Oklahoma鈥檚 Raegan Beers has one last chance to reach the Final Four.
The 6-foot-4 senior has been , a third-team AP All-American as a sophomore and an All-SEC first-team selection as a junior and senior. She reached the Elite Eight as a sophomore at Oregon State, and the Sweet 16 last season as a junior at Oklahoma.
This season, she averages 15.7 points on 61.5% shooting and grabs 10.4 rebounds per game. She heads into this tournament having to depend on young players such as freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez to help her make the most of her final run. Fourth-seeded Oklahoma (24-7) will open against No. 13 seed Idaho (29-5) on Friday in Norman, Okla.
鈥淥bviously, March Madness is the time that you all work for all season,鈥� Beers said. 鈥淎ll the prep in the offseason, in the summertime, all those extra workouts 鈥� this is what it has led to. To do it with this group is really special.鈥�
It鈥檚 not the most convenient opening matchup 鈥� the Sooners play at 9 p.m. local time. Beers will start her last push against an Idaho program that hasn鈥檛 been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and has never won a March Madness game.
Neither the time nor the opponent’s history matters to Beers.
鈥淎 basketball game is a basketball game,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like because it鈥檚 March, we鈥檙e going to be ready regardless of what time it鈥檚 at because we鈥檙e going to be so excited.”
Winning streak
Idaho won the Big Sky Tournament and is on an 18-game win streak, and the Vandals plan for it to continue. Arthur Moreira, the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, said he doesn鈥檛 want his team to play timid.
鈥淵ou have to go at them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think games like this, that鈥檚 what you have to do. You can鈥檛 respect too much who鈥檚 across from you. I have a lot of respect for Jen (Baranczyk) and her program, but in those 40 minutes that we鈥檙e going to play against each other, we got to play our game, and that鈥檚 what brought us here so far.鈥�
Opposites collide
Two very different styles will clash when No. 5 seed Michigan State and No. 12 seed Colorado State meet on Friday.
Colorado State (27-7) allows just 54.9 points per game, seventh-lowest in the nation, and holds opponents to 35% shooting 鈥� also seventh nationally. The Rams have held 24 of their 34 opponents to 60 or fewer points.
Michigan State (22-8) averages 83.9 points per game, 10th-best nationally. The Spartans have five players who average double figures, led by Grace VanSlooten. The 6-3 center averages 15 points and 6.6 rebounds. Kennedy Blair adds 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Spartans shoot 48.1% from the field.
鈥淲e have to have a level of patience,鈥� Michigan State coach Robyn Fralick said. 鈥淥ne of the phrases we鈥檝e been using is 鈥榓ggressive patience.鈥� We still have to play the way we love to play, but we also have to understand there鈥檚 a discipline and a patience to the possessions.鈥�
Out with injury
Colorado State will be without star guard Lexus Bargesser in the tournament.
She left the Mountain West semifinal against UNLV in the second quarter with a season-ending knee injury. The senior guard averaged 15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
The Rams still beat UNLV, then defeated Air Force in the tournament final to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been neat to see the kids kind of evolve into, although a short period, just different roles,鈥� Colorado State coach Ryun Williams said. 鈥淎nd everybody is going to be asked to do something a little different either offensively or defensively in this tournament because of how valuable she was for us.鈥�
Fralick still respects what the Rams can do.
鈥淐olorado State is a really good team,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 mean, 27 wins is a lot of wins over the course of a season. What stands out about them is their patience, their discipline. You know, they do a really good job of executing on both sides of the ball.鈥�
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