Beavers To Host First Two Rounds as No. 2 Seed
March 15, 2016 | Women's Basketball
The sixth-ranked Oregon State women's basketball team will host Sun Belt Conference tournament champion Troy at 2 p.m. Friday at Gill Coliseum in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma State faces St. Bonaventure at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Corvallis Regional's other opening-round game. Friday's victors advance to Sunday's regional championship game, at a time to be determined.
The second-seeded Beavers (28-4) knew they were in the NCAAs. On Monday, they discovered they'd host the Trojans (20-12) during a Selection Show party at the Loge at Reser Stadium.
Several hundred fans, the band and cheerleaders filled the cozy confines to capacity to celebrate OSU's third-consecutive NCAA berth with the players and staff.
“It's always special when you get to do this,” OSU coach Scott Rueck said. “It's just beautiful; this is what every March should start like.
“Grateful is my number-one emotion right now. What is so cool is, we talked about doing stuff like this,” Rueck added, recalling his remarks on June 30, 2010, when the 1991 OSU grad was hired to revive an embattled program that had just two returning scholarship athletes.
“How cool has it been to watch the progression of this team,” which repeated as Pac-12 champions and then won its first Pac-12 tournament title by knocking off UCLA in the championship game.
“That's what this is about, to go from a contender to being the champs, the group that is on top at the end that gets to cut the nets and have the confetti falling on them.”
“This group has earned countless individual awards but it's a team, with a capital T-E-A-M. We have battled and competed through and through and it has been phenomenal to watch. What a blessing it is to be their coach.”
OSU has never played Troy, Oklahoma State or St. Bonaventure. It is 4-7 all-time in NCAA games, with one Sweet 16 berth (1983).
This will be the second year in a row the Beavers will host a first-round regional. They defeated South Dakota State in their tournament opener in 2015, but then were eliminated by Gonzaga.
That upset has helped motivate the team all season. Rueck said he and his staff would start scouting Troy, which shocked top-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament, immediately.
“Everybody is good this time of year,” Rueck said. “It's an exciting bracket. We are just excited about the opportunity ahead. We know it will demand our absolute best basketball.
“Let's get this thing done.”
OSU – the Pacific-12 Conference co-champion and the Pac-12 tournament champion – earned one of the four No. 2 seeds, its best-ever seeding. If the Beavers win this weekend, they would advance to the Dallas Regional and play the victor of the Louisville Regional in the Sweet 16.
Louisville (3) plays Central Arkansas (14) and DePaul (6) plays James Madison (11) in the Louisville Regional. Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the Dallas Regional.
It will be OSU's third consecutive NCAA appearance, and its eighth appearance overall. It's also the second time in school history the Beavers have qualified for three consecutive seasons; they also advanced in 1994-96.
The Beavers were one of five Pac-12 teams to make the tournament field. OSU was also one of two conference schools to qualify for the men's and women's NCAA tournaments; USC's teams also made both fields.
TICKET INFORMATION
Pre-orders are now available to season-ticket holders and Our Beaver Nation donors. To purchase, please visit the OSU ticket office in Gill Coliseum or call (800) GO-BEAVS.
The priority deadline for donors is Monday; the ticket office will be open until 7 p.m. that evening to accommodate purchases. Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Reserved tickets for all three games are $36. General admission tickets are $28 for adults and $20 for seniors (62+) and youth (0-18).
Every individual, regardless of age, must purchase a ticket to be admitted. This is an NCAA event and season ticket-holders are not guaranteed they will be placed in the same seats they had during the regular season.
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