Thanksgiving last year wasn’t much fun for the Oregon State women’s basketball team.
The Beavers had lost five of their first six games of the ‘24-’25 season, including four straight by an average of more than 23 points. In those five losses, the offense did not once reach 70 points.
All might have seemed lost to outsiders, but OSU fans knew two things that gave them hope:
1) Coach Scott Rueck employs a sophisticated offensive scheme that takes time for players to grasp and,
2) The Beaver roster was filled with new players — many from foreign nations — who had to learn that complex offense from scratch.
Two days after Thanksgiving, A.J. Marotte seemed to have come up with a magic wishbone because the 6’0” senior scored 21 points to lead her team to a surprising upset of 6-2 Boston College at the Baha Mar Women’s Basketball Tournament.
A week later, 6’7” Sela Heide burst from three years of bench-ridden obscurity and into the limelight as she led Oregon State with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and eight blocked in just 25 minutes against Grambling as the Beavers posted a second consecutive win.
Suddenly, the season’s sluggish start transformed into one of great hope.
I mentioned in the preseason that Heide would be the primary missing part for Oregon State to have a winning season. If Heide developed well, the Beavers would become a force.
In the next four weeks, she continued to produce, and before the end of the year, Oregon State beat WCC leaders Portland and Gonzaga in back-to-back games.
The Beavers beat them both again in back-to-back games last week to win the WCC tournament championship.
Portland is 29-4. Half of those losses were to Oregon State.
The Beavers began the season 1-5.
They ended 10-2.
That is what Scott Rueck does. He takes fragments and makes them whole.
That is why Oregon State women’s basketball has been my number-one team to watch for the past decade.
This year, I was rewarded with the grit and character of senior Kelsey Rees, who led the Beavers in scoring, rebounding, free-throw shooting, and three-point accuracy.
And the contributions of A.J. Marotte can’t be overstated. She is the only four-year member of the OSU squad and the only four-year starter as well. Marotte was the glue that kept the team from unraveling in those problematic weeks of November.
She earned All WCC accolades after finishing second in team scoring, first in blocked shots for any player under 6’5”, and second only to point guard Kennedie Shuler for most assists.
When eight others abandoned the Beavers last year, Marotte stayed. She had the credentials to attract some of the best programs in America, but she stayed. That’s why she was so popular with fans.
Also atop my watch list is Shuler, a perpetual motion joy to watch. She is second on the team in steals and second among guards for rebounds. But it’s been her growth in all facets of the game that has impressed me. That is saying a lot because I was already pretty impressed last year when she was a pure freshman.
Transfer Catarina Ferreira led the team in steals but fell just 10 rebounds short of leading the team on the boards, behind only Kelsey Rees, who is five inches taller.
Former Churchill star Tiara Bolden returned to her home state and was in the top three for steals, fewest turnovers, and three-point shooting. In other words, every facet of OSU’s game improved when Bolden was on the court.
It all added up to a 19-15 record and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Beavers open that tournament against North Carolina. Winning against a 27-7 Tarheels outfit won’t be easy, but Oregon State is hot right now, and if anyone is looking for a giant killer, they don’t need to look any further than Oregon State.
Scott Rueck is a magician when it comes to molding new pieces into winning teams and three-year bench riders into WNBA draft prospects.
Now the question is …
What’s next?
Four-year starter A.J. Marotte graduates, and the Beavers will miss more than her high production on the court because she was the foundation of this year’s team.
Oregon State also loses fabulous Kelsey Rees (6’5”) and Sela Heide (6’7”) to graduation, so the front line must be rebuilt. Their one-two power is needed to fuel the inside-out game that causes Rueck teams to thrive.
Although Denmark’s 6’5” Elisa Mehyar might fill one of those up-front positions, I expect to see at least two tall players come to OSU via the portal. I know they won’t come from the ranks of high schoolers because all of OSU’s tall high school prospects signed elsewhere.
Getting two adept front liners from the portal will be critical for Oregon State to succeed next season.
The perimeter is as deep and talented as any in the West.
Shuler, Bolden, and Ferreira are all expected to return, and that combination is going to be electrifying right out of the gate. Their handskills on offense and relentless pursuit on defense will be fantastic.
So far, I haven’t mentioned Ally Schimel, but this walk-on from tiny Corbett, Oregon (population 4,000) has been a stunning addition to the Beaver program.
She is the granddaughter of Portland Trailblazer legend Larry Steele and came to the Beavers as a low-recruited, multi-sport star, 3A basketball Player of the Year, Oregon state tournament MVP, and one who scored 42 points (8 three-pointers) in her senior, championship game.
Schimel may be a walk-on, but she was second off the bench at Oregon State. She played in all 34 games, and she almost single-handedly delivered Oregon State a win against San Diego late in the year, hitting 3-for-3 field goals, 1-for-1 three-pointers, and 1-for-1 free throws after coming in as the fourth player off the Beaver bench.
She is in the mix for a starting position next season and will undoubtedly be a key player in Oregon State’s continued success.
With Marotte graduating, Oregon State pursued 6’0” Australian guard Keari Lindemans, who signed with the Beavers earlier this month.
Lindemans is a hard-driving, physical guard with remarkably quick reactions that make her a terror on defense. Although she has a trained shooting form and soft shot, her physical strength and penchant for driving the key and initiating contact make her a terrific offensive weapon.
Not only does she not shy away from contact, she seems in perpetual search of it. That will fit nicely with Shuler, Ferreira, and Bolden.
Although Lindemans is an exciting prospect, Oregon State recruiting is concerned because she is the only high school player signed this season after OSU signed none in the previous early signing period.
Oregon State will get off to a much faster start in the 25-26 season and seems almost certain to win 22 or more games. The Beavers will need to schedule and defeat some quad-one opponents to get back to the NCAA tournament.
Win or lose next season, OSU will continue to be a great team for fans because, with Scott Rueck at the helm and these high-intensity players on the floor, the action just won’t slow.
Now, if Rueck can just come up with two “talls” …
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