Mikayla Pivec

Classroom

Pivec has named to the Academic All-America First Team as a senior, as well as as a Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year. In her junior season, Pivec was named to the Academic All-America Second Team. She earned Academic All-District honors in her sophomore year. Pivec is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team member, and has graduated in three years with a bachelor’s degree in BioHealth Science. She posted a .393 GPA. Pivec is currently working on her Masters in Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Character

Pivec is a team captain and fan favorite at Oregon State. She has proven to be a team leader and role model for teammates, local youth and the community. She is service-minded and hard working. According to head coach Scott Rueck, “Mikayla is as selfless as any human I have ever been around. She thinks about other every moment of the day, and she doesn’t just think about it, she acts on it. Her leadership is at another level.”

Community

Pivec started the Beavs CARE Program along with teammate Destiny Slocum. The program brings student-athletes from multiple sports together for community service events, including baking cookies for homeless shelters, making pizzas with local youth, and events at the Boys and Girls Club in Corvallis. Pivec’s honors thesis project was centered on finding efficient ways to get homeless people access to resources. For her work, she was awarded a $5,000 grant, of which she promptly donated $1,000 to local shelters. She traveled to the Dominican Republic to do community service as part of the Beavers Without Borders program. She has performed upwards of 257 hours of community service through Oregon State athletics sponsored events, including the DAM Worth It Campaign, work with Southside Youth Outreach and the Corvallis Women’s Shelter. Pivec works extensively with local homeless shelters and has helped organize food donation efforts.

Competition

Pivec is a back-to-back All-Pac 12 selection and was voted Pac-12 All-Defense as a senior. She has been honored on the Wooden Award Ballot, Miller Award Top 10, Naismith Trophy Midseason Watch List, and as a Naismith Trophy Defensive Semifinalist. Pivec set the Oregon State record for career rebounds and is one of 20 players in Pac-12 history with 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She is the shortest player in conference history with 1,000 rebounds. Pivec ended the season eight in Oregon State history in career points, first in career rebounds, and fourth in career assists, the only player in program history to finish top-10 in all three categories. She ended the year second in the Pac-12 in rebounding and sixth in assists. Piece shot over 50 percent on the season and had 14 double-double in 2019-2020, making 27 in her career.