Conference Pacific-10 Conference Head coach LaVonda Wagner Assistant coach Krista Reinking | 2008-09 record 20-12 (9-9 PAC-10) Assistant coach Kellee Barney Assistant coach Anthony Turner | |
The 2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team represented Oregon State University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Beavers were coached by LaVonda Wagner. The Beavers are a member of the Pacific-10 Conference and competed in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Oregon State finished the 2008-09 season with a 20-12, the team's most victories since the 1994-95 season.
Contents
Regular season
Entering the year, OSU was selected to finish eighth by both the league's coaches and media. The Beavers were 9-9 in Pacific-10 Conference games, finishing in a tie for fourth place. The nine wins were their most wins in league since the 2001-02 season. Oregon State was 13-3 in home games, 6-6 in games played on the road and 1-3 in neutral site contests. Oregon State won 11 non-conference games, which is the most for a Beavers' team since the club joined the Pac-10 more than 20 years ago. Oregon State went 6-0 in the month of December, the first time the team ever accomplished that. It also marked the longest win streak for Oregon State since the 2000-01 season.
Player stats
Brittney Davis scored in double figures in the last 17 games straight. Of the Beavers' 32 games in 2008-09, she reached at least 10 points in 24. Talisa Rhea set the Pacific-10 Conference single-game record for three-pointers with 10 in the season opener against Sacramento State. She finished the game with 42 points, which is tied for fifth-most in school history. Rhea also had 64 three-pointers in 2008-09, the third-most in a single season. After just two seasons, she has made 131 three-pointers, which is second-most by an Oregon State player. As a team, the Beavers shot .744 from the free-throw line, a school record. That surpassed the previous best, set in 2004-05, of .734.
Women’s National Invitation Tournament
Oregon State made its second trip to the WNIT under head coach LaVonda Wagner and the sixth since the 2001 season. The Beavers opened the WNIT with a 59-47 victory over Portland State at legendary Gill Coliseum. Advancing to the third round, they lost to New Mexico, 61-56, in Rio Rancho. All-time, Oregon State is 12-6 (.667) in the WNIT, winning it in 1980 and 1982. Carol Menken holds the school record for points in a WNIT game with 33 against Drake in 1980.
Davis scored her last collegiate three-pointer with 7.2 seconds remaining to pull the Beavers to within three points, making the score 59-56. The shot, a running jumper from way beyond the three-point line, came just seconds after New Mexico nailed two free throws.
Awards and honors
April 25: The Oregon State women's basketball team held its annual banquet at the Club (level) at Reser. The event was sponsored by The Rebounders, the Oregon State women's basketball booster organization. There were more than 200 in attendance at the event, which served as an opportunity to honor the team's seniors: Tiffany Ducker, Brittney Davis and Mercedes Fox-Griffin, and to celebrate the team's accomplishments.