Five things Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said before facing Notre Dame

No. 3 seed Oregon State (26-7) is trying to get to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2018 and the third time ever. Standing in the Beavers way is No. 2 seed Notre Dame (28-6), a program that has been to the Elite Eight 10 times, most recently in 2019.

Here are four things Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck said before Friday’s 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) matchup with Notre Dame at MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y.

On the NCAA Tournament being hosted by the top 16 overall seeds in the first two rounds

“It’s a fair question. I mean, that’s beyond my thinking at this moment. I think it makes sense to be at home for the first two. I do. I get that. I think the top 16, A, you’ve earned it; B, you’re guaranteed a great environment to play in.

“We’ve been on both sides of it. We played at Tennessee in 2018 as a 6 seed, created a great opportunity for us, and certainly we’ve been home many times. I think our résumé earned that, and we’ve benefitted from that most times.

“Once you get to this round, it’s a national tournament, and so I think you go where they send you, and I don’t think regionality matters any longer once you get to the 16 and beyond.”

On adjusting to playing at a neutral site vs. Notre Dame in the Sweet 16

“This group has just adapted to every single thing that’s been thrown at them. We’ve got a freshman point guard. We’ve got two freshmen point guards. We’ve got a freshman that’s a significant player coming off the bench. We’ve got a team that didn’t make the postseason a year ago that’s here now. Nothing has fazed this group. They just play the game. Every time the lights have gotten brighter, it’s just natural, and it’s this natural progression.

“We’ve been in big moments all year. I think one of the odd moments that this team was a part of was ‘Tara Day’ at Stanford. She set the wins record against us that day on a day that felt like — I don’t know, the lights were definitely bright that day. That game had so much hype around it. This team just locked in, and we didn’t win, but we played well that day. It’s just been a progression of that all year.

“This one, focus on the fundamentals, focus on communication, and let’s be us out here. That hasn’t been an issue for this group. I’m just looking forward to more of the same.”

On Oregon State guard Dominika Paurová

“Well, she’s earned it. Dom Paurová is just a dynamic guard. She plays multiple positions, and that’s one of the things that has allowed her to play such a big role for us, especially as the year has progressed.

“With Dom, she plays so aggressive. And then you’re seeing such a different type of game night after night. And in our conference you see a lot of different styles, and it’s a defensive-oriented conference. And because of that, you’re schemed every night.

“And people have gotten familiar with our game, and they’ve taken certain things away from her that might be a natural thing for her to do, and she’s really had to think at a different level and understand and read at a different level.

“And now Dom, the game has just slowed down for her. So you’ve got that aggressive mindset, that just dynamic skill set and ability, and now experience to go with it. She’s just more and more valuable game after game. It’s been hard to keep her off the floor, to be honest.”

On Notre Dame freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo

“Such a dynamic player. She impacts the game in so many ways. Her pace and her speed is special. Her skill set is special. Her ability to score is special, and her ability to disrupt defensively is special.

“She’s gotten the keys to the team. She plays with that confidence and that swagger that she has, the green light. So give Niele [Ivey] a ton of credit for building her up like that.

“We’ve seen players like [Jaylyn] Sherrod from Colorado. I say they’re somewhat similar in their overall impact and their ability to just go make plays even outside of the system maybe at the time.

“But the pace is similar to that, that she plays with on both ends. She is obviously a unique talent but somewhat similar in pace to some others that we’ve seen, and we know those are real challenges. She’s dynamic, and we’re going to have to slow her down. You don’t stop her, but we’re going to need to disrupt her as much as we can.”

On the growth of women’s basketball, not just at places like Notre Dame

“I think we’re seeing it. I think we’re seeing exactly the benefit of eyes on our sport. I’ve enjoyed — this is my 28th year doing this, 14 D-III, 14 here now. And I have always enjoyed helping someone who has not respected our sport learn to. And it takes usually one game. Just give it a chance, one game. And I always said that: Give us a chance, come to one game. But I’ll warn you, you’re going to get hooked, and you won’t stop coming. That’s what’s happened at both stops for me.

“Now with so much more publicity given to our sport, absolutely earned, but finally given, everybody is talking about our sport. Everybody. People say, I love watching women’s basketball more than men’s. How many times I’ve heard that over my career? A lot. And it’s from usually men who are shocked at how much they enjoy it. That has been a secret passion of mine that’s not a secret any longer that I just love.

“I love that because I benefitted from having a little sister that played at a high level, and I learned to respect a female athlete at age 20 and to look at her and go, man, I never — I played, and I never played with anybody that cared more than my sister did or played harder than my sister did. And she became an All-American. That helped open my eyes at a young age.

“Well, now everybody is seeing it. How many guys can do what Caitlin [Clark] does? Of course. That’s the obvious example right now.

“For me, the more national publicity, the better. I think that is the key, and it’s proving — we don’t have to be anything we’re not. That’s the other thing that I think people need to know. We don’t need to be another sport or a version of another sport. We need to be us and tell our stories.

“And so the more national news, the more national publicity, the more national eyes, the better our stories are because there’s 360 great stories. They are, if they just were told. There’s not four, I know that. We tend to latch on to four. But there’s not four, it’s a lot. It’s just getting it out there. So the more, the better.”