Kennedie Shuler Named West Coast Conference Player of the Week

The Oregon State women pulled off their biggest win of the season last Thursday with a 92-87 overtime victory against Gonzaga. Kennedie Shuler was one of the key parts of that win, and for efforts the West Coast Conference named her their player of the week Monday morning.

While the Beavers were led in scoring by Jenna Villa's 31 points against the Bulldogs, Shuler's defensive play was what sealed the win for Oregon State. Shuler nearly hit a double double Thursday night, with 19 points, 10 steals and 9 assists She also finished the night with three blocks, which feels absurd for a point guard against the Gonzaga offense.

The Beavers needed every bit of that defensive effort. They struggled to control Gonzaga star Lauren Whittaker, who was named the West Coast Conference's Freshman of the Week after her 37 points against Oregon State. Whittaker dominance was able to erase a Beaver lead late in the fourth, sending the game to OT, before Oregon State finally prevailed with consistent free throw shooting.

This is the third time this season an Oregon State player has won the conference's weekly award. Tiara Bolden won for the week of November 17th, after breaking 20 points in scoring in wins over Air Force and Indiana. Jenna Villa won the award on December 29th, after leading the Beavers to a win over San Francisco in their first game of the conference schedule.

Bolden, Shuler and Villa have formed one of the scariest trios on the west coast. Focusing your defense on one just opens up opportunities for the other two, and with a team as committed to moving the ball as the Beavers there are going to be gaps you can't cover. Oregon State has proven to be an incredibly tricky team to defend.

With the victory over Gonzaga that trickiness has led them to the top of the West Coast Conference standings. The Beavers, Bulldogs and Santa Clara Broncos were tied early in the season with undefeated records, before Oregon State and Santa Clara both dropped games against LMU, while the Bulldogs lost to Santa Clara. The Broncos picked up their second loss against Portland, so Oregon State's win over Gonzaga leaves them alone at the top.

Up next for the Beavers is a pair of home games against San Diego on Thursday, January 29th, and San Francisco on Saturday, January 31st. San Diego, at 2-7 in the conference, shouldn't pose much of a challenge, but the Dons are dangerous. Oregon State did survive the first game in San Francisco with a 74-65 win, but San Francisco came close to an upset, and nearly pulled off another against Santa Clara. They're a team hungry for a signature win.

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