There’s an Oregon State flavor all over this year’s NCAA Tournament women’s bracket

By Canadian Press on March 19, 2025.

All five starters that Oregon State put on the court for its regional final with eventual national champion South Carolina last year are back in the NCAA Tournament this season.

None of them are teammates anymore.

AJ Marotte stuck around at Oregon State, which earned the West Coast Conference’s automatic NCAA bid by upsetting top-seeded Gonzaga and two-time defending Portland in the league tournament. The other four starters from the 2023-24 Oregon State team all transferred elsewhere amid the implosion of the Pac-12.

Raegan Beers landed at Oklahoma, where she earned first-team all-Southeastern Conference honors while maintaining her status as one of the nation’s top centers. Timea Gardiner headed to UCLA, Talia von Oelhoffen ended up at Southern California and Donovyn Hunter went to TCU.

The transfers have done quite well for themselves.

Gardiner is averaging 18.6 minutes while primarily coming off the bench for UCLA (30-2), the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. With von Oelhoffen starting 30 games, USC (28-3) also earned a No. 1 seed and handed UCLA its only two losses.

Hunter averages 5.6 points, 2.7 assists and 2.6 rebounds for TCU (31-3), which won the Big 12 Tournament and earned a No. 2 seed in its regional. Oklahoma (25-7) earned a No. 3 seed in its region and also will open the tournament at home thanks largely to Beers, who has averaged 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds.

Marotte and Kelsey Rees, who started 26 games for the Beavers last season, have reaped the benefits of sticking around by emerging as the top two scorers on an Oregon State team that has won 10 of its last 12 games. Rees averages 12.8 points and 7.6 rebounds to lead the Beavers in both categories. Marotte has 11.4 point, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Oregon State (19-15) plays at North Carolina (27-7) on Saturday in its first-round game.

While the whereabouts of Oregon State’s 2023-24 players represent an extreme example, it isn’t all that uncommon in the era of the transfer portal for players to participate in March Madness for two or even three schools over the course of their careers.

Here’s a look at some of the players who are back in the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year, only representing a different program this time. Their former schools are included in parentheses:

Georgia Amoore, G, Kentucky (Virginia Tech)

Opening game: Friday vs. Liberty.

Notes: This 5-foot-6 guard from Australia played four seasons at Virginia Tech before following former Hokies coach Kenny Brooks to Kentucky. She averaged 22.6 points in five tournament games during Virginia Tech’s 2023 Final Four run. She averaged 13.5 points and 5 assists during two tournament games last season. Amoore earned first-team all-Southeastern Conference honors this year and has 19.1 points per game. Amoore also ranks third among all Division I players in assists per game (6.9).

Kaitlyn Chen, G, UConn (Princeton)

Opening game: Saturday vs. Arkansas State.

Notes: Chen has played five NCAA Tournament games over the last three seasons at Princeton and scored in double figures in all of them, including 17 points in a 2022 victory over Kentucky and 22 in a 2023 triumph over N.C. State. The 5-9 guard had 17 points last season in a first-round loss to West Virginia. Chen isn’t asked to do as much scoring at UConn, but she has still started all 34 games for the Huskies while averaging 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals.

Kiki Iriafen, F, Southern California (Stanford)

Opening game: Saturday vs. UNC Greensboro.

Notes: Iriafen played in 10 NCAA Tournament games the last three years at Stanford before transferring to USC. She averaged 28 points and 11.7 rebounds in three NCAA games last year, including a 41-point, 16-rebound performance in a second-round victory over Iowa State. The 6-3 forward has averaged 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds this season as a first-team all-Big Ten selection from the league’s coaches and media.

Deja Kelly, Oregon (North Carolina)

Opening game: Friday vs. Vanderbilt at Durham, North Carolina.

Notes: Kelly averaged 22 points in three NCAA games in 2022 and 20 points in two NCAA contests in 2023. Last year, she had 10 points per game while helping North Carolina reach the second round. The 5-8 guard spent four seasons with the Tar Heels before heading to Oregon, where she has averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

Hailey Van Lith, TCU (LSU, Louisville)

Opening game: Friday vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.

Notes: Van Lith is playing in the tournament for a third different school. The reigning Big 12 player of the year has gone at least as far as a regional final in each of her four previous tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2022 Final Four with Louisville. She played three seasons at Louisville and one at LSU before coming to TCU. Van Lith earned first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference honors each of her last two seasons at Louisville. Her production dipped a bit at LSU last season, but she’s stepped up in a big way this season while averaging 17.9 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds.

Kayla Williams, California (Southern California)

Opening game: Saturday vs. Mississippi State at Los Angeles.

Notes: Williams scored a total of two points in four NCAA Tournament games last year while helping Southern California reach a regional final, but she has a greater role with her new team. The 5-7 guard has 11.3 points, 4 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for California. She had played 10.8 minutes per game in a reserve role with USC last season. Williams could be facing her former school in the round of 32 if Cal wins its opening game.

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Steve Megargee, The Associated Press