Ducks and Buffs Battle in Boulder

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team continues its tough stretch Friday night at No. 4 Colorado, as the Ducks and Buffaloes match up at 6 p.m. PT at CU Events Center.

GAME #24
Oregon (11-12, 2-8) at No. 4 Colorado (19-3, 9-2)
Sunday, Feb. 9 | 6 p.m. PT | CU Events Center (Boulder, Colo.)
TV: Pac-12 Mountain
Play-by-play: Thad Anderson | Analyst: Kami Carmann
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (Eugene: KUGN 98.1 | Portland: KPAM 860 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

AT A GLANCE
After three straight home games, Oregon travels to Boulder to take on No. 4 Colorado Friday night. The Buffaloes mark the fourth straight ranked team on the Ducks' schedule, as they are in the midst of seven consecutive games against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll.

The Ducks look to split the season series after the Buffaloes claimed a 61-48 win at Matthew Knight Arena less than two weeks ago.

Oregon leads the all-time series with CU 19-11, with a 7-5 record in Boulder. CU has won three straight in the series overall, but Oregon has won two of the last three in Boulder and nine of the last 13 meetings overall.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon rallied from down by as many as 13 to tie Sunday's rivalry matchup in the fourth quarter, but No. 18 Oregon State held off UO for a 64-60 victory at Matthew Knight Arena.

Down by 11 at halftime, the Ducks clawed their way back to even at 41-41 with a layup by Phillipina Kyei in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Kyei turned in her seventh double-double in the last eight games with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Chance Gray added 15 points while Grace VanSlooten finished with 14 points, as the trio accounted for 45 of Oregon's 60 points.

The Ducks committed a season-low five turnovers and were the first team this season to outrebound Oregon State (39-35).

SCOUTING COLORADO
Colorado (19-3, 9-2) has won three straight games, all on the road, after a weekend sweep of Washington and Washington State. The Buffaloes have spent 13 straight weeks inside the top 10 of the Associated Press poll, reaching as high as No. 3.

The Buffaloes are led by three players in double figures, with Aaronette Vonleh leading the way at 14.9 points per game. Frida Formann averages 13.4 while Jaylyn Sherrod adds 13.2 a game. Quay Miller averages 9.8 points to go with a team-high 8.1 rebounds.

As a team, CU ranks second in the Pac-12 with 19.0 assists per game and 10.3 steals a game while ranking third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35), bench points per game (21.1) field goal percentage (46.9) and turnover margin (plus-3.0)

Formann is the conference's leader in 3-point shooting at 42.3 percent while Vonleh is third with her 59.5 field goal percentage.

INSIDE THE SERIES
After Colorado's 61-48 win on Jan. 28, Oregon leads the all-time series 19-11. The Ducks are 7-5 on the road in the series, having won two of the last three and three of the last five in Boulder. Overall, Oregon has claimed six of the last nine matchups and nine of the last 13. Head Coach Kelly Graves is 9-5 against the Buffs in his Oregon tenure and since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12, UO is 11-8 in the series.

In the season's first meeting less than two weeks ago, the Ducks' trio of Grace VanSlooten (16 points), Chance Gray (13) and Phillipina Kyei (12) accounted for 41 of the team's 48 points. Kyei added a game-high 17 rebounds and helped hold CU more than 17 points below its season average. Aaronette Vonleh led the Buffaloes with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Colorado shot just 35 percent from the floor and 22 percent from behind the arc.

OREGON vs. RANKED TEAMS
Fourth-ranked Colorado is the fourth straight top-25 team Oregon will face, and the eighth this season. CU marks the seventh ranked foe in the Ducks' last 10 games after taking on No. 18 Oregon State on Sunday. UO is 0-7 against top-25 teams this season with an 0-4 road record. Oregon has dropped 12 straight road games against ranked teams, with the last victory coming at No. 15 Oregon State on Dec. 13, 2020 (79-59). The last time an unranked Ducks team took down a top-25 team on the road was in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, when UO defeated No. 9 Duke 74-65. That unranked team went on to defeat No. 4 Maryland 77-63 for the last top-five win by an unranked Oregon squad. Oregon's last win against a top-five team came at No. 4 Stanford on Feb. 24, 2020 (74-66).

Last season, Oregon went 2-8 against the nation's top 25, picking up wins over No. 17 Arkansas (85-78) and No. 14 Arizona (73-59). In Graves' tenure, the Ducks have piled up 45 ranked wins over his previous nine seasons. The Ducks are 18-93 all-time on the road against ranked teams and are in the midst of seven consecutive games against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll.