Beavers Set to Open NCAA Tournament vs. Western Kentucky

THE GAME: The No. 6 seed Oregon State women's basketball team will open the NCAA Tournament on Friday, when the Beavers face No. 11 seed Western Kentucky in Knoxville, Tenn. The game is slated to tip at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET.

FOLLOW ALONG: Friday's game will air live on ESPN2 with Brenda VanLengen and Carol Ross on the call. You can also listen live on 1240 KEJO in Corvallis with Ron Callan. A live stats link will be available through OSUBeavers.com.

Please Note: Oregon State's game will be carried in it's entirety on ESPN2 in the local markets of both the Beavers and Western Kentucky, while the majority of the country received whip-around coverage. The game can be viewed anywhere in the nation online on Watch ESPN.

WHAT'S COMING UP: Should Oregon State earn a victory on Friday the Beavers will advance to take on the winner of Friday afternoon's matchup between No. 3-seed Tennessee and No. 14-seed Liberty. The second-round winner will advance to the Lexington Regional, which will begin with Sweet 16 games on March 23.

OSU VS. WESTERN KENTUCKY: Oregon State has met with Western Kentucky one time in program history, with that meeting coming in the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament. The Lady Toppers took an 85-78 win in Bowling Green, Kentucky in that game, Beaver standout and two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year Tanja Kostic led all scorers in that game with 25 points.

QUICK HITTERS:
- Oregon State is 113-22 since the start of the 2014-15 season, the sixth-best record in the nation over that span, trailing only UConn, Notre Dame, Baylor, Maryland and South Carolina.
- OSU has 75 Pac-12 wins over the last four seasons, joining Stanford as the only teams in conference history to accomplish that feat.
- The Beavers' three highest win totals have all come over the last three seasons (27 in 2014-15, 32 in 2015-16, 31 in 2016-17).
- OSU has now made the tournament in five-straight seasons, and has reached the Sweet 16 in back-to-back years, including a Final Four run in 2016.
- Oregon Sate has notched its fifth-straight 20-win season, and with 23 wins, the Beavers have already matched their sixth-highest single-season win total.
- The Beavers have been ranked in every USA Today/WBCA Coaches' poll, dating back to the 2013-14 postseason rankings. OSU's highest ever ranking came at the end of the 2015-16 campaign, when the Beavers came in at No. 2.
- The Beavers have earned eight wins over top-10 opponents since the start of 2014-15, including a victory over No. 4 Baylor in the Elite Eight in 2015-16.
- Oregon State is 18-10 in its last 28 games vs. ranked opponents.
- The Beavers have not lost three-straight games since falling to Notre Dame, California and Stanford from Dec. 29 2013 to Jan. 5, 2014.
- Oregon State is one of nine teams to have three players selected over the course of the last two WNBA Drafts, and is one of five programs to have at least a trio of players selected in the first two rounds over that span.
- The Beavers are first in the nation in 3-point percentage. OSU is also seventh in the nation in field goal percentage.
- Oregon State commits the second-fewest fouls in the nation, trailing only UConn in that category.
- The Beavers have had at least four players in double figures in 12 of their 30 contests the year.
- Oregon State has held nine opponents under 30 percent shooting this season, and 17 opponents below 35 percent.
- Nine of Oregon State's 10 active players have scored in double-figures at least once this season.
- The Beavers are on pace to shatter the program's single-season mark for 3-point percentage. The 2017-18 squad is currently shooting 40.6 percent from long range, well ahead of the 38.3 percent mark set by the 1993-94 squad.
- Oregon State joins UConn and Baylor as the only Division I teams in the top-10 nationally in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense.
- The Beavers are averaging 73.6 points per game this season, on pace to be the highest mark for the program since the 1994-95 squad averaged 79.2.
- The Beavers last played in Knoxville on Dec. 28, 2014, when Oregon State fell to Tennessee 74-63. Marie Gulich is the only current OSU player to play in that game

