Homestand Concludes Wednesday

EUGENE, Ore. — The 23^rd-ranked Oregon women's basketball team wraps up its season-opening homestand against Auburn on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon improved to 5-0 for the fifth time under head coach Kelly Graves, and first time since 2020-21, with a 70-54 win over Grand Canyon Monday. The Ducks were sparked by a 20-0 first-quarter run, while their defense held GCU to 25.0 percent shooting from the 3-point line. Peyton Scott led UO with 17 points while Amina Muhammad turned in her third-career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Ducks and Tigers will meet for the first time since 1990 and third time ever. Auburn leads the all-time series 2-0, including a 1-0 mark in Eugene. Oregon is a combined 7-2 at home against current members of the SEC.

Season and single-game tickets are now on sale and available at GoDucks.com/WBBtix.

GAME #6
No. 23 Oregon (5-0) vs. Auburn (3-0)
Wednesday, Nov. 20 | 6 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Saul Galvan | Analyst: Aiden Hess | Sideline: Olivia Arciniega
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

AT A GLANCE
No. 23 Oregon concludes its season-opening homestand on Wednesday, as Auburn visits Matthew Knight Arena for a 6 p.m. tip.

The Ducks look to move to 6-0 to begin a season for the fifth time under 11th-year head coach Kelly Graves, and the first time since 2020-21, after defeating Grand Canyon 70-54 on Monday.

Oregon and Auburn will meet for the first time since 1990, with the Tigers holding a 2-0 edge in the all-time series. The Ducks are 7-2 at home against current members of the SEC.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon moved to 5-0 on the season with a 70-54 win over Grand Canyon on Monday, getting a team-high 17 points from Peyton Scott and an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double from Amina Muhammad.

The Ducks used a 20-0 run in the first quarter to open up a 22-4 lead. During the run, Scott and Nani Falatea each hit a pair of 3-pointers. Falatea finished with nine points off the bench, including going 2-for-3 from deep.

UO's defense held GCU to 25.0 percent shooting from the 3-point line, including 1-for-8 in the first half, while the Ducks held a 47-32 rebounding advantage.

Oregon set season highs in made free throws (15) and free throw percentage (83.3 percent) in extending the Ducks' lead in the all-time series with Grand Canyon to 2-0.

SCOUTING AUBURN
Auburn (3-0) makes its first road trip of the season after beginning the season with three straight home victories, most recently an 82-48 win over Little Rock on Nov. 14. In the win, the Tigers were led by 26 points from Taliah Scott, with DeYona Gaston recording a 21-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Scott (26.0 PPG) and Gaston (23.7 PPG) are leading the Auburn offense that is averaging 91.7 points a game, with Celia Sumbane (13.3 PPG) and Audia Young (10.3) also averaging double figures.

The Tigers are 12th in the nation in scoring offense, third in scoring defense (38.3 PPG) and second in scoring margin at plus-53.3. Additionally, Auburn forces the fourth-most turnovers in the country at 31.3 with their plus-18.7 turnover margin ranking second nationally.

Auburn qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season, losing to Arizona in the First Four. The Tigers were picked ninth in SEC preseason coaches poll.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and Auburn will meet for the first time in over 30 years on Wednesday. The Tigers have taken the only two previous matchups in the series, coming in 1989 and 1990. The last meeting saw No. 4 Auburn come away with a 69-51 win in Eugene on Dec. 18, 1990.

Against current members of the SEC, the Ducks are a combined 17-25 with a 7-2 record at home. The last SEC team to visit Eugene was Mississippi State on Dec. 18, 2018, with seventh-ranked Oregon defeating No. 4 MSU, 82-74. Ninth-ranked Vanderbilt's 82-54 win on Dec. 21, 1994 was the last time an SEC team won in Eugene.

CHECKING IN
Following its upset win over then-12th-ranked Baylor on Nov. 10, Oregon found itself at No. 25 in the Associated Press poll for the first time since the week of Jan. 16, 2023 when they were 23rd. In the latest poll (Nov. 18), UO moved up two spots to No. 23, marking the 98th week under head coach Kelly Graves that UO has been in the AP top 25, and 178th week in program history. With its win over Grand Canyon on Monday, Oregon is 219-66 (.768) all time and 65-6 (.914) at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon also cracked into the WBCA Coaches Poll this week, coming in at No. 25 after receiving votes the previous week.

OFF AND RUNNING
Oregon's new-look roster has shown its depth and talent just five games into the 2024-25 season, jumping out to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2020-21. The Ducks kickstarted their season with a 93-63 win over California Baptist on Nov. 4, with the 93 points and 13 made 3-pointers being higher than any single-game total last season, while the 23 assists and five turnovers matched the single-game bests from 2023-24. It marks the fifth time under head coach Kelly Graves that the Ducks have started a season 5-0 or better, while the five-game winning streak is UO's longest since winning six straight in 2022-23.

» Three newcomers have cracked UO's starting lineup in each of the first five games, in addition to guard Peyton Scott, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, with four of the five being transfers.
» Twelve Ducks got into the scoring column against CBU, with four reaching double figures, and eight players tallied at least seven points.
» Eight newcomers combined for 52 points in the season-opening win, led by 14 points from Elisa Mevius.
» Scott, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last year's season opener, paced the Ducks with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting (2-for-5 3PT) against the Lancers and now has three double-figure scoring games after a season-high 17 against Grand Canyon.
» Senior guard Deja Kelly flirted with a triple-double in the opener with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. The eight assists equaled her career high, which she has now done five times in her career.
» Kelly scored a game-high 21 points against Nevada, and followed that up with a 20-point, nine-rebound, five-assist performance against Baylor, where she hit the game-tying layup with less than 90 seconds left and set up Mevius for the game-winning lay-in with just 22 seconds left.

DUCK DEPTH
Oregon's depth, helped by seven transfers among nine newcomers, has keyed the Ducks' 5-0 start this season. Four different players have led, or tied, UO in scoring through five games, including two off the bench in Nani Falatea and Elisa Mevius. The Oregon bench is averaging 30.4 points per game and has a plus-70 point differential in bench points on the season. Last year, UO averaged just 9.6 points a night from its bench and opponents outscored the Ducks' bench by 288 points.

» Eight players are averaging at least 5.0 points per game, including three bench players, with Mevius leading the bench scoring at 9.0 points per game.
» The Oregon bench has scored at least 22 points in four of five games, and twice eclipsed the 40-point plateau. Last year, UO's single-game bench high was just 26 points while surpassing 20 points just twice.
» The Ducks have been led in rebounding by four different players, all newcomers, this season. Deja Kelly is the only player to lead the team in rebounding in multiple games after recording a career-high 11 boards on Monday against GCU.

DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon has made life difficult for its opponents this season, particularly from the 3-point line. On the season, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, which is the sixth-best rate in the Big Ten and ranks 68th nationally. No team has shot over 28.0 percent in any contest against the Ducks, with Nevada's 3-for-11 effort (27.3 percent) marking a season high for efficiency. California Baptist made eight triples in the season opener, but put up 31 attempts for a 25.8 percent rate.

» Oregon's 29.6 defensive rebounds per game ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 45th nationally, while its 79.6 percent defensive rebounding rate is ninth-best in the country and tops in the conference.
» The Ducks have held an advantage in rebounding in every game this season and have a plus-38 margin on the season (7.6 per game).
» UO has shot at a higher efficiency from the field and the 3-point line in all five contests and has trailed for a total of just 13:03 this season.