The BulleTin • Sunday, FeBruary 13, 2022 B3
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | OREGON STATE
Beavers’ tournament hopes beginning to dim
point halftime lead.
Third: OSU’s offense goes
silent for nearly four minutes,
while the Ducks increase a
four-point lead to 14.
Fourth: During a four-min-
ute stretch, Oregon outscores
the Beavers 14-2.
Given that, it’s probably a
miracle Oregon State lost by
only eight. But the Beavers
proved they have enough
talent to put it together for
stretches. Just not games.
Against NCAA tourna-
ment-type teams like Oregon,
it’s not enough.
“That’s kind of been our
hurdle this year. Amazing
spurts and great stretches, and
then consistency has been
our nemesis, at both ends of
the floor. We lose focus, make
mistakes and let teams get
away from us,” Rueck said.
Turnovers are constantly an
issue. The Beavers had 15, to
Oregon’s six. That allowed the
Ducks to take 16 more shots,
and get more free throw op-
portunities. It was the fourth
consecutive game where OSU
had at least nine more turn-
overs than the opponent.
Rueck thought for good
stretches, the Beavers moved
the ball well, resulting in
high-quality shots.
“But if one out of every four
(possessions) is a turnover,
that makes it tough to over-
come,” Rueck said. “One of
the challenges for this team is
we have a lot of inexperience
on the perimeter. When you
have a veteran group, it’s easy.
They’ve seen it a billion times.”
Von Oelhoffen is one of
those brilliant, but inexperi-
enced perimeter players. On
a night where she nearly had
the school’s first triple double
in five years, von Oelhoffen
also struggled at times. She
didn’t take a shot during the
first half.
Then in the fourth quarter,
with Oregon racing out to a
69-58 lead, von Oelhoffen sat
on the bench for three min-
utes after making some defen-
sive mistakes.
Oregon State’s best stretch
came late in the third quarter.
Trailing 48-34 with 3:15 re-
maining, the Beavers scored
18 of the game’s next 21 points
to take a 52-51 lead by quar-
ter’s end. Everything seemed
to click: defense, transition,
shooting.
About a minute before the
burst, Rueck was hit with a
technical foul after what he
thought was non-call and a
dangerous play. After getting
little satisfaction from the of-
ficial, Rueck walked away,
turned to the Gill Coliseum
crowd and began motioning
his arms, asking for noise.
Rueck insists he wasn’t try-
ing to fire up his team.
“I wasn’t happy with what I
thought was a dangerous play.
It’s my job. I’m hired to coach
and protect this team,” Rueck
said. “I was happy to see our
team fight and give them-
selves a chance tonight.”
More opportunities to pro-
duce an NCAA tournament
resume are ahead, starting
Sunday at Oregon. It’s the
fourth of five consecutive
games against opponents
ranked among the top 10 in
NCAA NET rankings, a key
tournament metric. Oregon
is No. 7.
“It’s been a hard stretch
for everyone, including our
staff. This kind of thing really
stretches you, as a human,”
Rueck said. “Your option is
the look at it and have fun
with it. So we’ve been doing
that.”
she does in her other routines.
“I have to let the bars swing
me,” Dagen said. “I’ve been
working on it for many, many
years, just having the confi-
dence back on that event. So
nailing it and getting a re-
warding score was the high-
light of my day.”
Dagen is thankful to
have the new practice facil-
ity to work on these skills.
Oregon State debuted the
20,000-square-foot facility in
April.
“Having this new area …
it just makes it easier to learn
bigger skills and be safer on
the body, too, with softer land-
ings,” Dagen said.
The No. 13 Beavers (5-1)
will be home on Sunday, host-
ing No. 34 Washington at
noon at Gill Coliseum. Ore-
gon State has two home meets
and three road meets left on
the schedule before the Pac-12
Championships, which will be
held March 19.
As a senior, Dagen is used
to the collegiate calendar,
but it is a new experience for
Carey.
“It’s definitely different than
what I’m used to. I’m used to
competing once a month. It’s
definitely different that way,
but I am having so much fun.
It’s so much fun just going
out there and competing ev-
ery week with my team and
knowing they have my back
no matter what. I just want to
do so well for them,” Carey
said. “I’m not used to having
a team. It was different for me
at first. I wasn’t used to having
20 girls screaming for me, on
my side. But it’s really special
to me that I have all of them
here.”
Carey is tied for first this
week in the NCAA indi-
vidual all-around rankings
with her Olympic teammate
Sunisa Lee, of Auburn. Fel-
low Olympian Jordan Chiles,
a freshman at UCLA, is 13th
in the all-around rankings and
scored a 10.0 on her floor rou-
tine last weekend.