GERMAN SENSATION: Marie Gulich Quick Hitters
- ESPNW Third-Team All-American
- Co-Pac-12 Media Defensive Player of the Year, giving the Beavers a Defensive Player of the Year honoree for the fourth-straight season (Ruth Hamblin in 2015 and 2016, Gabriella Hanson in 2017).
- Notched her second-straight All-Pac-12 selection, and made the Pac-12 Defensive Team for the first time this season.
- Earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in the last two weeks of the season, becoming the first player in Oregon State history to take the honor in back-to-back weeks.
- Currently has 1,120 career points, placing her 20 short of Jan Martin for 16th in Oregon State history.
- Was named one of 30 players on the Naismith Late Season Watch List (nation's top player).
- Is second in the Pac-12 with 14 double-doubles this season, also tied for the fifth-highest single-season total in Oregon State history.
- Was named one of the top-10 candidates for the Lisa Leslie Award (nation's top center).
- Is currently in a battle with Oregon's Ruthy Hebard for the Pac-12 field goal percentage record. Hebard is currently shooting 65.9 percent from the floor, compared to 65.8 percent for Gulich. The Pac-12 record is currently held by Oregon State's Judie Lomax, who shot 64.5 percent in the 2006-07 season.
- Shot 67.6 percent from the floor during Pac-12 play.
- Shoots right-handed, but writes left-handed.
- Is tied for 19th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 with 135 career games played.
- Scored a career-high 36 points on 16-for-18 shooting vs. Arizona State in the Beavers' regular-season finale, including 30 points in the second half as she converted all 13 of her field goal attempts.
- Has finished in double-figures 27 times in 30 games this season.
- Maui Jim Maui Classic All-Tournament Team
- Currently sits third in Oregon State history with 187 career blocks. Gulich now needs 21 more rejections to tie Brina Chaney for second.
- Is currently fifth in Oregon State history with 799 career rebounds.
- Gulich is the 75th player in Pac-12 history to reach the 700 career rebound mark, and is currently 50th on the conference's career rebounding list.
- Has scored at least 14 points in 22 of OSU's 30 games this season.
- Is currently 12th in the nation with 3.0 blocks per game.
- Has blocked more shots this season than 127 Division I teams, including two Pac-12 squads
- Has blocked at least three shots in 18 of OSU's 30 games this season, including nine contests with four blocks or more.
- Exploded for 28 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in Jan. 19's game vs. Oregon.

GREAT SCOTT: Scott Rueck Quick Hitters
- Inked a contract extension that runs through the 2026-27 season.
- 2017 John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year, becoming one of five coaches in conference history to win the honor multiple times.
- Finished second to Geno Auriemma in the AP National Coach of the Year voting in 2016.
- Record at Oregon State is 176-88 making him the second-winningest coach in Oregon State history. Aki Hill holds the Oregon State wins record with 274.
- Rueck engineered an accelerated turnaround at Oregon State, bringing the program into national prominence during his eight seasons as head coach.
- Prior to joining Oregon State, Rueck served as head coach at George Fox in Newburg, Ore., where he built the program into a Division III national power, winning an NCAA title in 2009.
- Rueck's teams have consistently been known for outstanding defense. The Beavers have allowed 56.4 points per game over the course of his tenure. George Fox allowed just 48.3 points per contest in 2009-10, Rueck's final year there, and set a school record with 45.4 points allowed under Rueck in 2007-08.
- Graduated from Oregon State in 1991.

PIVEC AND ROLL: Mikayla Pivec Quick Hitters
- All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention
- Maui Jim Maui Classic All-Tournament Team
- Earned CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team honors this season.
- Has tallied 10 assists in a game twice this season. Prior to Pivec, the last 10 assist game by a Beaver came when Sydney Wiese had 10 vs. UC Davis on Dec. 14, 2016
- Is shooting 44.6 percent from the floor this season.
- Is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game, the highest average among guards in the Pac-12.
- Has hit just three 3-pointers in her last 11 games.
- Has at least four rebounds in 16-straight games.
- Has 37 boards over her last five games.
- Is shooting 48.3 percent from two-point range on the season.
- Nearly notched a triple-double on Jan. 14 vs. Arizona, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
- Is playing the point guard position this year for the first time since 7th grade.
- Recorded her first career 20-point game on Dec. 2 vs. Utah State
- Was named Oregon State Scholar Athlete of the Month for December, holding a then-4.0 GPA as a BioMedical Engineering major.
- Pac-12 All-Freshman Team in 2016-17.
- Earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors twice last season, tied with Sydney Wiese and Jamie Weisner for the most by an Oregon State player since the award began in 2011.
- Also threw javelin for the Oregon State track team in the spring, posting the fourth-best mark in OSU history in the event with a throw of 142-4 at the Oregon Twilight Meet.
- Highest-rated signee in Oregon State history prior to Andrea Aquino signing in November, coming in as the No. 24 player in the nation according to ESPN.
- Won the Washington state-title for the javelin throw in her senior year
- Averaged 21.7 points, 14.1 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 4.1 assists in high school.

