Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Women’s College Basketball
OSU’s seniors helped guide program’s rise
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Sydney
Wiese joked that when she was
first recruited by Oregon State,
she didn’t even know where
Corvallis was.
Four years later, Wiese and
her fellow seniors are wrapping
up a historic run that has seen the
Beavers’ status rise not only in
the Pac-12 but also in the nation.
“I think we just saw a vision,
bottom line. We saw what this place
could be,” Gabby Hanson said.
On Saturday, No. 2 Oregon
State (31-4) returns to the Sweet
16 for the second straight season
to face third-seeded Florida State
in the Stockton Regional. Last
year, the Beavers advanced to
the Final Four but fell to eventual
champion UConn.
Top seed South Carolina plays
No. 12 seed Quinnipiac in the
other regional game Saturday at
Stockton Arena.
The Seminoles (27-6) defeated
sixth-seeded Missouri 77-55 on
Sunday in Tallahassee, Florida,
for their third straight trip to the
Sweet 16. The Beavers moved on
with a 64-52 victory over No. 7
seed Creighton at Gill Coliseum.
It was the last game at home
for Wiese, Hanson and Kolbie
Orum. Redshirt junior Breanna
Brown has eligibility left but
will graduate this spring and is
undecided about her future.
The Beavers have been to the
NCAA Tournament in each of
the last four seasons. The streak
comes after an 18-year tourna-
ment drought.
Wiese and Hanson credit
coach Scott Rueck with lifting
the program. When he took over
in 2010, he inherited a team in so
much disarray that he had to hold
AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez
Oregon State’s Sydney Wiese touches center court after Oregon
State defeated Creighton 64-52 in a second-round game in the
NCAA women’s college basketball tournament Sunday, March
19, 2017, in Corvallis, Ore., in Wiese’s final game at Gill Coliseum.
open tryouts to fill his first roster.
It was his vision, along with
the lure of a college town eager
to embrace the sport, that struck
both Wiese and Hanson.
“Whether its women’s basket-
ball games or any sporting event,
there’s always great support from
the community,” Wiese said.
“That was definitely appealing
coming on a visit. There were
people who reached out and said:
‘This is an amazing place. It’s a
diamond in the rough.”’
That was back when Wiese was
a wide-eyed recruit from Arizona.
Since then she’s written her way
into Oregon State’s record book.
She broke the Pac-12 career
record for 3-pointers this season,
surpassing Stanford’s Candice
Wiggins, and currently has 373.
She has hit a 3 in 30 straight games.
She also set Oregon State’s
career assist record this season and
now has 624. She has 1,815 points,
ranking fifth on the Beavers’ career
list and 31st in the Pac-12.
Hanson has been Oregon
State’s defensive specialist, but
she matched Wiese with 13 points
against Creighton, including 11 in
a first-half outburst.
“They did everything right for
four years and they earned every-
thing they got out there,” he said.
“All I can say is well done and I’m
so proud of them,” Rueck said.
“They’ve created a legacy that
will live on forever in this program
and they will remain. This team
will carry them on in the way they
conduct themselves in the future.”
With the victory over Creighton,
the Beavers’ seniors finished 60-6
at Gill. Attendance was announced
at 5,660, and all were on their feet
at the end when Wiese blew kisses
from center court.
“What a great finish to their
home career. To be 60-6 is
astounding,” Rueck said. “It’s
simply incredible. A place that
had never won a Pac-12 title,
before their arrival, and now
they’ve won three straight.
Now they’re going to be able
to participate in their second
straight Sweet 16 with a chance
to move on.”
The Beavers lost two key
players from last season’s Final
Four team, Ruth Hamblin and
Jamie Weisner, and expectations
weren’t as high for this season.
But Oregon State has proved any
doubters wrong — again.
“We saw what this place
could be,” Hanson said. “I think
we both can attest to when we
came on our visits and everyone
was so kind and so nice and they
wanted this program to do well.
They just didn’t really have the
‘right stuff’ yet.”
Men’s College Basketball
College basketball evolving into distinctively NBA game
In this Jan.
