Lindemans progress mirrors Beavers’ WCC surge

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Melbourne freshman guard Keira Lindemans has averaged more than 16 minutes in Oregon State's last five wins in the NCAA Women's Division 1 season.

Beavers head coach Scott Rueck has the WCC school first in the conference at 11-5 and is excited by the growth in first-year guard Lindemans.

“More people are emerging, Kiera is one of them, you know, has really stepped up and just understands our concepts, which is really difficult to grasp in your first year," he said.

“And so you see these hesitations in so many people, and all of those hesitations are starting to go away… and so we’re just on the same page more.”

While her contributions have been nominal from a box score perspective (1.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg and 0.5 apg), Lindemans' numbers are starting to evolve in the past five games as her minutes grow.

“I think the biggest adjustment is really just it’s a whole different style of play in a different country," she said.

"But having a great group of teammates who also are much more experienced than I did a great job at teaching me to adjust to this new style of play, and that was really helpful, so that was probably the biggest difference.

"Now it’s really enjoyable to go out there and play and feel more comfortable and just enjoy it with my teammates."

Lindemans is one of three Australians on the Beavers roster. Senior forward Lizzy Williamson is from Adelaide and fellow freshman guard Katelyn Field is also from Melbourne.

“I think it’s really fun to play with ’cause we have like the extra connection, especially with Katie ’cause I played with her before," Lindemans said.

"I always in offense, I generally I always know where she’ll be, and it’s always fun to drive and be able to see her in the corner, so it’s a good one."

The Beavers’ non-conference slate exposed early growing pains against ranked and Power Five opponents — losses to Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Oregon and Arizona State — but also accelerated development. As coach Rueck has said, early-season hesitation gave way to improved execution as players became more fluent in new concepts and roles.

That progress has translated into results. Oregon State has won eight of its past 10 games, including decisive victories over San Francisco, Saint Mary’s and Pacific, and has carried that momentum cleanly into conference play. Defensive consistency, cleaner offensive decision-making, and improved rebounding have underpinned the 3–0 WCC start.

First-year contributors have begun to settle, none more visibly than Lindemans, whose growing comfort within the system, alongside Field, has mirrored the team’s upward trajectory. As familiarity has grown, Oregon State’s lineups are playing with greater trust, spacing and pace — reducing empty possessions that marked the early weeks.