ALBANY, N.Y. — The horn blared at MVP Arena, the sound that Sunday’s Albany 1 Regional was over and South Carolina its champion after a 70-58 win over Oregon State.
The Beavers shook hands, then slowly walked off the floor as several players and coaches waved to orange-clad fans behind their bench.
The Beavers didn’t linger, but they didn’t want what is one of the most incredible women’s basketball seasons in school history to come to an end.
At least not until Oregon State coach Scott Rueck looked into TV cameras afterward, and spoke passionately about a team he felt the country failed to fully embrace.
“In our sport where it seems like controversy is the flavor all the time for some reason, and we all have to have something to whine about, this team just keeps it simple. And does everything right,” Rueck said. “You’re probably bored with it. Shame on you. That’s what I’d say. Everybody needs to get to know this team. Everybody needs to watch this team. And everybody needs to be like this team. The world would be better if everyone focused on this instead of a lot of other things.
“I couldn’t be more proud. I couldn’t be more happy.”
It was a season few predicted would have this outcome.
An Oregon State team picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 preseason poll, coming off the program’s first losing season in a decade, nearly won the Pac-12 regular-season title, earned a No. 3 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament and won three games before narrowly succumbing to the country’s only unbeaten team in South Carolina.
An Oregon State team heavy on freshmen and sophomores, led by its one fourth-year player in junior Talia von Oelhoffen, found a way to win 27 games. Of its eight losses, seven came to teams that were either No. 1 or 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and most only giving in after a bare-knuckles four-quarter scrap.
All of this while dealing with a dark cloud of conference realignment that left Oregon State’s future uncertain beyond knowing it’ll play basketball in the West Coast Conference the next two years.
“All the things that could be distractions or things that you could talk about, we’ve just put our heads down and controlled what we can control and got to work, stayed together and stayed connected. It’s gotten us really far,” von Oelhoffen said.
Sophomore forward Raegan Beers, who led OSU with 16 points Sunday, got misty-eyed as she spoke about the program Rueck has built, and the adventure of riding von Oelhoffen’s broad shoulders of leadership.
“We would not be here without Talia,” Beers said. “She has led us mentally. She has so many cool illusions … keeping our mindsets and our heads clear. Talia has been harping on that all year for us.”
Oregon State showed grit and tenacity throughout the season, winning several games after launching fourth quarter, and sometimes, last-second comebacks. When the Beavers trailed South Carolina by 12 points heading into the fourth quarter, freshman guard Donovyn Hunter immediately recalled a recent comeback win: the Beavers’ rally from 12 points down to beat Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals.
“A lot can happen in 10 minutes. A lot can happen within a minute. We know,” Hunter said.
Sure enough, Oregon State whittled that deficit to four with more than three minutes to play. The Beavers’ rally eventually ran out of steam, but it forced the country’s No. 1 team to dig down and make a stand.
Speaking of a stand, Rueck was only getting started after his opening postgame statement. The Beavers’ 14th-year coach, who is an OSU alum, was asked about the value of this season to Oregon State, given the off-court turmoil from the Pac-12′s collapse.
“I know the timing of it is really great. We’ve been drug through the mud, just like today listening to you guys talk. I don’t see what you all see. We’re closer to Portland than (University of) Oregon is, are we not?” Rueck said.
“All I know is Beaver Nation is awesome, and Oregon State is an incredible university, and it’s an unbelievable home away from home for our students. We can compete with anyone from there.”
Nick Daschel covers Oregon State athletics, in particular football and basketball, and can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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