7, 2017, file
photo, Mich-
igan guard
Zak Irvin
(21) shoots
a three point
basket in
the first half
of an NCAA
college bas-
ketball game
against
Maryland, in
Ann Arbor,
Mich.
By MICHAEL MAROT
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Rick
Pitino watched in amazement as
the Michigan Wolverines made
11 second-half 3-pointers, many
from well beyond the arc.
The first comparison that
came to mind was the Golden
State Warriors.
“The amazing thing to me is
you look at the size of the players
that Michigan has, and they shoot
it like backcourt players. That’s
what’s really coming on,” Pitino
said last weekend in Indianapolis,
where the Cardinals were elim-
inated by Michigan. “I made a
concentrated effort this past year
in our recruiting to recruit bigs
who could shoot because we don’t
have bigs who can shoot now.”
Pitino can find the NBA’s
influence on just about any
college game.
The shot clock has been
shortened, the 3-pointer has
been embraced and everyone
from 5-foot-6 Keon Johnson
of Winthrop to 6-foot-10 Moe
Wagner of Michigan seems
comfortable shooting from long
range. Scoring is up, defenses are
being stretched thin and coaches
are trying to adapt to change by
recruiting bigger, better shooters
and fewer true centers.
College basketball has its own
version of small ball going these
days.
The Wolverines are not small
by any means, but all five starters
and each of their top six scorers
are capable 3-point shooters.
Disbelievers can rewind
Friday’s
92-91,
first-round
victory over Oklahoma State, the
game that caught Pitino’s atten-
tion. The Cardinals did a solid job
in Sunday’s second-round game
giving up only six 3s, though
Wagner’s deep shot helped send
AP Photo/
Tony Ding, File
Michigan to the Sweet 16 for
Thursday’s Midwest Regional
showdown against Oregon.
Style is only part of the
ongoing change.
Two years ago, the NCAA
approved a 30-second shot clock
and followed the NBA’s lead by
using timeouts called within close
proximity of a media timeout as
the scheduled stop. It also stripped
a second-half timeout from teams.
The numbers reveal just how
much and how fast things have
changed.
Through the first two rounds
of this year’s tournament, teams
are averaging 74.22 points per
game . If that average is main-
tained through the next four
rounds, it would be the highest
tourney scoring average since
1993 (74.31) and a 6.45-point
per team increase over the 2015
average (67.77 ppg).
Last year, the first with the
new shot clock, teams averaged
71.85 points in tourney play.
“I like it,” said Michigan
coach John Beilein, whose head
coaching career began before
the shot clock or the 3-point
line existed in college. “I think
it would be very hard to play if
you didn’t have shooters, though,
because everybody would plug
in there, and you wouldn’t have
anybody open.”
High-scoring offenses are only
part of the equation.
Pitino believes defenses are
starting to add NBA staples, too.
Instead of using traps and pres-
sure to force turnovers, he said,
many teams are simply trying
to take precious seconds off the
NHL
Penguins clinch playoff spot
for 11th straight season
Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nick
Bonino scored the go-ahead goal
with 5:29 left and the Pittsburgh
Penguins clinched their 11th
straight playoff berth with a 3-1
win over the Buffalo Sabres on
Tuesday night.
Sidney Crosby and Conor
Sheary also scored, and Matt
Murray made 29 saves. The Penguins
(46-17-9) improved to 8-1-1 in their
past 10 and are in the hunt to finish
with the NHL’s best record.
Sam Reinhart scored for a Sabres
team that’s sputtering on offense.
Coming off a 2-1 win at Detroit on
Monday, Buffalo has just five goals
in regulation in its past five games,
including a 2-0 shutout loss at Los
Angeles on Thursday.
The score would’ve been more
lopsided if not for Buffalo
goalie Robin Lehner, who made
31 saves. Lehner foiled Tom
Kuhnhackl and Chris Kunitz
on a pair of breakaways in the
opening three minutes of the
second period.
Crosby scored his sixth goal in
three games, and he entered the day
with an NHL-leading 40.
