Pac-12 Play Opens Sunday vs. OSU
EUGENE, Ore. — No. 17 Oregon opens its Pac-12 slate Sunday, as the season's first installment of the Rivalry Series with Oregon State is set for a 4 p.m. PT tip Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
Both teams enter Sunday's contest on a two-game winning streak, with the Ducks earning a 90-51 victory over Portland on Saturday and the Beavers claimed a 63-53 win over Jackson State in Corvallis.
Oregon and Oregon State each won on each other's home floors a season ago and have split the last 50 meetings overall, going back to 1999. UO owns a 65-44 lead in the all-time series with a home record of 35-15.
GAME #8
No. 17 Oregon (6-1, 0-0) vs. Oregon State (6-2, 0-0)
Sunday, Dec. 11 | 4 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Play-by-play: Ann Schatz | Analyst: Mary Murphy
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Terry Jonz | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats
AT A GLANCE
Oregon opens Pac-12 play with an early December tilt against its in-state rival Oregon State Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.
After a series split a season ago, with each team winning on the other's home court, the Ducks own a 65-44 edge in the all-time series dating back to 1974. The sides have split the last 50 matchups in the Rivalry Series, going back to 1999.
Both teams enter on two-game winning streaks, as UO defeated Portland 90-51 and OSU claimed a 63-53 home win over Jackson State last Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
After going 1-1 at the Phil Knight Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the Ducks returned home to take on the Portland Pilots last Saturday, walking away with a 90-51 victory. Oregon put up at least 90 points for the third time this season and reached the 80-point mark for the fifth time.
A season-best six Ducks cracked double figures in scoring, led by a career-high 20 from freshman Chance Gray. Gray's 20-point outburst was the team's second 20-point outing of the season - both by freshman (Grace VanSlooten). Phillipina Kyei and Endyia Rogers each added a dozen points while Taya Hanson (11), Te-Hina Paopao (10) and VanSlooten (10) all scored at least 10.
Paopao handed out a season-best eight assists without committing a turnover, improving her season totals to 31 assists against three turnovers.
Leading 40-29 at halftime, UO shot the lights out in the third quarter on its way to 33 points on 15-of-23 shooting (65.2 percent). The 33 points marked a season high in any quarter, while the Duck defense held UP to just 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
SCOUTING OREGON STATE
Oregon State (6-2) enters the Pac-12 opener Sunday having won its last two contests after a 63-53 home win against Jackson State on Dec. 3. In the game with JSU, three players cracked double digits in scoring: Martha Pietsch (14), Jelena Mitrovic (13) and Raegan Beers (10).
Talia Von Oelhoffen paces the Beavers with her 16.6 points per game, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12, while Beers, a freshman, is putting up 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game off the bench. Jelena Mitrovic is averaging a team-best 10.3 boards per game - tied with Oregon's Phillipina Kyei for the Pac-12 lead.
OSU is 6-0 at home and suffered a pair of neutral-site losses at the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland over Thanksgiving weekend to Iowa and Duke. Sunday's game will mark the Beavers' first true road contest.
INSIDE THE SERIES
In a series that dates back to 1974, Sunday's matchup will be the 110th meeting between in-state rivals Oregon and Oregon State. The Ducks own a 65-44 edge in the all-time series, including a 35-15 record at home, but are just 4-8 at Matthew Knight Arena. The 65 wins against OSU mark the UO's second-most against a single opponent, trailing only 71 victories over Washington State. Head coach Kelly Graves, in his ninth season, is 6-11 against OSU but is 6-4 over the last 10 matchups.
The Ducks and Beavers and split the last 50 meetings dating back to 1999, and since Jan. 29, 2017, the sides have gone 6-6 against each other. UO and OSU each won on each other's home courts a season ago. Oregon enters the matchup in the top 25 and have been ranked in each of the last 12 meetings.
GVS CLINIC
Grace VanSlooten is one of just four freshmen in the country averaging at least 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game - and one of just two in the Pac-12, joined by Oregon State's Raegan Beers (13.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG). Beers and VanSlooten are the only two freshmen in the country to hold those same averages but while also shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field.
VanSlooten turned in her first career double-double against North Carolina, hauling in a season-best 11 boards while scoring 17 points. She has twice led the Ducks in scoring and rebounding through while scoring in double figures six times in seven games.
VanSlooten put up 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting in her collegiate debut against Northwestern, earning her the season's first Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor. Her award marked the Ducks' 30th league freshman-of-the-week award, which extends its Pac-12 record.
PLAYMAKING PAOPAO
Through seven games this season, junior Te-Hina Paopao is second in the country with her 10.3 assist-to-turnover ratio (31 assists, 3 turnovers) after a season-high eight assists and no turnovers against Portland. She is also averaging a career-best 4.9 rebounds per game, hauling in at least six boards three times this season. Paopao drained 7-of-10 field goals against Southern Utah on Nov. 21, the first 70-plus field goal percentage of any Duck this season, while going 3-for-3 beyond the arc.
Paopao is only player in the country averaging at least 13.0 points a game, shooting 50.0 percent from the field with an assist-to-turnover ratio over 6.0 - and is one of just two players with the same criteria and above 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State).
PHILLI SPECIAL
Oregon sophomore center Phillipina Kyei, the tallest player in program history at 6-foot-8, has been a force in the frontcourt this season for the Ducks. She is the lone player in the Pac-12 to average at least 10.0 points and 10.0 rebounds a game. Kyei has a team-leading three double-doubles this season and has produced two straight after 12 points and 13 rebounds against Portland.
Averaging just 8.5 minutes a game a season ago without a start, Kyei has cracked the starting five in all seven games this season while averaging 23.7 minutes a game.
In Oregon's game against Michigan State, Kyei set career highs in both points (15) and rebounds (16). Her 16 rebounds are tied for third-highest among all Pac-12 players this season while her four games with 10 or more boards are tied for second-most in the conference.
Her 10-point. 10-rebound double-double at Southern on Nov. 14 marked Oregon's first of the season. Kyei has registered at least eight rebounds in all but one game this season and her season average of 10.3 rebounds a game is tied for the league's best.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Oregon has felt the impact of its four-member freshman class, which was ranked as the nation's second-best recruiting class by ESPNW. Grace VanSlooten, after a 20-point outing in her collegiate debut against Northwestern, was tabbed the season's first Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. She leads a trio of freshman Ducks who average at least 9.0 points per game, joined by Chance Gray (10.7) and Jennah Isai (9.0). VanSlooten (13.1) and Gray make up two of UO's top four scorers, with Te-Hina Paopao leading the way at 13.3 points.
Freshmen account for 232 of Oregon's 594 points (39.1 percent) on the season and average a combined 33.1 points per game - more than any other class on the Ducks' roster.
VanSlooten also ranks second on the team with 6.6 rebounds per game and is tied for the team lead with center Phillipina Kyei with nine blocks. Isai, a guard, has racked up six blocks and is third on the team.
Gray leads Oregon shooting 87.5 percent from the line (14-for-16) and Isai is second at 85.0 percent (17-for-20). In total, freshman are shooting 47-for-63 (74.6 percent) from the stripe.
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
As a team. Oregon has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.62 - good for tops in the Pac-12 and fourth in the country. A high assist-to-turnover ratio is a theme under head coach Kelly Graves, as the Ducks rank second nationally in the category since the 2017-18 season at 1.52.
Oregon led the country in assist-to-turnover ratio in back-to-back seasons (2018-19, 2019-20) and finished fourth in 2017-18.