CORVALLIS -- When Scott Rueck took over an Oregon State program in shambles back in 2010, he did not have a grand, shock-the-world five-year plan to challenge for a Pac-12 title.

Honestly, he wondered if he'd ever cut down a net again.

Yet there was Rueck inside Gill Coliseum Saturday afternoon, hoisting the Pac-12 Championship trophy for his alma mater. And watching his players dive and slide into confetti.

And, as a matter of fact, cutting down a net, after the No. 7 Beavers blew past No. 24 California 73-55 to clinch OSU's first outright Pac-12 title in school history.

"I didn't know exactly if we could ever get here," Rueck said. "I hoped, for sure. I hoped. To be here in five years? No ...

"That was a movie scene. That's what it was, if you know the whole story ... I'm shaking my head, like, 'Is this real?' "

In the big picture, Saturday was just the latest watershed moment for one of the ultimate feel-good stories in college sports.

The LaVonda Wagner fallout left Rueck to build his program from practically nothing, holding open tryouts before his first season after a mass exit of players from the previous regime. Yet year-by-year, Rueck lured talented players that believed they could start something special in Corvallis together.

By last season, the Beavers were NCAA Tournament participants for the first time since 1996.

This season, undisputed champions of a deeper-than-normal Pac-12 and a projected No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"Remarkable," says Rueck. Expected, says point guard Sydney Wiese.

"This is exactly what we envisioned," said Wiese, who set a set a season high with 23 points and tied her career best with seven 3-pointers against the Golden Bears.

In the short term, though, Saturday demonstrated OSU's ability to bounce back strong following a "disheartening" loss to Stanford on Thursday night.

Rueck acknowledged his team put too much pressure on itself to clinch the conference crown against the conference's traditional power, rather than relying on one of his go-to mantras of focusing on each possession.

So the Beavers openly talked about shifting their mindset on Friday and before Saturday's game. They learned. They grew up, Rueck said.

"Very grateful that we had one more game (to capture the title)," Rueck said. "We played another great team, but our mind was right today ... this was a team that wasn't being hunted. This was a team that was doing the hunting.

"The other night, I think we were the opposite. We were hoping to win that game, instead of making sure we won it. Today, we took the game."

Still, things looked dicey early for the Beavers (26-3, 16-2 Pac-12), when Cal (21-8, 13-5 Pac-12) jumped out to an 8-0 lead and Gill fell eerily quiet. Yet the Beavers exploded offensively down the stretch of the first half, using a 29-10 run to take a 40-26 lead into the locker room. Wiese scored 11 consecutive points during the spurt, while key reserve Gabby Hanson provided a huge spark with nine.

And when Cal scored the first nine points after the break and eventually sliced the Beavers' lead to 45-39 with 13:08 to play, the barrage of timely 3-pointers just kept coming. In all, OSU hit 15-of-26 tries from beyond the arc to match a season high.

Less than a minute later, the Beavers' lead was back up to double digits. By the six-minute mark, it had grown to a game-high 18 points.

"It was nice to see us break out and become ourselves again," Rueck said.

As OSU forward Deven Hunter snagged an offensive rebound with 18 seconds to play, Rueck turned to hug assistant coach Jonas Chatterton. On the opposite side of the floor, Wiese held the ball with one arm and and embraced Hanson with the other. A few minutes later, 6-foot-6 center Ruth Hamblin hoisted Ali Gibson -- the Beavers' only senior -- onto her shoulder.

Then, one-by-one, the Beavers cut down the nets.

Last up, of course, was Rueck.

He climbed the ladder and began to snip, before pointing into the crowd. He motioned for former Beaver Alyssa Martin -- who Rueck later called "our rock for four years" during the start of his tenure -- to come onto the floor and take a piece of the net.

Rueck also spotted a group of fans that always sit with his family. And his parents. And supporters on both sides of Gill that have been with his program from Day 1. And others who were perhaps watching the Beavers for the first time.

He pumped the full net into the air, then put it around Gibson's neck.

Quite the five-year plan -- even if Rueck himself calls it unexpected.

"This team's platform is to inspire as many people as they can," Rueck said. "They embrace it. Today, they played in a way that was worthy of that ... I was just grateful."

-- Gina Mizell | @ginamizell