Arizona women's basketball at Oregon State: Scouting report, Pueyo 'underrated'

Arizona (10-5, 2-1) at Oregon State (12-2, 1-2)

Gill Coliseum; Corvallis, Oregon | 8 p.m. Friday | Pac-12 Networks | 1290-AM

She said it

Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Oregon State: “Oregon State is coached really well. (Raegan) Beers is a lot like she's really good at getting position and just taking high percentage shots. She can also hit 17 footers, but really good at posting up early. Really good at rolling and sealing and turning and scoring at a really high rate. (She’s) very hard to guard. I think they're obviously excellent on pick-and-roll situations in the middle of the floor and have shooters around them. They play really smart; they play at a really controlled pace, which is a different style to us. We know that we're going to face ever really sagging defense and I'm sure we're going to face zone — even when teams don't play zone, they likewise zone against us.

"It's a hard place to play. We’re playing in Corvallis. They have an incredible atmosphere for women's basketball. They'll probably have 10,000 people, so it's hard to win there and we know we're going to have to play really well. And you have to play a little bit better on the road to win games. We're going to go in and try our best.”

On the sidelines

Heart over mileage: Over the weekend, the Wildcats logged a lot of miles. Barnes said that the Wildcats measure how far they travel during the game. Helena Pueyo, who played all 85 minutes — 40 minutes each game and plus five extra minutes for overtime against Utah — logged 12-plus miles total last weekend.

“I’m seeing (their heart) a lot; they played really hard,” Barnes said. “I think at that 44th minute, like in the overtime against Utah, I saw them running sometimes (she mimicked slow motion running). You know, they were trying. They logged like five or six miles on Friday, playing with seven players. Then, it was seven-and-a-half because Sali (Kourouma) hasn’t practiced. She’s not 100%.

“But they were just trying so hard. I was just proud. I think that when you're young it's like you can play three games in a day sometimes. But I think them just knowing they're going to play, they're young, so they're just like those young legs. I think they were just feeling good. I think Friday disappointed but we could have tanked on Sunday. But I think just knowing we were right there. They're young, they were like just go. They played really hard and just gave it their all. It was a good win for us.”

So close: Arizona faced two ranked teams in No. 5 Colorado and then-No. 15 Utah and came out with a split. On Friday, the Wildcats couldn’t knock down a last second shot to edge the Buffaloes, losing 75-74.

On Sunday, they figured out how to finish as Kailyn Gilbert hit two free throws to give Arizona the 71-70 overtime win over Utah.

Oregon State also played two ranked teams in No. 9 USC and No. 2 UCLA last weekend. The Beavers had opportunities late against USC but couldn’t make good and lost 56-54. On Sunday, the Beavers came out flat in the third quarter and eventually lost by nine, 65-54.

“Every mistake we made, we paid for it. That's how it felt, anyway,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “Every missed box out they got the award, every bad angle they made us pay. The level of attention to detail that it truly takes (to beat a ranked team).

"We were right there; we can be so much better.”

Rueck knows it doesn’t get any easier on Friday against Arizona, especially with the Wildcat defense, which he called “disruptive, great in open court and gritty and tough."

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Arizona’s engine: Both Arizona and Oregon State are building with young teams with a few veterans sprinkled in.

For the Beavers it’s juniors Talia von Oelhoffen, Kelsey Rees and AJ Marotte.

For the Wildcats it’s fifth years Esmery Martinez and Helena Pueyo. And it’s Pueyo that Rueck thinks makes Arizona go.

“I’ve been saying that Pueyo is the best player on that team for the last three years,” Rueck said. “I don't care about the players that are hyped. Pueyo is the key to that team. She makes every big play for them (and) is maybe the most underrated defender in our league.

"We’re going to have to be disciplined and defend. Pueyo is one of them. Nobody is really talking about her.”

Injury Watch: Isis Beh was cleared earlier in the week and will play this weekend. She was in concussion protocol and was not available for Colorado and Utah. 

Sali Kourouma and Erin Tack both had surgery on Thursday and later in the afternoon, Arizona posted a statement that the procedures were successful and "both student-athletes are in good spirits."

Kourouma’s surgery was to repair her shoulder after dislocating it in the second exhibition game and being re-injured in the final week of 2023. After not playing against Seattle and Colorado, she returned on Sunday to help her teammates in the upset of then-No. 15 Utah and collected seven points and one steal.

Tack had surgery on her right ACL. This was the same knee she injured in high school. The walk-on injured it in practice during her first week as a member of the women’s basketball team. Tack is also a javelin thrower on the track and field team and will miss her outdoor season this spring.

By the numbers

1: Breya Cunningham is first among freshmen in blocks (2.1 per game). That's fourth in the Pac-12. She is also shooting 63%, which is fifth in the league.

44.7%: Gilbert is shooting 44.7% from long distance, which is third in the league. She has made 21 of 47 attempts. She has already surpassed her numbers from last season: 35% on 13 of 37 attempts.

37.7%: Utah only shot 37.7% against Arizona, which is its second lowest shooting percentage of the season. The Utes average 51%.

2: In her last two games, OSU’s Raegan Beers has averaged only 6.5 rebounds per game. The 6-4 sophomore forward is averaging a double-double with 11.1 rebounds and 18.9 points per game.