Coaches Pick Beavers First
October 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Oregon State women's basketball team has been selected to repeat as Pac-12 Conference champions, coming in at No. 1 in the Pac-12 Coaches poll. The Beavers received all 11 possible first-place votes.
The preseason conference ranking is the highest ever for Oregon State, surpassing their No. 3 selection last year. It also marks the first time since 1999-2000 that Stanford was not picked to win the Pac-12.
The Pac-12 Coaches Poll is the latest in a string of preseason recognition for the Beavers. Oregon State has been tabbed preseason No. 7 by Lindy's and is ranked No. 10 by Sporting News to start the year.
Oregon State is coming off the best season in school history, a 27-5 campaign that featured a pair of wins over Arizona State and a Pac-12 title. The season was highlighted by a win over No. 6 North Carolina, a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and two rounds of postseason action hosted at Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers head into the 2015-16 season with one of the best returning groups in school history. Center Ruth Hamblin earned Pac-12 Media Player of the Year honors last season, and was the consensus Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. With an outstanding junior year under her belt, the Academic All-American has received significant recognition already this year, including preseason All-America nods from Lindy's and Sporting News.
Fellow senior Jamie Weisner and junior Sydney Wiese joined Hamblin on the All-Pac-12 team last year, and are among the best shooters ever to take the court a Gill Coliseum. Wiese is Oregon State's career leader with 204 3-pointers made, and is followed closely by Weisner with 176. Not to be ignored, senior Deven Hunter has started 68 consecutive games for the Oregon State and sits seventh in the OSU record book with 689 career rebounds.
Junior Gabriella Hanson provided a spark as the Beavers' “sixth woman” a year ago, averaging 6.7 points per game while providing a lock-down defensive effort. Senior Samantha Siegner has shown versatility for the team throughout her career, spending time at the three, four and five. Fellow senior Jen'Von'Ta Hill showed her ability to distribute in her junior campaign, and hit numerous big shots over the course of the season, including a crucial 3-pointer against Cal.
Sophomore Marie Gulich gave the Beavers valuable minutes at the post position last year, and was rewarded with Pac-12 Freshman Honorable Mention. She will be joined up front by redshirt-sophomore Breanna Brown, who sat out last season after proving to be a defensive force in 2013-14. Junior Kolbie Orum will also return to the floor in 2015-16 looking to build off of a number of strong outings in 2014-15.
The team will also welcome in an excellent signing class, made up of Katie McWilliams (Salem, Ore.), Taylor Kalmer (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Tarea Green (Hillsboro, Ore.).
Reserved seat season tickets for the 2015-16 Oregon State women's basketball season are sold out, but general admission season tickets are still available for a low as $68. Get yours today by clicking this link or by calling 800-GO-BEAVS. The Beavers' 2015-16 schedule features 15 home games, including marquee matchups against Tennessee, Stanford and Arizona State.
Pac-12 Coaches' Poll (First-place votes in parenthesis)
1. Oregon State (11) 121
2. Stanford 104
3. Arizona State (1) 102
T4. California 88
T4. UCLA 88
6. Washington 68
7. USC 60
8. Oregon 52
9. Colorado 39
10. Washington State 30
11. Utah 23
12. Arizona 17