“It’s so awesome to see all
of us from the Olympic team
that are now in college doing
so well and having fun and
enjoying the gymnastics that
we’re doing. I watch videos
of them or I’ll watch them on
TV and it makes me so happy
to see all of us just doing what
we love,” Carey said.
Carey is excited about the
potential of an Olympic re-
union at the NCAA champi-
onships. It seems a certainty
that Carey will qualify as an
individual but the goal is for
Oregon State to make it as a
team.
The Beavers have qualified
for the national champion-
ships 29 times, most recently
in 2019.
“I think we can make it re-
ally far. We have the potential,
so it’s just really having the be-
lief,” Dagen said.
BY NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
CORVALLIS — Oregon
State is running out of chances
to extend its NCAA women’s
basketball tournament streak
to eight years.
The Beavers had an ex-
cellent opportunity to make
a case Friday night, but too
many offensive dry spells
couldn’t offset some brilliant
play in a 74-66 loss to No. 24
Oregon.
Oregon State fell to 11-9
overall, a record that just by
itself doesn’t scream NCAA
tourney team. But Beavers
coach Scott Rueck makes a
good point when he says, look
at who we’ve been playing.
Each of the nine opponents
Oregon State has played in the
mix for an NCAA tournament
bid. Even Villanova isn’t that
far out of it, and the Wildcats
just won at UConn. The Bea-
vers lost their fourth consecu-
tive game, all to teams solidly
in the tournament field in Ar-
izona, Arizona State, Stanford
and Oregon.
But at some point, if the
Beavers want to join March
Madness, they’ve got to beat
some of these teams. OSU’s
only win over a potential
NCAA tournament team is
Colorado.
Oregon State needs more,
and Friday might have been
the start of something mag-
ical. The Beavers had a
near-triple double from Talia
von Oelhoffen – 12 points, 12
rebounds, nine assists – and
had a breathtaking 18-3 spurt
late in the third quarter to
erase a 14-point deficit.
But each quarter, the Bea-
vers had a killer scoreless
drought. To wit:
First quarter: Oregon
blanks OSU for more than five
minutes, while running off 14
consecutive points.
Second: The Beavers don’t
score during the final 4:37 of
the quarter. The Ducks turn a
three-point deficit into a five-
Gymnastics
Continued from B1
For Dagen, the high score
on bars was especially reward-
ing. She has incorporated a
new single-bar release into
her program, known as the
Tkatchev skill.
“Last year when I was in the
bar lineup, I didn’t have a sin-
gle-bar release, so I couldn’t
have a 10.0 start value and so
it was already hard for me to
get a good score without that,”
Dagen said. “Bars have always
been my frustrating event, I
think because it is so different
from the rest of the events.”
There are common ele-
ments on the vault, the beam
and the floor and Dagen was
able to master those skills
through sheer force and de-
termination. The rhythm of
the bars, however, is different.
Dagen has had to learn how to
work with the bars instead of
trying to power through it as
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Oregon State guard Talia von Oelhoffen sets up the offense against
Oregon Friday night at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.
Olympics
Super Bowl
which allowed Burrow to be
the most-sacked passer in the
Continued from B1
league, 51 times, nine more in
Bringing in veteran Matthew a playoff victory at Tennessee
Stafford in exchange for a hefty — bowing up against a gen-
amount of draft picks — as
erational talent such as Rams
well as a younger quarterback,
defensive tackle Aaron Donald,
Jared Goff, who was part of the and other top pass rushers Von
LA team that lost in the 2019
Miller and Leonard Floyd.
Super Bowl, when he strug-
“This is a special group of
gled mightily — has paid off
talented guys on this defense,”
richly for the Rams.
said Miller, who
Stafford’s 49,995
“We went out and won the 2015 NFL
yards passing and
championship in
got (Matthew
323 TD passes are
Denver, when he
the most for a QB
Stafford) because was Super Bowl
making his first
MVP. “I’m talking
we thought it
Super Bowl ap-
about one of the
pearance. Stafford
groups I’ve
was a chance to best
needs 209 yards
ever been fortu-
passing to become
be able to get a nate enough to be
the sixth player to
a part of. We work
great player of together as a team,
reach 6,000 in a
single season.
his magnitude. and it just gets bet-
But he also puts
ter each week.”
