CORVALLIS — Oregon State ended women’s basketball Sunday for another season, a campaign where the Beavers had to navigate injury, roster and pandemic challenges.

With a 17-14 final record following a 74-66 loss to UCLA in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals, the Beavers posted their ninth consecutive winning season. So, there’s that.

But did Oregon State get everything it could out of this team? The Beavers didn’t play in the NCAAs for the first time since 2014. They finished eighth in the Pac-12, OSU’s lowest placing since 2013.

On the other hand, the Beavers played one of the country’s toughest schedules. OSU had regular-season wins over NCAA tourney teams Oregon and Colorado. The Beavers won a school-record three WNIT games. Of its 14 losses, 12 came to NCAA Tournament teams.

“We made too many mistakes to become a great team. We were a very good team,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “We did not get to great. Could we have? Maybe. But some things come with experience. There still were notches to go.”

But the product the Beavers had in March was demonstrably better than the team OSU had on the floor in November and December. Oregon State played much of the season without its one returning all-conference player in post Taylor Jones. The Beavers had several freshmen and first-year transfers among their rotation of nine players.

“I think we have a lot to be proud of, and we’ll have a lot to build upon,” Rueck said. “The expectation going forward is that we take a massive leap with our returners going into next year.”

Like any team, Oregon State is looking for across-the-board improvement this offseason. But a few areas the Beavers will particularly want to pound are turnovers, three-point shooting and rebounding.

Turnovers were a problem Sunday, as they were all season. The Beavers had 14 against UCLA, but half of them came in the first quarter as the Bruins were establishing a big lead. OSU had more turnovers than any Pac-12 team other than Utah this season, averaging 15 a game.

Rueck didn’t like it, but wasn’t surprised either. The Beavers didn’t have a defined point guard all season. Sunday they used power forward Ellie Mack at point guard for much of the game. A handful of players were put into the point guard role during the season.

“You look at the teams that became great, became tournament teams, and most of them had a veteran point guard,” Rueck said. “You do need some experience there. That’s an area that we’ll certainly need to address and get better in the offseason, for sure.”

Three-point shooting wasn’t the weapon it’s been in recent years. The Beavers, who have had numerous teams shoot in the high 30s and low 40s from behind the arc in recent years, shot 33% this season. Oregon State didn’t hit a three-pointer against UCLA until midway through the fourth quarter.

Rebounding was hardly terrible, but it wasn’t dominant like many of Rueck’s OSU teams have been.

“We didn’t rebound like I wanted to all year long,” Rueck said.

This could be the easiest fix, as Oregon State looks to be loaded in the frontcourt next season. Forward Kennedy Brown and 6-foot-9 post Jelena Mitrovic return, along with Jones following shoulder surgery. The Beavers also add five-star freshmen forwards Raegan Beers and Timea Gardiner for the 2022-23 season.

What Rueck won’t forget is the will of the 2021-22 team. They often got down in games, but didn’t fold. That was on full display during the WNIT, when the Beavers spotted the opponent leads of 15, 17 and 18 points during the first half of three separate games. Only against UCLA did the Beavers come up short. Even against the Bruins, OSU trimmed an 18-point deficit to four during the final minutes.

“This team battled like crazy all year long, and had a blast to the end,” Rueck said. “The senior group is very special for every reason. They’re amazing people. They made every day enjoyable, even through the hard things. … it’s just been a really fun year.”