Hamblin Named Pac-12 Player of the Year
CORVALLIS – Oregon State women’s basketball player Ruth Hamblin was named Pac-12 Player of the Year by the conference’s media Wednesday afternoon. The Player of the year honor is the first for a Beavers since Felicia Ragland received the award in 2001. Hamblin was also named Defensive Player of the Year.
Head coach Scott Rueck doubled-up on his coaching honors, as he was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year by the media Wednesday after earning the same honor from the coaches earlier in the week. Hamblin was joined on the media’s All-Pac-12 team by sophomore Sydney Wiese and junior Jamie Weisner.
The trio of All-Pac-12 honors is the most the Beavers have ever had in a season, and OSU leads the conference with three honorees.
Hamblin has been a force for the Beavers at both ends of the floor, scoring 12.8 points per game, and pulling down 8.9 rebounds per contest. Her total of 111 blocks this season are good for eighth in the nation and first in the conference. Hamblin has blocked more shots this season than seven Pac-12 teams, and has notched 12 games with five or more rejections this season. Hamblin’s season has been highlighted by a 31-point, 16 rebound performance against Washington State, as she shot 12-for-16 from the field and blocked seven shots.
Rueck has led the Beavers to their best-ever season. With a Conference record of 16-2, he led OSU to its first ever Pac-12 title. Along the way Oregon State proved it could beat the nation’s best teams and under Rueck took down North Carolina on the road, swept Arizona State and defeated California. The Beavers earned the top-seed team in the Pac-12 Tournament and have been ranked as high as No. 7 in the country this season. Oregon State ranks in the top 25 in the country in eleven different statistical categories, including boasting the eighth-best assist-to-turnover margin (1.33).
Weisner is averaging 13.8 points per game overall this season, and an outstanding 15.4 points per game in Pac-12 play. She sits second among Pac-12 guards with 6.6 rebound per game this year, and is shooting 50 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from 3-point range during conference play. Weisner has scored over 20 points five times this season, and earned ESPNW National Player of the Week honors back in January.
Wiese has picked up right where she left off after and outstanding freshman campaign. The sophomore is shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3-point range this year. She is averaging 12.6 points per game and is second in the conference and 21st in the nation with 163 assists. She has saved her best for last this year, setting a season-high with 23 points against California on Saturday as the Beavers claimed the Pac-12 regular-season title.
The Beavers will tip off the Pac-12 Tournament on Friday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s game between USC and Colorado.
