, they shot extremely well. If I went back and looked at the shots that they took, there’s probably only four of them that I didn’t like. They made them.”
The Huskies are one victory away from a fourth consecutive national championship fulfilling Stewart’s goal. A feat never accomplished in women’s basketball.
“I think it sunk in when we were going back to the locker room all excited,” Stewart said. “One game left and we’re exactly in the position we want to be in. Now it’s practice tomorrow. National championship game Tuesday.”
If UConn does win on Tuesday night coach Geno Auriemma will have an 11th national championship moving him past vaunted UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden for the most all time.
The 29-point victory was the biggest margin of victory in women’s Final Four history, surpassing the 28-point win by Tennessee over Arkansas in 1998. It was UConn’s 74th consecutive victory, the second-longest winning streak in NCAA and school history.
Stewart wasn’t much of a factor for the Huskies in the opening 20 minutes. The three-time AP player of the year picked up two quick fouls and didn’t score her first points until she hit a turnaround jumper with 3 minutes left in the half. That basket came in the middle of a 15-2 run to close the opening 20 minutes.
She quashed any thoughts of an Oregon State rally, scoring 14 points in the second half for UConn (37-0). Just as they had done in the previous 73 games, the Huskies won by double digits.
Tip-ins
Oregon State: The Beavers 32 wins were the most in school history, shattering the previous record of 27 set last season. … They had won 22 of their past 23 games. … Oregon State had 13 turnovers and nine baskets in the first half.
UConn: The Huskies’ biggest margin of victory in the Final Four before Sunday was a 27-point win over Stanford in 1995. … No team that hasn’t played UConn during the season or the year before has beaten them in the past decade. … Moriah Jefferson moved into first place on the school’s all-time assist list as she passed Diana Taurasi’s mark of 648. … Jefferson finished with 10 points and seven assists.
