Rueck, Gibson Set for Pan-American Games
TORONTO, Ontario – Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck and former Beaver Ali Gibson (2011-15) are set to begin competition in the 2015 Pan-American Games Thursday in Toronto. Rueck will be serving as an assistant coach for Team USA, while Gibson is slated to compete with the Puerto Rican National Team.
The women’s basketball portion of the Pan-American Games will begin with group play Thursday-Saturday. The semifinals and finals will be played Sunday and Monday, respectively, and every game of the tournament will be streamed live on ESPN3.com. A full list of scheduled games for the USA and Puerto Rico can be found below.
After graduating as one of the best players in OSU history, Gibson was selected by Las Pollitas de Isabela with the first overall pick in the 2015 BNSF Draft last week. The BNSF is the highest league for women’s basketball in Puerto Rico.
She helped the Puerto Rican National Team to a silver medal at the FIBA Americas Centrobasket Femenino in Monterrey, Mexico in 2014. In five games with the national team last summer, Gibson was Puerto Rico’s third-leading scorer, averaging 8.4 points while also contributing 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
One of just 18 players in Oregon State history to reach the 1,000-point mark, Rueck often refers to Gibson as “the perfect person at the perfect time.” The Woodbridge, Calif., native helped engineer a renaissance in the Oregon State women’s basketball program, culminating in a Pac-12 title her senior season. She started all 131 games the Beavers played in her four seasons with the team, amassing 1,262 points, good for eighth in school history. She also knocked down 178 3-pointers, tied for second most in the OSU record book.
A Pac-12 All-Freshman honoree in 2012, Gibson recorded five 20+ point games in her career, and scored in double-figures 62 times. As the Beavers lone senior in the 2014-15 season, she served as a leader both on the floor and in the locker room, and ended the year averaging 8.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Rueck led the Beavers to their best season in school history in 2014-15, as Oregon State set a school record with 27 wins en route to the program’s 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 were in the national rankings throughout the season, moving as high as No. 7 before ending the regular season ranked 10th. Oregon State ranked in the top 25 in the country in eleven different statistical categories, including fifth in assists per game (18.6), ninth in field goal percentage (45.4) and 13th in field goal percentage defense (35.2). The historic season led to an increase in attendance, as the Beavers averaged a Pac-12 leading 4,167 fans per game, and welcomed 7,652 fans to Gill Coliseum for the Civil War on Jan. 9, the third-largest crowd in school history.
Rueck, who was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year by both the coaches and the media and has earned back-to-back WBCA Region 8 Coach of the year honors, has helped engineer an incredible turnaround in the program, since taking over in 2010. The Beavers earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996 in 2014, and made it to the second round of the tourney for the second season in a row this year. Under his guidance, the Beavers led the Pac-12 with three All-Conference honorees this season (Ruth Hamblin, Jamie Weisner and Sydney Wiese), and led the conference with four Players of the Week.
Pan-American Games Schedule (USA and Puerto Rico Only)
Thursday, July 16
Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic – 10:30 a.m.
USA vs. Brazil – 6 p.m.
Friday, July 17
Puerto Rico vs. Brazil – 10:30 a.m.
USA vs. Dominican Republic – 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 18
USA vs. Puerto Rico – 6 p.m.
Semifinals – Sunday, July 19; Final – Monday, July 20
All time Pacific
