Notre Dame women’s basketball vs Oregon State scouting report prediction

SOUTH BEND — Four things to know about No. 12-ranked, third-seeded Oregon State (26-7), which faces No. 10 and second-seeded Notre Dame women’s basketball (28-6) in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matcup Friday in Albany, NY (2:30 pm on ESPN).

The teams will battle for the sixth team — the Irish hold a 5-0 series lead, the last meeting in November 2021 — but for the first team in postseason.

They have no opponents in common this season.

Noie: Notre Dame women weren’t losing Monday with a chance to get to the Sweet 16, right?

Pac-12 Conference was no joke in 2023-24

The routinely tested Beavers are part of the prohibitively powerful Pac-12, which has advanced a nation-leading five teams to the Sweet 16.

That group includes No. 3-ranked Stanford, No. 5 USC and No. 6 UCLA.

Oregon State’s just 1-6 against that trio (five of the losses by single digits), but is also 5-0 against other ranked teams, each of those games also against Pac-12 brethren.

All-American Raegan Beers leads a deep squad

The Beavers feature efficient third-team All-American post Raegan Beers, with plenty of help around her.

A 6-foot-4 sophomore, the strong and thick Beers is averaging 17.5 points and 10.2 rebounds besides shooting 66.3% from the field to rank second in the country. She’s just a 64% free throw shooter, though, and hasn’t made a 3-pointer.

Fellow soph Timea Gardiner is adding 11.4 points and 6.7 boards per game. The 6-3 swing is 64-of-160 on 3s for 40% and 51-of-57 at the line for 89.5%.

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Junior guard Talia von Oelhoffen is next at 10.9 points to go with a team-pacing 4.9 assists and 74-of-84 marksmanship at the stripe.

Five other players average 4.8 to 6.6 points a piece, including freshman guard Donovyn Hunter at 6.6 points and 3.6 assists.

The Beavers have proven a deep and durable bunch.

While Beers, now sporting a mask, sat out four games in late February after suffering a broken nose in a two-point win over UCLA — OSU went 1-3 while she was out — the Beavers’ Nos. 2 through 8 scorers have combined to miss just one game.

These Beavers are sharp shooters

Oregon State doesn’t force many turnovers, but compensates by ranking among the nation’s premier clubs in both varieties of field goal defense.

The Beavers are ninth in the country in 2-point D at 35.5% and 26th vs. 3-pointers at 27.6% for a gnarly net effective percentage allowed of 39.5%.

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That contrasts sharply to their offense, which is at 53.1% in net, including 46.3% on 2s and 35.7% on 3s with 7.8 made triples per game.

As for those turnovers, OSU forces just 9.3 per outing while committing 13.3 of its own.

In fact, Hannah Hidalgo’s nation-leading 4.62 steals per game for ND is virtually identical to the Beavers’ 4.64 as a team.

Oregon State has a veteran coach in Scott Rueck

Oregon native Scott Rueck has turned Oregon State into a near-perennial power.

In his 14th season at OSU overall, he’s guided the Beavers to a 257-98 mark over the last 11 of those years with eight NCAA Tourney appearances (it would be nine if not for no tournament being held in 2020 due to COVID).

This is OSU’s fifth advancement into at least the Sweet 16 in the last eight tournaments, including a Final Four run in 2016 and an Elite Eight in 2018.

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Albany 1 Regional prediction

Notre Dame advanced to the Ablany 1 Regional with home wins at Purcell Pavilion over No. 15 seed Kent State and No. 7 Mississippi. It’s the 13th time in the last 15 years the Irish have qualified for the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. South Bend Tribune columnist Tom Noie predicts that even with injuries impacting Notre Dame’s depth, the Irish are still strong enough to get past the Beavers on Friday.

It’s what awaits on Sunday that seems insurmountable. Top overall tournament seed South Carolina (34-0) will beat fourth-seeded Indiana in the second game at Albany. The Gamecocks rocked the Irish, 100-71 in the season opener in Paris, France.

This ride and this season ends for the Irish as it started, Noie predicts — with a loss to South Carolina on its way to a National Championship.