Paurova, Beavers blow out the candles on the Eagles

Freshman Donovyn Hunter launches a shot over Eastern Washington’s Milly Knowles in Oregon State’s 73-51 first-round NCAA Tournament win Friday night at Gill Coliseum (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

CORVALLIS — Dom’s birthday party, Rae’s ankle, Rueck’s streak.

Those were the story lines as Oregon State throttled Eastern Washington 73-51 Friday night in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at Gill Coliseum.

Freshman Dominika Paurova scored a season-high 17 points, sophomore center Raegan Beers survived a scary injury moment and Coach Scott Rueck improved his career record to 8-0 in first-round contests.

Raegan Beers muscles for two of her 19 points against the Eagles (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

“One down,” Rueck said as the Beavers (25-7) earned a second-round matchup with Nebraska (23-11) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Gill.

Oregon State was the clear favorite, a No. 3 seed playing before nearly 7,000 spectators on its homecourt. Sometimes those games are difficult to win.

“These games are the hardest for a coach,” said Rueck, now 8-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games. “(Winning this game) is more of a relief than a joy for me. My actual emotion is, ‘We have to win this one.’ You can’t lose tonight. But you could. That’s what makes it (so hard).”

Rueck called No. 14 Eastern Washington, which ended the season with a 29-6 record, “annoyingly good.”

“I’m watching (video) all week and I’m thinking, ‘This team causes trouble,’ ” he said. “I knew this was going to be a really tough game.”

It was, for a quarter. The Big Sky champion Eagles were tenacious defensively, creating eight first-quarter turnovers while jumping to an 18-10 lead.

“They disrupted everything early,” Rueck said. “It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve played. It looked like it.”

Enter Paurova, the fluid 6-foot guard from the Czech Republic, who jump-started the Beavers from their doldrums. Over a 10-minute span, Paurova scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting — 3 for 4 from 3-point range — with two steals and two assists in an 18-2 run. In the second quarter, Oregon State hit 9 of 12 shots and outscored Eastern 24-9 to go into intermission ahead 39-27.

Freshman Dominika Paurova, who scored a season-high 17 points, drives past Eastern Washington guard Alexis Bettis (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

“That second quarter was special,” Rueck said. The Eagles never recovered. Paurova, who finished 6 for 8 from the field, was catalyst of the turnaround.

“Dom is the one who, when we go into a drought of some sort, she just shows up, and the next thing you know, she is blowing by her (defender) and taking it to the rim and giving us a layup when we need it,” said Beers, who led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. “There is this energetic spark that she brings to the team. We saw that tonight — Dom coming on and causing all kinds of havoc offensively and defensively.”

Why did Rueck call it a “dreamy scenario”? Because Paurova’s parents and sister were in attendance, making the long flight from their homeland to see her play in the U.S. for the first time. And, Friday was Dominika’s 19th birthday.

“Best birthday ever,” Paurova said. “I knew they were coming. They told me five days ago. I was so excited. They have always supported me. I was so happy they could come and watch me, because they like it a lot. I enjoyed every moment of this game. I’m excited to play in front of them one more time before we leave.”

“It’s a very special day for her, and what a way for all of us to celebrate,” Rueck said. “It’s these types of moments that we hope for everyone. You just hope those moments won’t be too big, or they won’t overthink it. Dom is just aggressive. That’s her personality. We needed an aggressive mindset, and she gave us that.”

With the issue decided, disaster nearly struck the Beavers in the closing seconds of the third quarter. Beers stepped on an opponent’s foot and went down as if shot by a cannon. A hush went over Gill. She stayed down for more than a minute, holding her ankle, as trainers attended to her. Beers walked off under her own power, but with a limp, and then headed for the training room for observation.

The night’s loudest ovation came moments later when she returned to the OSU bench to watch and cheer on her teammates, evidently none the worse for wear. By the time she entered the press room for the post-game conference, she seemed to be walking normally.