KT-MAC ATTACK: Katie McWilliams Quick Hitters
- All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and Defensive Honorable Mention
- Leads the Beavers with an average of 32.3 minutes per game this season.
- Has scored in double-figures in eight of her last 10 games.
- Is averaging 12.5 points over her last 10 games, and is shooting 51.7 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent from 3-point range during that span.
- Is 33rd in the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 2.5
- Has at least four assists in 17 games this season, including seven games with six or more.
- Has 123 rebounds this season, 119 of which have come at the defensive end.
- Scored the game-tying basket to force overtime vs. UCLA on Feb. 16.
- Came up with a couple big plays for the Beavers Feb. 9 at Washington State, scoring the game-tying basket with two seconds left in regulation and knocking down a pair of free throws with one second remaining in overtime to lift the Beavers to the 63-61 win.
- Pac-12 Freshman Honorable Mention in 2015-16.
- Went 3-for-3 from 3-point range against UConn in the 2016 Final Four.
- Pac-12 Academic Honorable Mention last season.
- Scored 29 points in last year's season-opener vs. Lamar, going 7-for-8 from 3-point range in the contest.
- Was the highest ranked recruit in Oregon State history, prior to Mikayla Pivec joining the team in the 2016 recruiting class.
- Earned numerous awards in the state of Oregon during her high school career, including: two All-State honors, Oregon Live Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Oregon Sports Award for Best Prep Basketball Player and Gatorade Oregon Player of the Year.

GET SOME TUDOR-ING: Kat Tudor Quick Hitters
- All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention
- Had 44 3-pointers in Pac-12 play, with 32 of them coming in five games (5 vs. Washington, 7 vs Washington State, 6 vs. Arizona, 7 vs. Oregon, 7 at Washington).
- Is 22nd in the nation and third in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage
- Shot 44.9 percent from 3-point range during Pac-12 play
- Has hit at least five 3-pointers in a game seven times this season.
- Hit seven 3-pointers in a game three times this season, joining Talisa Rhea as the only Oregon State players to hit seven triples in a game three times in their career.
- Needs 14 more 3-pointers to match Sydney Wiese's sophomore record of 92 longballs.
- Has converted 36 2-point field goals this season, tripling her total of nine from her freshman campaign.
- Exploded for 34 points Jan. 19 vs. Oregon, going 10-for-14 from the floor and 7-for-10 from 3-point range. Her scoring output is tied for the 36th-best single game point total in Oregon State history.
- Made her first career start in the season-opener.
- Posted her first career double-double vs. Nort Carolina Central, setting career highs with 23 points and 11 rebounds. All of her boards came on the defensive end.
- Her 3-point percentage of .412 last season would have been good for 25th in the NCAA, if Tudor had reached the NCAA threshold of two made 3-pointers per game (averaging 1.40).
- Scored 17 points vs. Southern Utah last season, hitting five 3-pointers in the contest.
- Made 371 three-pointers in her high-school career
- Helped St. Mary's High School win the 2015 California state title

SAY TAY KID: Taya Corosdale Quick Hitters
- Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention
- Has started the last 21 games
- The Beavers are 15-2 this season in games where Corosdale hits a 3-pointer.
- Has not scored in back-to-back games for the first time in her career.
- Scored 12 points in her second career start, Dec. 20 vs. UC Davis.
- Is averaging 6.9 points per game in her 21 starts.
- Averaged 25.1 minutes per game during Pac-12 play
- Scored 13 points vs. San Jose State on Dec. 10.
- Jordan Brand Classic All-American.
- Two-time King County League MVP
- Earned a five-star rating from ESPN, and was ranked the No. 6 forward in her signing class.
- Two-time All-State selection in Washington.

#AL3AH: Aleah Goodman Quick Hitters
- Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention
- Her 3-point percentage of 49.0 would be first in the nation if Goodman had reached the NCAA minumum for 3-pointers made (Requirement is two 3-pointers per game played, Goodman has 47 triples in 27 games).
- Played 19 minutes in her first Pac-12 Tournament game last week, scoring 12 points.
- Has 16 3-pointers over her last eight games.
- Played the final game of her high school career at Gill Coliseum, leading La Salle to a state title.
- Two-time Oregon state 5A champion.
- Three-time Oregon 5A Player of the Year
- 2017 McDonalds All-America nominee

GETTING MADDIE: Madison Washington Quick Hitters
- Has come off the bench in the last 21 games.
- Notched her first career double-digit scoring performance vs. Utah State on Dec. 2, going 5-for-6 from the floor to finish with 10 points.
- Has 48 assists this season, already doubling her total from 2016-17.
- Made her first career start in the season opener.
- USA Today First Team All-Nevada selection
- Helped Bishop Gorman High School reach the Nevada state title game three times

