I venture that had Utah visited the Oregon State Beavers Friday rather than the Oregon Ducks, it would’ve been Utah’s misfortune instead of Colorado’s. The Beavers, newly entered in the Top 25, beat #3 Colorado 68-62 in Corvallis. Meanwhile, #16 Utah sputtered at Eugene.
The Pac-12 Network reported OSU coach Rueck said that the Beavers have figured out how to win the close games they’ve been losing.
One of the first things OSU had to learn was how to distribute the load to someone other than sophomore truck Raegan Beers. Beers had a season-low 6 points — 13 below her average — while 7 FGA was Beers’ fewest in a conference game.
In OSU’s 73-70 double overtime win vs. Arizona Jan. 12, Beers scored their first 7 points in the 2nd OT, and finished their defensive stop while leading 71-70 with 18 seconds left. In sum, 20 points, 20 rebounds, in 42 minutes. Beers can do that, but against Colorado’s defense, it had to be a wider team effort.
Freshman guard Hunter scored a career-best 16 (guarded by Sharrod and Wetta!).
Senior post Rees, one of Utah’s transfers, was shooting 4-for-20 in conference games, averaging 1.5 pts. She made every attempt Friday, for 7 points.
The Beavers nursed a small lead throughout the 3rd. Blacklock scored 3 points to widen a 1-point lead to 4 with 0:39 left. She understood how much it meant.
Von Oelhoffen isn’t shooting well from the field lately. But she was 9-for-9 at the FT line Friday.
6-7 junior forward Heide plays seldom. Except for 1 rebound Friday, she would’ve recorded “5 billion” in 5 minutes. Her job was to throw a different defensive look at Vonleh, and with Oregon State leading by 1, Vonleh missed a jumper, made a turnover and a foul. Heide gets credit for an excellent night that doesn’t show in the box, and so does Coach Rueck for (as the cliche goes) pushing the right buttons.
You might say the Beavers did everything a little better than the Buffaloes did. The Beavers shot a higher percentage, but did they play better defense?
Coach Payne said on Pac-12 Network at halftime that the Buffaloes had to convert more layups. She smiled, and apologized for unsophisticated analysis. And she was right — besides Sharrod’s 7-for-14, Colorado shot 12-for-36.
Utah 58 Oregon 48
I didn’t express opinion after Utah’s best win of the season vs. UCLA. I didn’t want to sound full of restored optimism because a hangover performance at Oregon would have been some buzzkill.
Oregon began 21-7, a reminder that Utah is brand new at beating teams as good as USC and UCLA. Avoiding uninspired play against weaker opponents is for veteran teams, which Utah is not.
Utah misses Gianna Kneepkens’ on-court personality. Pili is quiet, Johnson is quiet (Jenna had a double Friday!? I had no idea.), McQueen is quiet, Young is quiet. Gianna is an electric presence (when the TV camera is on the Utah bench, it’s the injured kid working hardest).
Vieira has some sort of booster rocket in case of emergencies, like moving off the screen at the end of regulation vs. UCLA.
When preparing for Utah, opponents have to talk about their ballhandlers always knowing where Vieira is.
Speaking of coaches pushing the proverbial right buttons, note Matyson Wilke’s FGs in the first two periods came to end Utah droughts of 5 minutes and 4 minutes.
Oregon St. and Utah are both cultivating momentum. The Beavers are building a case as one of the Pac-12’s at-large teams. The Utes have discovered that the team goal is achievable short-handed.
Oregon St. learned it could win close games against anyone. Utah learned it could compete at the top in Kneepkens and Palmer’s absence. It makes sense that an OSU win will be close at the end, whereas a Utah win might appear more comfortable.
Before any games were played in November, the expection for today’s Utah at Oregon St. game favored the Utes. The way things are going, the Beavers don’t lose at home.