Gresham’s Kennedie Shuler coming into her own for Oregon State women’s basketball

Published 11:10 am Saturday, January 13, 2024

When Oregon State women’s basketball head coach Scott Rueck addressed the media following their thriller double overtime 73-70 win against Arizona on Jan. 13, he named one of the best players on the court for the Beavers that evening.

It wasn’t Raegan Beers — who tied a school record with 20 rebounds — or Talia von Oelhoffen — who hit a do-or-die 3-pointer to punch their ticket to overtime. It was freshman guard and Barlow High School product Kennedie Shuler.

“(Shuler) might have been the player of the game for us,” Rueck said. “Her overall impact and how important (her minutes were).”

Arizona played a tough press on Oregon State’s back court all night long, which made the Beavers’ turnover problems incredibly apparent. Juniors AJ Marotte and von Oelhoffen as well as freshman Donovyn Hunter were the starters for the Oregon State back court. The trio combined for 11 turnovers, with Marotte playing only 11 minutes.

In Marotte’s spot came Shuler off the bench, who saw a season-high 29 minutes of action. Often times it was Shuler playing the role of the true point guard for the Beavers, bringing the ball up the court and helping set up the offense.

“Sometimes (players) just have a feel,” Rueck said about Shuler’s performance. “I loved the way she got us into our offense … she played 30 minutes against Arizona pressure and only had two turnovers. That’s impressive for anyone that’s controlling the ball that much.”

Shuler doesn’t pop in the box score like the aforementioned Beers did or have the game saving play like von Oelhoffen. She ended the night with only nine points, three assists and a steal. She did however end the night with a +/- of +10, tied for highest on the team with Timea Gardiner and Dominika Paurova.

“The scoring is emerging (and) she’s just finding her way,” Rueck said. “Her capacity mentally to absorb our playbook and get us into offense is high level for a first-year player.”

Rueck went on to say that the defensive performance Shuler gave against UCLA has contributed to her seeing considerable minutes in their first game back from that contest.

“(It) was as good as anyone else on our team,” he said. “If you’re getting that (level of defense) done, you can be on the court.”

The Oregon State backcourt only gets deeper behind Marotte and von Oelhoffen as the veteran upperclassmen. With freshman Shuler, Paurova, Hunter and Adlee Blacklock all beginning to cut their teeth with considerable minutes off the bench for one of the Pac-12’s premier women’s teams.

The Beavers take another trip to California this week, taking on Cal at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19 and then No. 2 Stanford at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21.