Preview: Stanford @ Oregon State, 7pm THURSDAY
Stanford travels north for one of the most significant games in the Pac 12 season, in an unusual Thursday night game.
We have a two game lead over OSU and have locked up a share of the Pac 12 regular season championship. But another win will assure us of sole possession of that championship. Perhaps more important, after the loss at home to Arizona, we need more quality wins to make the case for a 1 seed in the NCAAs. Those wins must come on the road or in the Pac 12 tournament. Thursday night is a golden opportunity.
Oregon State seemed like it was becoming our top competitor in the Pac 12, but they lost on the road to Washington, which we know is a very tough place to play. OSU has only lost at home once this year—to USC—so they are playing tougher at home than we are. We can expect a sellout, raucous crowd and an atmosphere every bit as intimidating as Gonzaga. While this game is significant for us, it is of gigantic significance for them. It also may be the last time we play them, maybe for years--depending on the Pac 12 tournament.
Oregon State is ranked 9, Massey has them at 16, NET at 18. The last time we played them was at Maples without Brink, and Iriafen had a career day. We earned a tough 65-56 win in a defensive game—which Tara/Rueck games tend to be. You can read about it in my last preview and our thread from that time here:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid407087
Since that game the big news is that OSU star Raegan Beers has been out since she was injured in the 2/16 UCLA game, missing the next three games entirely. Beers took a Rice elbow to her face and collapsed in tears, streaming blood. Later it was confirmed that her nose was broken, and her condition described as “day to day.” Rueck has been saying he is “hopeful” she will be back ever since the injury, probably just to keep the opposition guessing. We might or might not see her on Thursday. I am sure that if we do, she will be wearing a mask.
Beer’s absence has no doubt hurt OSU dearly, but Timea Gardiner—already an outstanding player but not starting—has taken on a lot of the Beers minutes and performed very well. Without Beers, OSU is not deep in the post—a similar situation to Stanford.
Oregon State always plays very good defense no matter who they put on the court—not the sort of physical defenses that Arizona, Colorado or USC put on, but a very Tara-like defense in which the tendencies of each opposing player are known and specifically targeted. Lately where OSU has struggled it has been with offense.
OSU does have some bright points offensively.
We need to be very careful of three point sharpshooter Lily Hansford, a 6’2” sophomore guard who has become the Pac 12’s best three point shooter off the bench, at more than 50% shooting.
Gardiner is not only a great “big” but shoots 42% of her threes, as well. Kelsey Rees, the other “big” is also shooting 36% from three point range.
In short, Oregon State has an excellent inside-out game with Gardiner and Rees (and maybe Beers?) inside but always able to pass out to a bevy of three point shooters. You see assists all over the OSU stat sheets.
If Beers remains out, OSU may feel her loss on defense even more than on offense. OSU did not have to face both Iriafen and Brink the last time we played them, and Beers could not control Iriafen at all. One might think that putting both Brink and Iriafen on the floor would be just too much for OSU to handle, but Rueck has a superb defensive mind and has had weeks to figure out something different than what he tried last time. It is always a great chess match with him.
Stanford travels north for one of the most significant games in the Pac 12 season, in an unusual Thursday night game.
We have a two game lead over OSU and have locked up a share of the Pac 12 regular season championship. But another win will assure us of sole possession of that championship. Perhaps more important, after the loss at home to Arizona, we need more quality wins to make the case for a 1 seed in the NCAAs. Those wins must come on the road or in the Pac 12 tournament. Thursday night is a golden opportunity.
Oregon State seemed like it was becoming our top competitor in the Pac 12, but they lost on the road to Washington, which we know is a very tough place to play. OSU has only lost at home once this year—to USC—so they are playing tougher at home than we are. We can expect a sellout, raucous crowd and an atmosphere every bit as intimidating as Gonzaga. While this game is significant for us, it is of gigantic significance for them. It also may be the last time we play them, maybe for years--depending on the Pac 12 tournament.
Oregon State is ranked 9, Massey has them at 16, NET at 18. The last time we played them was at Maples without Brink, and Iriafen had a career day. We earned a tough 65-56 win in a defensive game—which Tara/Rueck games tend to be. You can read about it in my last preview and our thread from that time here:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid407087
Since that game the big news is that OSU star Raegan Beers has been out since she was injured in the 2/16 UCLA game, missing the next three games entirely. Beers took a Rice elbow to her face and collapsed in tears, streaming blood. Later it was confirmed that her nose was broken, and her condition described as “day to day.” Rueck has been saying he is “hopeful” she will be back ever since the injury, probably just to keep the opposition guessing. We might or might not see her on Thursday. I am sure that if we do, she will be wearing a mask.
Beer’s absence has no doubt hurt OSU dearly, but Timea Gardiner—already an outstanding player but not starting—has taken on a lot of the Beers minutes and performed very well. Without Beers, OSU is not deep in the post—a similar situation to Stanford.
Oregon State always plays very good defense no matter who they put on the court—not the sort of physical defenses that Arizona, Colorado or USC put on, but a very Tara-like defense in which the tendencies of each opposing player are known and specifically targeted. Lately where OSU has struggled it has been with offense.
OSU does have some bright points offensively.
We need to be very careful of three point sharpshooter Lily Hansford, a 6’2” sophomore guard who has become the Pac 12’s best three point shooter off the bench, at more than 50% shooting.
Gardiner is not only a great “big” but shoots 42% of her threes, as well. Kelsey Rees, the other “big” is also shooting 36% from three point range.
In short, Oregon State has an excellent inside-out game with Gardiner and Rees (and maybe Beers?) inside but always able to pass out to a bevy of three point shooters. You see assists all over the OSU stat sheets.
If Beers remains out, OSU may feel her loss on defense even more than on offense. OSU did not have to face both Iriafen and Brink the last time we played them, and Beers could not control Iriafen at all. One might think that putting both Brink and Iriafen on the floor would be just too much for OSU to handle, but Rueck has a superb defensive mind and has had weeks to figure out something different than what he tried last time. It is always a great chess match with him.