Oregon St. hopes defense can contain Western Kentucky (Mar 14, 2018)
Losing in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament to Arizona State on March 2 was a quadruple whammy of sorts for Oregon State.
Not only did the Beavers miss an opportunity to improve their seeding for the NCAA Women's Tournament, they also had to wait two weeks for their next game.
And when the pairings were announced Monday night, they were given a trip across three time zones, not to mention a tip time that will basically feel like 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Nevertheless, the sixth seeds in the Lexington Regional said they learned a lesson from falling to the Sun Devils, one they can use when they meet11th-seeded Western Kentucky on Friday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
"I think overall we have a different mindset now," Oregon State senior center Marie Gulich said to the Corvallis Gazette Times. "We realize how much it hurts to lose these games and I think the team is willing to learn and work hard and I'm really excited for this."
Oregon State (23-7) had won seven in a row and nine of 10 prior to the upset defeat against Arizona State, using good shooting, rebounding and lockdown defense.
The Beavers enter the tournament shooting nearly 49 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from the 3-point line despite shooting 40 percent in the loss to Arizona State.
Gulich is the force inside, leading the team with 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds while converting 65.8 percent of her shots from the field. Oregon State surrounds her with accurate 3-point shooters such as Kat Tudor (11.7 points, 42.2 3-pointers), Katie McWilliams (8.1, 44.1) and Aleah Goodman (6.8, 49.0).
The Beavers outrebound teams by just over 10 per game and play well when they don't have the ball, holding opponents to 58.1 points and 34.6 percent shooting from the field.
Oregon State's vaunted defense will get a test from the Hilltoppers (24-8), who earned their 20th NCAA bid by vanquishing UAB 72-57 on Saturday for the Conference USA Tournament title in Frisco, Texas.
Western Kentucky averages 75.8 points per game and has one of the nation's top scorers in Tashia Brown, who hits for 22.7 points per game and scored 25 against UAB.
Brown is a streaky volume shooter who averages nearly 20 attempts per game and shoots just over 41 percent from the field but attracts a lot of fouls. Brown takes more than eight free throws per game and can get opponents into foul trouble.
"We'll go as far as they'll let us go," Brown said to the Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News.
Ivy Brown (no relation) offers a strong complement to Tashia Brown, averaging 17 points and 9.9 rebounds while leading Western in steals with 78. Ivy Brown is also the team's second-best 3-point shooter, connecting on 41.3 percent of her tries from the arc.
The Hilltoppers have come close to pulling off upsets in the first round in its last two NCAA tournament games, suffering a 66-64 loss to Texas in 2015 and dropping a 70-63 verdict last March to Ohio State.
"We don't just want to get to the NCAA, we want to get to the NCAA and win a game," coach Michelle Clark-Heard said.
The winner meets No. 3 Tennessee or No. 14 Liberty in Sunday's second round.