Pittsburgh improved to 11-0-1
over Buffalo in a string dating to
April 23, 2013.
shot clock with “soft pressure,”
a notion he advocated during two
stints as an NBA coach.
Analytics, which Brad Stevens
used heavily during his coaching
tenure at Butler, has become a
bigger part of the college game,
too, and other changes could be
on the horizon. Women’s teams
already play four quarters rather
than two halves, and the NIT
is experimenting this year with
resetting team fouls after each
10-minute segment of the game.
One thing Beilein and Pitino
don’t want is the 24-second shot
clock. But it’s become clear to
many at all levels that today’s
players are putting a pro-style
stamp on the college game.
“There’s a trickle down,” said
Utah Jazz coach Quin Snider, a
former college coach and player.
“I think some of it has to do with
the fact the NBA is so widely
covered now. There’s so much
NBA basketball on television
— younger players see it. They
idolize guys, they try to emulate
them. That process takes place
and I think it’s the same thing
with coaches.”
Perhaps that’s why Beilein and
Pitino have been so successful
adapting. With a track record of
developing NBA-ready players, the
two longtime coaches have become
the faces of embracing change.
“It’s probably more like the
games in the ‘60s right now
with Rudy T. (Tomjanovich) and
Calvin Murphy and Bob Lanier
and Pete Maravich than it is to
what we saw in some periods
of the 44-42 game earlier on,”
Beilein said. “It’s becoming more
like football every day with the
way people can move people
around and give different looks
and do the same thing. Your
kids have to recognize it without
huddling up every 30 seconds.
It’s opened up this game.”
BLAZERS:
Continued from 1B
The Bucks outscored
the Blazers 30-14 in the
second quarter for a 48-35
lead at the break.
Portland closed to 65-58
on Lillard’s layup with just
under three minutes to go
in the third. The Blazers
finished the quarter on a
14-4 run to trim the Bucks’
lead to 67-63 heading into
the fourth.
TIP-INS
Bucks:
Milwaukee’s
roster includes Portland
native Terrence Jones,
signed on March 4 for the
rest of the season. Jones
played 51 games for New
Orleans this season before
he was waived. He’s only
played sparingly for the
Bucks. “He’s a talented
young man and he’ll get
his chances but right now
we’re top-heavy with
bigs,” coach Jason Kidd
said.
Trail Blazers: Lillard
became the first Trail
Blazer to make 1,000
career 3-pointers during the
victory against the Heat,
and the Blazers’ arena
announcer recognized the
milestone during player
introductions on Tuesday
night.
UP NEXT
Bucks: Play the second
of a back-to-back at
Sacramento on Wednesday
night, the final game of a
five-game road trip.
Trail Blazers: Host the
Knicks on Thursday night.
Weston-McEwen
Tennis
Note: The Weston-McEwen TigerScots
tennis team preview regrettably did not
make it in the Spring Sports Preview
special section in today’s newspaper, and
is running here instead.
HEAD COACHES: Troy and
Rachael Olson, 5th year
RETURNING STARTERS: (Girls)
Johanna Albert, jr., singles; Emmaline
Irvine, sr., singles; Krysta Calvert, jr.,
singles; Christina Swafford and Mary
Bagdon doubles; Hannah
McIntyre and Samantha
Ford, doubles. (Boys) Ryan
Schmidtgall, sr., singles; Kellen
Fairchild, sr., singles; Michael
Shafer and David Froese, doubles; Rob
Davison, doubles.
OTHER SENIORS: Curtis Papineau
Impact newcomers: Emma Olson and
Cloe Davis, fr., doubles; Cade Bryan and
Marcelino Barrera, fr., doubles; Curtis
Papineau, singles.
PRIMARY GOALS: Weston-
McEwen hopes to compete at a high
level and continually improve through
each match and each practice of the
season.
OLSON’S KEY TO THE SEASON:
“The continued daily dedication to
practice, willingness to learn, and a
coachable attitude. As coaches we will
continue to learn and grow along with
positively interacting with athletes and
celebrating their achievements.”
