Oregon State University women’s basketball point guard Kennedie Shuler has played 1,463 in-game minutes in the black and orange, 499 more than her next-closest teammate. Over her time at OSU, she’s played in 68 games, two NCAA tournaments and two different conferences.
“I’m only a junior, but I think I might have been in the program the longest now,” Shuler said. “So I know the standard that it takes.”
That standard is winning. The OSU women’s basketball program has made March Madness seven times over the last 10 seasons, and Shuler said the team’s goal for the upcoming season is getting there again – and winning it.
“But that’s far down the line,” she said.
OSU’s first game of the season isn’t until a Nov. 2 exhibition against University of Alaska Fairbanks at Gill Coliseum. Their regular season will open Nov. 7, also at home, against Corban University. However, the women’s basketball team has been practicing since Sept. 5.
“All summer we’ve been working super hard, ” Shuler said. “Now we’re all together, and it’s been super fun just to be able to work with each other. Honestly, right now, we’re all just kind of learning each other and just learning the basics.”
Entering the new season, Oregon State will be led by the returning trio of Shuler, Tiara Bolden and Catarina Ferreira. Combined, they started 97 games last year.
It’s different compared to the leadup to last season, where the Beavers had to play in the West Coast Conference after the reduction of the Pac-12. Of the nine players who recorded starts in the 2023-24 season, six left in the transfer portal.
“There were so many new people and teammates in the beginning of the season; it took us some time to just kind of learn how each other play and just mesh on the court,” Shuler said.
Despite the new-look roster and different conference, Oregon State won the WCC tournament last season, and advanced to the NCAA tournament, falling to No. 3 seed North Carolina in the first round. The team finished the year with a 19-16 record after a 1-5 start.
“At the end of the day, we just loved playing together,” Shuler said, “and we just competed hard for each other, and that’s a winning culture right there.”
In the 2025 offseason, not a single women’s basketball player transferred out of the program; the team’s only departures were graduating students. But those losses, while few, including the team’s top two scorers from last season.
“AJ (Marotte) and Kelsey (Rees) were amazing. They’re big shoes to fill, for sure,” Shuler said. “But we’ve got new transfers that I think are great. And obviously, another year (for) Cat (Ferreira), Tiara (Bolden) – like, they stepped up big time.”
Those new transfers include names such as guard Jenna Villa, who transferred from Washington State after scoring 197 points last season, former Utah center Néné Sow, who at 6-foot-8 is the tallest player on the roster, and forward Lizzy Williamson, who was part of NC State’s Final Four team in 2024.
As for Shuler, the upcoming season will mark her third with OSU after she finished fifth on the team in points last year and first in assists. She also made game-winning shots in the final two seconds of a game three separate times – her favorite was the basket that put OSU over Gonzaga in the WCC tournament semifinals in March.
“I’ve been on two amazing teams: my freshman year, my sophomore year,” Shuler said regarding how her role on the team has changed entering the new season. “So just my leadership aspects. Yeah, just keep helping getting my team better.”
Also focused on helping the team will be head coach Scott Rueck, who’s been with OSU since 2010.
“Playing for Scott has been amazing. He’s taught me so many things (in) basketball, life,” Shuler said. “Throughout my three years, or almost three years here, I’ve had amazing teammates, coaching staff – and he’s just easy to play for.”
The program Rueck built at OSU is what drew in Shuler, who went to high school at Sam Barlow residing 100 miles north in Gresham.
“I’m from Oregon, so being homegrown is kind of cool, and having my family be close is awesome,” she said. “And then also, just fell in love with the program, the culture, the history and the people.”
The 2025-26 season will be OSU’s last as a WCC affiliate before returning to play in a repopulated Pac-12 in 2026.
“We just enjoy playing with each other,” Shuler said, “and obviously we’re chasing championships in whatever conference we’re in.”
