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When 6-foot-6 reigning Pac-12 player of the year Ruth Hamblin isn't swatting shots or scoring in the post, she has a very singular passion: building rockets.
Yes, really.
When basketball is done, the Canadian is a NASA hopeful. She watched space sci-fi flick "The Martian" on opening night. She's a part of a team that builds and gets special permits to launch rockets that climb as high as 23,000 feet.
On Wednesday, a reporter quipped to Hamblin: "So you're saying it might take a rocket scientist to win the Pac-12 title."
Hamblin had a response: "It just might."
That's what it took last year, when Oregon State won the regular season title. Hamblin blocked an absurd percentage of shots that came her way, and the Beavers steamrolled the competition on the way to a 26-3 regular-season record, dropping only two games in conference play.
Oregon State is the favorite once again this year to rocket to the top. A preseason coaches' poll had the Beavers at No. 1 with 11 out of 12 first-place votes and just ahead of Stanford.
But that doesn't mean the Beavers want to replicate what happened last year. An early exit from the Pac-12 Tournament and getting bounced in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament was a bit of a sour finish for a team with much bigger ambitions.
"It's so easy for forget how hard it is to get to that point," Scott Rueck said. "We lost an edge in early February. The experience is there. We learned a couple lessons."
The Beavers won't have to wait long to see how those lessons have held. OSU hosts Tennessee on Dec. 19 and visits Notre Dame on Dec. 28.
Big rule changes in women's game
Quarters instead of halves. Fewer timeouts.
For those who would complain about the difference between men's and women's basketball, Pac-12 coordinator of officials (and NBA ref) Violet Palmer would argue this: Between the two, the women's game is more progressive.
"It's going to be a lot of exciting changes in our game," she said. "I think a couple years from now, we're going to be at this table looking at each other, and ask 'What took us so long?' "
The NCAA has instituted a number of format changes designed to increase pace of play and shorten delays in the women's game, which Palmer admitted had become slightly lethargic. With fewer timeouts, shorter period breaks and more potential buzzer-beater situations, they hope this season provides some answers.
Other changes include no 1-and-1 free throw attempts (all bonuses are two shots), and new guidelines on calling fouls in post play to make for less physicality.
Some added benefit is from high school, to college, to the professional level, there's fewer changes for players to learn. And when it comes to quarters, there's no going back.
"The only players who are not playing four periods is our men," Palmer said. "They always take a little longer to get on board, which is OK."
Gottlieb, Roberts rekindle conference rivalry
New Utah coach Lynne Roberts may be a new face, but she's not a stranger to several coaches in the conference.
Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb knows Roberts quite well, facing off against Pacific 10 times in her coaching career. Eight of those meetings came when Gottlieb was at UC Santa Barbara, and the two coaches were Big West Conference foes.
In all, Gottlieb is 8-2 against Roberts. But Pacific usually gave a battle, like when the Tigers pushed Cal to overtime in 2013. And she thinks it won't be long before Utah is giving everyone else fits like Pacific used to give her.
"Lynne Roberts' teams always play hard, and I think she did a masterful job when she introduced the dribble-drive offense in 2013," Gottlieb said. "It's hard to guard. They get up and down in transition. They're gritty, and they take on a lot of her personality with the fire and fiestiness."
Twitter: @kylegoon