What he’s done,
the ball up for
It’s about Ram-
grabs at times. That
sey
being a shut-
he’s elevated
needs to be limited
down cover guy
on Sunday.
against Offensive
everybody
“We went out
Rookie of the Year
around him.
and got him be-
Ja’Marr Chase, and
cause we thought
He’s made me the rest of the Los
it was a chance
Angeles secondary
a better coach. handling Chase’s
to be able to get a
great player of his
compatriots, Tee
He’s made his
magnitude,” Rams
Higgins and Tyler
coach Sean McVay
Boyd. And about
teammates
said of Stafford,
the same on the
better.”
who spent a dozen
other side, with
seasons playing
Apple and fellow
— Sean McVay, Los
well without win-
defensive backs try-
Angeles Rams coach
ning in Detroit.
ing to slow down
“What he’s done,
Offensive Player of
he’s elevated everybody around the Year Cooper Kupp, Odell
him. He’s made me a better
Beckham Jr. and Van Jefferson.
coach. He’s made his team-
It’s about the kicking games,
mates better.”
which have been very solid in
So has the guy on the other
the postseason, continuing to
side, Joe Burrow. Like Stafford, perform on the sport’s biggest
Burrow was the top overall
stage.
draft pick. His rookie season
Same for the coaches: Mc-
was curtailed after 10 games
Vay, who is accustomed to the
by a knee injury, but his sec-
glaring spotlight after taking
ond year has been so terrific he the Rams to the playoffs in four
won NFL Comeback Player of
of his five seasons, and Tay-
the Year. His most recent pro-
lor, his former assistant, in his
duction has been magnificent.
first postseason as a head man.
And nearly spotless.
McVay did not perform well,
Burrow has gone from No. 1 nor did his team, in that Super
overall pick to starting quarter- Bowl three years ago, looking
back in the Super Bowl faster
uncomfortable against Tom
than anyone else. He has 15
Brady and the Patriots.
touchdown passes and just two
As difficult as it may be —
interceptions in his last seven
and it is very difficult — it’s
games, while averaging 331.1
about treating the Super Bowl
yards passing per game.
in the cliched phrasing players
Rarely has Burrow gambled
use: just another game. There’s
in the last two months, and
plenty of truth to that.
look how that has paid off.
“You got a job to go out
Of course, this matchup is
there and execute and try to
about a lot more than when
lead your team,” Stafford said.
and where the quarterbacks
“The game begins, and it’s
throw the ball. It’s about Cin-
football. That’s what we’re here
cinnati’s offensive line —
for.”
40-year-old Nick Baumgartner
for the title in the new event of
mixed snowboardcross.
At 40 years, 57 days,
Baumgartner becomes the
oldest snowboarder to win an
Olympic medal. At 36 years,
177 days, Jacobellis, the author
of a children’s book, is the sec-
ond-oldest.
“You’re never too late to
take what you want from life,”
Baumgartner said.
Continued from B1
True north squabble
Slopestyle gold medalist
Max Parrot said fellow Cana-
dian snowboarder Mark Mc-
Morris apologized Saturday
for saying Parrot only won be-
cause of questionable Olympic
judging.
Parrot acknowledged to
The Associated Press that he
failed to fully execute a grab
on the first jump of the slope-
style course Monday and said
he was lucky the judges didn’t
see it.
He maintains he still had the
best run of the day and earned
his first Olympic gold.
McMorris finished third
but told CBC on Friday he de-
served to beat Parrot and Chi-
nese silver medalist Su Yiming.
Parrot said there were no
hard feelings over McMorris’
comments.
“He actually came to me
earlier today and he apolo-
gized for his non-sportsman-
ship,” Parrot said. “I told him
no worries.”
Marcio Jose Sanchez/aP
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) stretches during a walk-
through in practice Saturday in Los Angeles.
Matt Slocum/aP
United States’ Kenny Agostino (11) celebrates after scoring a goal
against Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics Saturday in Beijing.
The kids are all right
A young and inexperienced
U.S. hockey team went toe to
toe with Canada in a bruising
matchup between the long-
time rivals and grinded out
a 4-2 victory to remain un-
beaten in two games at the
Olympics.
“We didn’t back down from
their physical play,” said cap-
tain Andy Miele, who led the
U.S. with a goal and an assist.
“I love the way our team re-
sponded.”
Thanks to Miele’s response
goal 70 seconds after Canada
scored and 35 saves by Strauss
Mann, the U.S. is in the driver’s
seat to earn a spot in the quar-
terfinals. Beating Germany on
Sunday would put the Amer-
icans first in the group and
could make them the top seed
in the knockout round.
Oldies but goodies
Lindsey Jacobellis won
her second gold medal of the
Olympics as she teamed with
Dancing out ahead
Gabriella Papadakis and
Guillaume Cizeron broke
their own world record in the
rhythm dance at the Beijing
Olympics, scoring 90.83 points
to begin the ice dance event.
That gave the four-time world
champs from France a cush-
ion over Russian rivals Victoria
Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov
heading into the free dance.
Madison Hubbell and Zach-
ary Donohue were in third,
and their American team-
mates Madison Chock and
Evan Bates were in fourth
place. The medals will be de-
cided with the free dance
Monday morning in Beijing.
Jed Jacobsohn/aP
Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford hands off to Sony Michel during
the NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers Jan. 30 in
Inglewood, California.