ALBANY, N.Y. -- The first-half foul trouble forwards Raegan Beers and Timea Gardiner found themselves in had Oregon State "walking on eggshells" in a 70-58 Elite Eight loss to South Carolina, coach Scott Rueck said on Sunday.
Each player was whistled for three first-half fouls. The third one on Beers, with 56.1 seconds left in the second quarter, seemed especially egregious. Replays showed South Carolina forward Sania Feagin attempting to box out Beers for a rebound, only to fall backward into her, taking them both to the ground.
Rueck said he was blocked on the play and did not see it before adding, "I've been told it probably wasn't an accurate call. That's what I've heard. I'm not here to get in trouble or anything. But clearly there were a couple calls right there that massively influenced this game, and you just hope they were accurate."
When asked about that foul call in particular, Beers said, "I've learned a lot recently in college basketball that I might not think it's a foul in the moment, but maybe it is afterwards. But it's not like they can change that. So, what they call is what they call. You've got to move on to the next play. Whether it was a foul or not, we had to get our minds right on defense."
South Carolina took a 37-33 lead into halftime, and knowing he would need Beers to help stop Kamilla Cardoso inside, he took a risk and played her. He felt the foul trouble made his players less aggressive, particularly during a 12-0 run in the third quarter that helped South Carolina build a 14-point lead.
"We were out there walking on eggshells playing in a China closet trying to avoid that fourth or fifth foul, and so because of that, you play a little tentative and it seemed like our rebounding effort was a little tentative during that stretch," Rueck.
Still, Rueck said he was proud of the fight his team showed to climb back into the game. The Beavers got as close as within four points in the fourth quarter before coming up short. Oregon State was finished to pick 10th in the Pac-12 preseason poll and made an Elite Eight run despite its doubters. He said his team showed the "fearless, gritty, tough display of competitive fire and passion and togetherness that is as inspiring as anything. What's more inspiring than what you all just watched?
"In our sport, where it seems like controversy is the flavor all the time for some reason, and we all have to have something to whine about, this team just keeps it simple and does everything right, and y'all are probably bored with it. Shame on you.
"Everybody needs to get to know this team, everybody needs to watch this team, and everybody needs to be like this team. The world would be better if everyone focused on this instead of a lot of the other things."