“Ankle feels good,” Beers said with her customary smile. “I just stepped wrong. It happens sometimes. Ankles are like that. I’m feeling better. I’m going to ice it up and get ready for practice (Saturday).”

Rueck told me afterward Oregon State’s medical people believe Beers will be able to play against Nebraska. If so, whew. She is the Beavers’ biggest weapon by far. Eastern’s tallest starter is 6-1. Even with the Eagles’ constant double- and triple-teams, the Beavers were able to lob passes to Beers inside. She converted 8 of 11 opportunities at the rim.

“The goal was to get the ball to the X — to that spot on the court where we can create layups for one another,” said Beers, who played only 22 minutes and sat out the fourth quarter. “We tried our best to pound it in there. It was a fight down there. My guards gave me great passes, keeping them high.”

Oregon State shot .640 from the field in the first half and .549 for the game. OSU made 7 of 18 3-point attempts and dominated the boards 45-26, including a whopping 36-15 edge at the defensive end. The Beavers held a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint.

Eastern took 19 more shots from the field than the Beavers — 70 to 51 — but shot only .300, making 21, and were but 6 for 27 from beyond the arc. The Eagles’ point production was a season low.

“I put that out there to the team as a goal,” Rueck said. “Our defensive intensity and effort overall was outstanding.”

Nebraska will be a tougher opponent. The Cornhuskers have a solid post in 6-3 junior Alexis Markowski, who totaled 23 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in a 94-89 overtime loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament finale. Markowski had 16 points and six boards in the Huskers’ 61-59 win over Texas A&M Friday. Point guard Jaz Shelley, the former Duck, averages 13.5 points, 5.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds.

If Beers is Beers and not hobbled, the Beavers should win. They are 24-4 with Beers as a starter, 1-3 without her. And Beaver Nation will provide its usual support.

“We worked hard all season to get this opportunity to play in front of our fan base, which is absolutely incredible,” Beers said. “They’re so loud, and they aren’t scared to share their opinions about a call.”

This is Oregon State’s best team since at least 2018-19, when the Beavers, featuring Mikayla Pivec, Destiny Slocum, Aleah Goodman, Kat Tudor and freshmen Taylor Jones and Kennedy Brown, went 23-9 and reached the Sweet Sixteen. It might be the program’s best team since the Final Four squad of 2015-16, led by Jamie Weisner, Sydney Wiese and Ruth Hamblin, which went 32-5. That team had much more inside presence, with Hamblin, Deven Hunter and Marie Gulich in the middle.

But this team has some depth, too, with the likes of Paurova, Kelsey Rees and Lily Hansford coming off the bench to provide different things.

Lily Hansford goes up for one of her three blocked shots in just nine minutes of action (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

“We have talent throughout the roster,” Rueck said. “Everybody has a strength or a gift. We’re so versatile in the way we can operate. Great teams have the ability to hurt you in many ways. That’s been a strength in our program, and in this team in particular.”

Oregon State has an excellent leader in Talia von Oelhoffen, the team’s best passer and floor general and a clutch shooter at times and always money at the free throw line. Rueck talks about his players’ selflessness, and von Oelhoffen exemplifies that to a fault. In recent games — and in particular against the Eagles — she has been so focused on feeding Beers that she isn’t looking for her shot. On Friday, Talia had six assists but finished with more turnovers (six) than points (five) and was just 2 for 8 from the field.

The Beavers must keep opposing defenses honest by hitting some shots from the perimeter to open up things on the inside. Paurova and Timea Gardiner are able and willing to take those shots. Several others — von Oelhoffen included — seem reluctant. That can’t happen for this team to fulfill its ultimate goal.

For now, though, it’s all about getting past Nebraska and advancing to a Sweet Sixteen date in lovely Albany, N.Y.

“When March Madness kicks in, there’s a dial that needs to be cranked,” is the way Beers puts it. “Your season could end on any given night. Keeping the energy up has been super important. And we’re excited to do that again on Sunday.”

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