Ducks Check in at No. 20 in Preseason AP Poll

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women's basketball team will open its season in the top 25 of the Associated Press rankings for the sixth consecutive year after coming in at No. 20 in the preseason poll released on Tuesday.
 
The Ducks are one of just seven programs in the country to be ranked in the top 20 in each of the last six AP preseason polls, joined by Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, South Carolina, Stanford and UConn. It is the 86th time Oregon has been ranked in the AP poll under ninth-year head coach Kelly Graves.
 
UO is coming off a 20-12 campaign in 2021-22, in which it finished in a tie for second place in the Pac-12 standings with an 11-6 mark. The Ducks have earned a bid into the last five NCAA Tournaments, with four Sweet Sixteen appearances.
 
The 2022-23 roster includes six returners to pair with the nation's No. 2 recruiting class, according to espnW. Two-time all-Pac-12 first-team performer Te-Hina Paopao, who averaged 13.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last season, highlights the list of returners. Paopao, who was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award preseason watch list on Monday, is joined by fellow all-Pac 12 guard Endyia Rogers (14.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.1 APG). Paopao and Rogers ranked second and third on the team, respectively, in scoring a year ago.
 
Also returning are forward Taylor Hosendove, guard Ahlise Hurst, center Phillipina Kyei and forward Sedona Prince.
 
Graves' nationally ranked recruiting class features four players ranked in the 2022 espnW Top 100: guard Chance Gray (No. 7), forward Grace VanSlooten (No. 13), guard Jennah Isai (No. 36) and forward Kennedy Basham (No. 59). Joining the quartet is senior transfer guard Taya Hanson, who scored 739 points (6.5 per game) over four seasons at Arizona State.
 
Oregon will host Carroll College in an exhibition contest on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. PT before opening the regular season against Northwestern on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.