Scott Rueck Talks Oregon State Women's Basketball Ahead of 2025 Season
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After a late season surge landed them back in the NCAA Tournament to cap the 2024-2025 campaign, the Oregon State women's basketball program is putting the finishing touches on a their preparations for the new season.
The Beavers will host Alaska-Fairbanks for an exhibition game on November 2 before they begin the regular season on November 7 against Corban University.
Beavers head coach Scott Rueck was available to local media this week to discuss his team's preparations for a new season, the challenges of losing Catarina Ferreira for the entire season, and more. Watch the full media availability below.
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On the identity of this year's Oregon State team:
"They play hard. I mean, that's what I've seen. I've had to kind of work to back them off a little bit because we go at each other so hard. And the season's long, you know, and so I've needed to be a little bit careful with it. But I think this is a very traditional Oregon State team. That's what I'm seeing."
On adding 2023 Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Jenna Villa via the transfer portal:
"When you add a player like Jenna Villa who's been through it as well at a different place, but knows exactly what we're doing, you know, and how hard it is to compete, not only in the conference we're in now, but the Pac-12 as well, the former Pac-12, you know, that's a huge asset to us...I've been so impressed by the way that she's come in and the confidence that she brings."
On the difference between this year's team and last year's team:
"It's unique. I mean, what made last year's team so special was because we handled so much chaos and adversity in so many ways. And they just stayed positive through it all. There was never this roller coaster of anything. It was just kind of like, okay, let's get a little bit better today... And then it all just added up and then you hit, you know, the last what 12 games of the year where we were like a different team because they they just stayed with it. This team will have the opportunity to do that same thing. We have some people that are in different roles and some people that have some things to prove, you know, that that has some similarities. I think we can hit it sooner because of the consistencyt hat we have within our roster. But I think they have the same opportunity."
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Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.
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