Scott Rueck Says Oregon State Is Battle-Tested, Ready To Make NCAA Tournament Run

750 The Game Staff

It’s tournament time for Scott Rueck and Oregon State women’s basketball.

Friday at 5:00 p.m., the 3-seed Beavers host 14-seed Eastern Washington in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, part of the Albany-1 region.

Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck stopped by the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano on Tuesday and talked about the feeling of finally seeing the Beavers NCAA tournament draw.

“That’s what everybody was saying,” Rueck said in respect to getting a 3-seed in the field. “As comfortable as you can be, I guess, that’s how it felt, that we had earned the opportunity to host and we had been in the reveals the last few weeks.”

Rueck said hosting first and possible second-round games is just what the program wanted this season.

“You wouldn’t want it any other way,” Rueck said on 750 The Game. “You work hard and that’s one of the goals at the beginning of the year is not only make the tournament, but play in such a way and earn the opportunity to host those first couple rounds. We’ve been able to do that several times over the years, but it’s been a little bit – I think 2019 was the last time.

“It’s interesting, because it comes with a pressure that you wouldn’t probably expect. But there is, you’re at home, you’re supposed to win. But these are really good teams that in some ways have nothing to lose.”

The Beavers take on the EWU Eagles in Friday’s first round. Should OSU advance, they’ll stay in Corvallis to host a second-round matchup against the winner of 6-seed Nebraska and 11-seed Texas A&M, who meet later Friday night in Gill Coliseum.

Rueck said the rigors of a loaded schedule in the Pac-12, and the way the Beavers fought in the conference tournament in Las Vegas, makes him feel excited about what this team can accomplish on the big stage.

“There’s no doubt we’re battle-tested. There’s no question about it. We’ve seen everything. Our conference is so good. If you look at South Carolina overall, there’s some similarities to teams in our league. The one thing we haven’t done is play in an NCAA Tournament. The way we competed in the Pac-12 Tournament, however, is very encouraging. And the way we learned to play on the road and the fearlessness that this team played with. And that’s really what it takes. It’s just really looking at your opponent, blocking out everything else, having fun and playing basketball.”

Check out the full interview with Scott Rueck and John Canzano at the podcast below.

750 The Game is your play-by-play home of the NCAA Tournament from Westwood One, including the women’s Final Four and national championship game.