REMAIN KALMER: Taylor Kalmer Quick Hitters
- Has failed to score in four of her last seven games.
- Has scored 188 points this season, surpassing the first two seasons of her career combined.
- Played important minutes for Oregon State at last season's Pac-12 Tournament, partially due to the loss of Katie McWilliams
- Rueck credited Kalmer with playing the best basketball of her career vs. Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament Final.
- Shot 42 percent from the field last season, and 55 percent from two-point range.
- Pac-12 Academic Honorable Mention last season.
- Named Oregon State's Most Improved Player at the team's 2016 Awards Banquet.
- Was named a Scholar Athlete all four years of high school.

FULFILL YOUR DESTINY: Destiny Slocum Quick Hitters
- Redshirting the 2017-18 season due to NCAA regulations, after transferring from Maryland.
- 2017 WBCA National Freshman of the Year.
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- Second-Team All-Big Ten last season.
- 2016 McDonalds All-American at Mountain View High School

YO JO: Joanna Grymek Quick Hitters
- Has not seen action in two of the Beavers' last four games.
- Posted her best Pac-12 performance on Jan. 14 vs. Arizona, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, scoring eight points, her highest total since scoring 16 vs. Savannah State on Dec. 13.
- Had a breakout performance vs. North Carolina Central, going 7-for-7 from the floor to finish with 16 points. She also tallied three blocks in the contest.
- Played the last two seasons at Seward County Community College
- NJCAA All-American in 2016-17
- Averaged 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game in her sophomore season at Seward, shooting 62.9 percent from the floor.
- Made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll in both of her seasons at Seward.
- Represented Poland in the FIBA U20 European Championships in Spain's Canary Island

THROPAY AS YOU GO: Janessa Thropay Quick Hitters
- Scored four points on Dec. 10 vs. San Jose State, matching a career-high.
- Has played in two of the Beavers' last three games, after missing the prior four contests with a foot injury.
- Thropay did not play more than three games in a row at any point during her freshman campaign.
- Did not play in 23-straight games to end the 2016-17 season.
- Has performed the National Anthem at a number of Oregon State sporting events, including prior to the Beavers' Civil War game on Jan. 19.
- McDonalds All-America nominee her senior season of high school
- First-Team All-California in high school

INCOMING!: A Look At Oregon State's Signing Class
- Oregon State's 2016 signing class is ranked No. 14 in the nation by ESPN
- Andrea Aquino (forward - 6-foot-9 - Caacupe, Paraguay) is the No. 7 rated player in the nation according to ESPN, the highest-rated recruit in Oregon State history.
- Aquino has been named to the Naismith High School Wach List, as a potential candidate for National Player of the Year honors.
- Patricia Morris (forward - 6-foot-5 - Duarte, Calif.) has earned all-state honors in California twice in her career, and joins the Beavers with a four-star rating.
- Jasmine Simmons (guard - 5-foot-11 - Canberra, Australia) captained the Australia U17 national team to a FIBA World Championship in 2016.

THE STAFF: Oregon State Assistant Coaches and Support Staff Quick Hitters
- Associate Head Coach Jonas Chatterton enters his fourth season with the Beavers after spending four seasons at Colorado.
- Associate Head Coach Brian Holsinger served as an assistant coach on the Washington State staff for eight seasons.
- Assistant Coach Katie Baker was an All-Big Sky honoree at Montana
- Eric Ely is in his second season as Assistant Athletic Director for Women's Basketball. Ely has been with the team since Rueck took over as head coach, spending the prior six seasons as an assistant coach
- Director of Operations Sharon Rissmiller is in her third season with the Beavers. She has served as the head coach at Pacific (Ore.) and played basketball at Portland
- Assistant to the Head Coach Kendall Knotz served as a manger for Oregon State for four seasons before taking on her new role last year
- Associate Athletic Trainer Jason Lieuw (code name Poster) is the longest serving member of the Oregon State staff, currently in his ninth year with the team
- Voice of the Beavers Ron Callan has called 335 Oregon State women's basketball games since joining the program in the 2007-08 season, holding a record of 204-131 during that span.

Beavers Set to Open NCAA Tournament vs. Western Kentucky

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Players Mentioned

Taya Corosdale

Aleah Goodman

Joanna Grymek

Ruth Hamblin

Gabriella Hanson

Taylor Kalmer

Katie McWilliams

Mikayla Pivec

Destiny Slocum

Janessa Thropay

Kat Tudor

Madison Washington

Jamie Weisner

Sydney Wiese