Ducks Back at MKA to Host Purdue

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team kicks off a three-game homestand on Wednesday, beginning with a 6 p.m. tip against Purdue at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon has won three straight at home and boasts a 10-1 mark at Matthew Knight Arena this season. The Ducks have won five of their last seven games overall, and three of the last four, after splitting a pair of road matchups at Penn State and No. 9 Ohio State last week.

The Ducks and Boilermakers will meet for the first time ever on Wednesday, as Purdue is one of three teams in the Big Ten that UO will face for the first time this season along with Michigan and Penn State.

GAME #18
Oregon (12-5, 3-3) vs. Purdue (7-9, 0-5)
Wednesday, Jan. 15 | 6 p.m. | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Saul Galvan| Analyst: Jonah Bruneau | 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

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon's bid for a comeback and upset at No. 9 Ohio State last Sunday fell just short, with the Buckeyes coming away with a 69-60 win on Sunday.

The Ducks were outscored in only one of the four quarters, but the Buckeyes won the second quarter 31-11, due in large part to a 27-point run in the frame. Oregon trimmed the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter, but made just one of its last 12 field goal attempts and were unable to get closer than eight points in the fourth.

Nani Falatea and Amina Muhammad led UO with 11 points apiece, with Deja Kelly adding 10. Phillipina Kyei chipped in eight points and eight boards, while Ohio native Peyton Scott grabbed a season-high eight rebounds to go with seven points.

SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue (7-9, 0-5) comes to Eugene having lost its last four games, and six of its last seven, after suffering an 87-60 home loss to 25th-ranked Michigan on Saturday. The Boilermakers are 1-2 in true road games and 1-4 in all games away from home this season.

Destini Lombard leads the Purdue offense with 12.3 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field. Reagan Bass is the only other Boilermaker to average double-digit points with 10.4, while also averaging a team-best 6.0 rebounds.

Lombard ranks second in the Big Ten with 2.5 steals per game and third in total steals with 40.

As a team, the Boilermakers rank seventh in the Big Ten in bench points per game at 23.8, eighth in blocks per game with 4.3 and ninth in 3-point shooting at 33.3 percent. Purdue ranks last in the league in scoring offense (65.3), scoring defense (73.7), scoring margin (-8.4) and turnover margin (-4.2).

INSIDE THE SERIES
Wednesday's game will mark the first-ever matchup between Oregon and Purdue. Entering the season, there were three Big Ten programs that the Ducks had not faced: Michigan, Penn State and Purdue.

DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon has made life difficult for its opponents on the offensive end this season. The Duck defense has registered double-digit steals in seven of its last 10 games, and in nine of its last 14 games, including a season-high 17 coming against Air Force on Dec. 17. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 28.9 percent from beyond the arc, and has allowed only six teams to shoot over 30.0 percent. UO allowed North Texas and Grand Canyon to shoot a combined 7-of-30 from deep over a two-game stretch (Nov. 12-18).

» With 10 or more steals in eight of their last 12 games, the Ducks have 10 games this season with double-digit steals after turning in only two such games last season and seven times in 2022-23.
» The Ducks recorded 10-plus steals in five straight games from Nov. 26-Dec. 19, their longest streak since putting together seven straight games with 10 or more steals in 2013-14.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 10.1 steals a game (fourth in the Big Ten), which would mark the most on a per-game basis since averaging 10.2 in 2013-14. UO ranks fourth in steals per game in league play at 10.0.
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers eight times this season, including in five of their last eight games after forcing 24 at Penn State. The eight such games are already the most since doing so 11 times in 2013-14.
» UO had just one game forcing 20 or more turnovers last season and five such games in 2022-23. The last time the Ducks had more than seven games forcing at least 20 turnovers was 2013-14, when they recorded 11 such performances.
» UO forced USC, Illinois and Wisconsin each into 22 turnovers and is averaging 18.9 turnovers forced per game in Big Ten play, the fifth-highest rate in the league.
» The Ducks forced a season-high 29 turnovers against Air Force on Dec. 17, marking the most forced turnovers since forcing 29 against CSUN on Nov. 19, 2017.
» The 18.9 turnovers forced a game would mark the highest rate by the Ducks since averaging 20.8 per game in 2010-11.
» Oregon has finished with fewer or the same number of turnovers 15 times this season, and has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in 12 straight games.

FALA-TREY-A
Redshirt junior guard Nani Falatea has caught fire over the last seven games, recording six of her eight double-digit scoring performances this season during that stretch - including five straight. Over the last seven games, she is averaging a team-best 11.1 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from 3-point range. Falatea has drained a 3-pointer in nine straight games, the longest active streak on the team, and leads the Ducks with 23 triples on the year. The BYU transfer earned her third start of the year Thursday against Penn State, as she is averaging 26.1 minutes per game over the last seven games after playing a team-high 30 minutes off the bench Sunday at Ohio State. She had averaged 15.6 minutes a night over the season's first 10 games.

NO PLACE LIKE MKA
Since its opening in 2011, the Ducks have been dominant in defending Matthew Knight Arena, posting an all-time record of 168-69 (.709). Since 2017-18, UO is 100-22 (.820) at Matthew Knight Arena, with a 42-19 (.689) conference record, averaging 80.0 points a game and winning by an average of 20.1 points during that span.

» The Ducks are 10-1 at home this season, with their only loss coming to then-No. 6 USC 66-53 on Dec. 7.
» UO's offense scores 75.1 points per game at home while scoring 65.8 points a game away from home.
» Oregon has posted a .500 record or better at home for 12 straight seasons, dating back to 2013-14.
» Oregon boasts a sparkling record of 78-4 (.951) against nonconference teams at home under head coach Kelly Graves (since 2014-15), and has won 73 of its last 75 nonconference home tilts, including 13 straight.