BIGGEST STRENGTHS: Weston-
McEwen returns numerous starters from
a year ago, including five of the top six
singles players for both boys and girls as
well as the top two doubles pairings for
each side.
2017 Schedule
Mar. 21
at Stanfield
4 p.m.
Mar. 23
at Mac-Hi
3:30 p.m.
Apr. 4
vs. Ione
4 p.m.
Apr. 6
vs. Stanfield
3:30 p.m.
Apr. 11
vs. Helix
3:30 p.m.
Apr. 13
vs. Umatilla
3:15 p.m.
Apr. 13
vs. Helix
3:15 p.m.
Apr. 14
at Riverside
4 p.m.
Apr. 18
at Mac-Hi
3:30 p.m.
Apr. 20
at Ione
4 p.m.
Apr. 25
vs. Helix
3:30 p.m.
Apr. 27
vs. Riverside
4 p.m.
Apr. 29
at Helix Tournament
TBD
May 5 at Sub-Districts (Tri-Cities) TBD
May 12
Districts
TBD
May 19
State Tournament
TBD
PREPS:
Continued from 1B
as it struck for three runs in the inning
behind an RBI single from Tanner
Mills and two errors by Pilot Rock. The
Knights added four more runs in the
sixth with help from an RBI single from
Zack Henrichs (2-for-3, run, RBI) and a
RBI double by Nate Gumbert (1-for-4).
Chris Weinke was Pilot Rock’s top
hitter going 2-for-4 at the plate.
UP NEXT
Irrigon next heads to Heppner on
Saturday for a doubleheader starting
at 11 a.m., while Pilot Rock heads to
Stanfield on Thursday for a game at 4:30
p.m.
————
R
H
E
PR
010
101
0 —
3
3
1
IHS
001
304
X —
8
9
5
(PR) C. Weinke, B. Postma (6). (IHS) A. Rice, J. Philips (4), A.
Roa (7). W — J. Philips, L — C. Weinke.
2B — C. Weinke (PR); Z. Henrichs, N. Gumbert, A. Rice
(IHS).
GOLF
GRANDVIEW, Washington — The
Hermiston boys golf team headed north
for its second outing of the season and
came back winners, taking first place at
the Black Rock Creek Golf Invitational
on Monday.
Hermiston shot 334 as a team in the
invitational, three strokes ahead of East
Valley (WA) with a 337. Hermiston was
led individually by Anders Lind’s 80,
which earned him third-place medalist
after winning a playoff for the spot.
Also scoring for Hermiston was Jared
Thacker (82), Kayden Mecham (90) and
Tyler Cameron (82), while Blue Black-
hurst followed up with a 96.
SOFTBALL
DAYTON 12, RIVERSIDE 7 — At
Boardman, coming off a 24-2 win at
Waitsburg (WA) on Monday, the Pirates
dropped their home opener for their first
loss of the season on Tuesday.
Dayton (WA) scored six runs in the
top of the first and added four more
in the second to out-pace the also hot
Pirates 10-7 through two.
Riverside (3-1) scored one of its runs
on a squeeze bunt by Xenia Velasco that
brought in Sadie Hasbell. Velasco had
two RBIs, Abby Hernandez was 2 for 3
and Masie Hancock was 2 for 4.
On Monday, Skylar Wightman had
eight strikeouts and allowed just three
hits in the circle, and went 3 for 4 with
a triple and four RBIs at the plate to
lead the win against Waitsburg. Bianca
Avalos was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and
Velasco was 2 for 4 with one RBI.
UP NEXT
Riverside hosts Columbia (WA) of
White Salmon for a doubleheader on
Friday starting at 2 p.m.
———
Tues.
R H E
DHS
641 001
0 — 12 9 1
RHS
520 000
0 — 7 11 5
W — Savannah McFarbud. L — Skylar Wightman.
Mon.
R H E
RHS
24(12) 06 — 24 11 2
WHS
000 20 —
2 3 6
W — Skylar Wightman. L — Kelsey Alleman.
3B — S. Wightman (RHS).