Scouting Report: Oregon State Beavers vs. No. 15 Arizona Wildcats

Where: McKale Center When: 6 p.m. TV: Pac-12 Networks Radio: 1400-AM

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Shaina Pellington (5-8 senior)

G/F Jade Loville (5-11 senior)

F Esmery Martinez (6-2 senior)

F Lauren Fields (5-9 senior)

F Cate Reese (6-2 senior)

OREGON STATE

G Bendu Yeaney (5-10 senior)

G Talia von Oelhoffen (5-11 sophomore)

G Shalexxus Aaron (6-1 junior)

F/C Jelena Mitrovic (6-9 sophomore)

G Noelle Mannen (5-6 junior)

Key players

Oregon State — Talia von Oelhoffen

Von Oelhoffen has been a force since she stepped onto the court as an early enrollee in January of 2021. The 5-foot-11-inch guard averaged 11 points per game that semester and followed that up with an All-Pac-12 team selection last season, averaging nearly 14 points per game.

This season, she’s up to 16.6 points per game and is shooting 42% from the field. In Sunday’s upset over No. 14 UCLA, von Oelhoffen went a perfect 10 for 10 at the free throw line. She is making her free throws at a 90% clip.

Von Oelhoffen has already scored more than 800 points in her two years at OSU and is 23 assists away from dishing 200.

Arizona — Cate Reese

Reese is coming off a tough performance Monday at Stanford. She scored just four points and collected three rebounds, putting her in line — perhaps — for a bounce-back performance against the Beavers. The steady senior hasn’t had too many consecutive down nights over her career.

While OSU always has post players at 6-foot-6-inches and taller, Reese at 6-2, matches up well against the Beavers. She is averaging 12.4 points per game against OSU in her career. Last February, she had 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Reese has picked seven steals in the last three matchups, not too shabby for a post player.

Matchup history

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Arizona is 35-38 all-time against Oregon State. The Wildcats are on a four-game winning streak that started on Feb. 9, 2020, with a 65-58 win in overtime. It was Arizona’s first defeat of a Top-10 ranked team on the road. Dominique McBryde went 7 of 10, scoring 19 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds, blocked four shots, dished three assists and picked one steal.

In last season’s win at McKale, 7,505 fans were on hand as Arizona beat OSU 73-61. In that one, the Wildcats only turned the ball over three times, which tied a program record.

He said it

“They are a very good offensive team. They run a lot of pick-and-roll actions. They are very, very good inside. They have a lot of size with (Reagan) Beers and (Jelena) Mitrovic. They also have good shooters, as they always have. For us, trying to score on fast break and playing fast. This starts with the defense. We have to start playing very good one-on-one defense, great defense on pick-and-roll, help each other and apply pressure. The style of defense that we play will be the key to win this game.

“We have to do better compared to (in the) Stanford (game). We have to rebound and we are going to be challenged because they’re a good rebounding team. Another thing is taking better shots — uncontested. With Stanford, we took way too many contested shots, and that this didn’t help us. We have to work better to make sure we take better shots.” — UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa, who scouted Oregon State

Sidelines

Home call

Former OSU standout Sydney Wiese is the analyst for the Beavers matchup with the Wildcats. She is joining play-by-play broadcaster Ann Schatz on the call.

Wiese, who attended Phoenix Pinnacle High school, still holds the Pac-12 record for 3-pointers with 373. The point guard was all All-Pac-12 team member all four years and an All-American. She holds the OSU record for most career assists with 317.

She played professionally in the WNBA, most recently for the Washington Mystics, and overseas.

Taking the next step

UA coach Adia Barnes is happy with the daily growth she is seeing from freshman Maya Nnaji. The rookie is seeing a lot of playing time averaging 15 minutes per game.

The 6-foot-4-inch Nnaji, is “confident, because she works hard and believes in our skill (work),” Barnes said. The experience of playing against two of the best players in the country in Stanford’s Cameron Brink and Haley Jones is just the next step in becoming one of the next dominant players in the Pac-12.

“I think it makes you hungrier because you get to see where you want your game to be,” Barnes said. “I think (Nnaji) competing against them and learning is experience that we need that will pay dividends later. …She could watch players like Cameron who came in the league one way and every year has added something to her game and gotten better.”

Fun facts

Arizona: UA is asking all fans to wear white to Sunday’s game against No. 18 Oregon.

Oregon State: Talia von Oelhoffen is a two-time scholar athlete award winner and a four-time president’s academic award winner … Jelena Mitrovic’s brother, Luka, is a professional basketball player overseas; he was the final pick in the 2015 draft by 76ers.

Numbers game

40 — When UA shoots 40% or better, the Wildcats win. All 12 of the Wildcats’ wins have come when they shoot at a high percentage and when they outscore their opponents in the paint.

25 — Arizona’s NET ranking this week. Four Pac-12 teams are ahead of UA: Stanford (4), Utah (5), Oregon (11) and UCLA (23).

8 — OSU freshman forward Reagan Beers has eight double-doubles this season. She is tied for seventh in the nation and is first among rookies. She is coming off a 22-point, 12-rebound performance — her third consecutive double-double. She earned her Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season.