Oregon State’s Jelena Mitrovic (12) looks to shoot over South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston (4) during the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament last March in San Antonio, Texas.

Jelena Mitrovic was able to return to her home in Serbia for a couple of months this summer. It was an opportunity to see family and friends and enjoy some relaxation after a stressful pandemic year at Oregon State.

But it wasn’t a vacation. The redshirt freshman post worked hard on her skills and conditioning, and that work is paying off in her performance this season.

In two games over this past weekend, Mitrovic scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Monmouth and then scored 14 points and had a team-high 13 rebounds in the loss at Villanova.

“This summer I really worked on my body. Started taking care of my nutrition, diet, and I lost a lot of weight and I think that really helped me,” Mitrovic said. “I also worked with my strength coach and trainer to get my knees feeling even better than last year when we finished the season. That helped me a lot, made me more confident and sure about myself.”

Mitrovic had to sit out her freshman season at Oregon State after suffering a dislocated right kneecap before the season began. That injury seems to run in the family, she said, as both her father, Sasa, and her brother, Luka, have had the same experience.

Luka Mitrovic is a professional basketball player with Red Star Belgrade. He worked with Jelena this summer and she hopes to follow in his footsteps as a professional player.

Both siblings are 6-foot-9 and Jelena Mitrovic is a natural force around the basket. Her height is a clear advantage while rebounding and blocking shots, but it is also an asset on offense. Oregon State often uses Mitrovic in the high post and her ability to see over defenders makes her an excellent passer on cuts to the basket or to 3-point shooters set up in either corner.

Mitrovic has very good touch around the rim and is also comfortable shooting from mid-range. While she hasn’t taken any 3-point attempts this season, her coaches and teammates say she shows that range in practice.

Much of her work this summer was focused on improving her quickness, especially on defense. Opposing coaches don’t want to allow a 6-9 shot blocker to play near the rim on defense, so they will deploy posts who can play on the perimeter to pull Mitrovic away from the basket.

“That’s one of my biggest goals I set for myself, just to get comfortable on defense and be able to guard anyone who’s in front of me. I’m working on that with coaches,” Mitrovic said.

On this most recent two-game road trip, Kennedy Brown sat out the first game and Taylor Jones sat out the second. Mitrovic took advantage of the extended playing time, about 20 minutes per game.

“I think I got a chance and I finally kind of started believing in myself and realizing what I can do and I think that showed this weekend. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that second win,” Mitrovic said. “Now I’m pretty sure of what my abilities are and I think I’m going to start using them more often.”

Oregon State is in the midst of a quick turnaround this week. The team flew home from the East Coast trip and left just a day later for Hawaii. The Beavers are hosting the Maui Jim Maui Classic this weekend in Lahaina. Oregon State will play Idaho at 7 p.m. on Friday and Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Mitrovic said the team is anxious to get back on the court after a disappointing game against Villanova.

“I have to be honest, we have huge expectations. I know we lost some games, but that’s just a great lesson. You learn from losses, you learn from hard things, and I think we learned and keep learning. Our goal is to be as good as we can and that’s pretty good,” Mitrovic said.