Ducks, Hawkeyes Meet Sunday at MKA

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team continues a three-game homestand on Sunday day, with the Ducks taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes at 2 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon has won four straight at home and boasts an 11-1 mark at Matthew Knight Arena this season. The Ducks have won six of their last eight games overall, and four of the last five, after a 69-53 win over Purdue last Wednesday.

The Ducks and Hawkeyes will meet for the second time ever, and first as members of the Big Ten Conference. The only other meeting came in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament, with then 16th-ranked Iowa coming away with an 89-82 overtime win in Salt Lake City.

GAME #19
Oregon (13-5, 4-3) vs. Iowa (12-6, 2-5)
Sunday, Jan. 19 | 2 p.m. | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Saul Galvan| Analyst: Brody Napier | Sideline: Max Ragel
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
After playing four of the first five on the road, Oregon began its homestand with a 69-53 win over Purdue on Wednesday.

The Ducks forced the Boilermakers into 23 turnovers, including 17 in the first half, behind 14 steals. UO scored 25 points off turnovers to go with 22 bench points.

Eight players finished with at least one steal in the game, with six recording multiple steals.

Deja Kelly led three Ducks in double figures, with Phillipina Kyei and Peyton Scott each logging a dozen. Kyei hauled in a team-high nine rebounds while shooting 6-for-7 from the field.

Elisa Mevius handed out six assists against just one turnover while registering two steals.

SCOUTING IOWA
Iowa (12-6, 2-5) comes to Eugene having lost its last four games after suffering an 87-84 home overtime loss to Nebraska on Thursday. The Hawkeyes started the season 8-0 and spent seven weeks in the Associated Press top 25, reaching as high as No. 17.

Lucy Olsen, who was recently named to the John R. Wooden award midseason watch list, leads Iowa in scoring at 16.3 points a game. Hannah Stuelke (12.9 PPG) and Addison O'Grady (12.3 PPG) round out three Hawkeyes who average double-digit points. Stuelke is also her team's rebounding leader at 8.2 a game, while O'Grady shoots a Big Ten-best 67.6 percent from the field.

As a team, Iowa ranks fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at plus-7.7, assists per game at 18.0 and field goal percentage at 46.2.

Olsen ranks second in the conference with 5.0 assists per game with Taylor McCabe leading the Big Ten in 3-point shooting with her 44.7 clip.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Sunday's game will be just the second time that Oregon and Iowa have met, and the first as members of the Big Ten Conference. The only previous matchup between the Ducks and Hawkeyes came in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament, with then-16th-ranked and No. 4 seeded Iowa earning an 89-82 overtime win in Salt Lake City.

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 eight of its last 11 games, and in 10 of its last 15 games overall, including a season-high 17 coming against Air Force on Dec. 17. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 28.7 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 nine of their last 13 games, the Ducks have 11 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.
» The 11 games with 10-plus steals are the second-most such games among Big Ten team, and just one behind the league leader in Michigan State (12), and tied for 12th-most nationally.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 10.3 steals a game (fourth in the Big Ten), which would mark the most on a per-game basis since averaging 10.3 in 2011-12. UO ranks third in steals per game in league play at 10.6.
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers nine times this season, including in six of their last nine games after forcing 23 against Purdue on Wednesday. The nine 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 did so five times in 2022-23. The last time the Ducks had more than eight games forcing at least 20 turnovers was 2013-14, when they recorded 11 such performances.
» UO has forced 20-plus turnovers in five of seven Big Ten games this season, averaging 20.3 turnovers a game in league play (the second-highest rate in the conference).
» 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 19.1 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 16 times this season, and has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in 13 straight games.

KEYS TO VICTORY
In 10 of 13 wins this season, Oregon has finished with more rebounds than its opponents while being outrebounded in each of its five losses. In victories, the Ducks average 6.0 more rebounds than their opponents while being outrebounded by an average of 12.2 rebounds a game in defeats.

» Oregon is 13-0 this season when leading or tied at halftime and 0-5 when trailing after 20 minutes of play.
» The Ducks are 11-2 when finishing with more or the same number of assists this season, averaging 17.8 assists a game in wins compared to 10.8 in losses.
» UO has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in 16 of 18 games this season, averaging 13.2 turnovers a game in wins while forcing an average of 19.1 turnovers.
» The Ducks are 13-2 when scoring at least 60 points and 9-1 when scoring 70 or more points. The Oregon offense averages 76.2 points per game over its 13 wins compared to 60.0 points in its five losses.
» In losses, UO averages just 26.2 first-half points while allowing 35.2 points to opponents in first halves.
» Eight players average at least 5.0 points per game over UO's 13 wins, while only four Ducks average better than 5.0 points a game in defeats.

FALA-TREY-A
Redshirt junior guard Nani Falatea has caught fire over the last eight games, recording six of her eight double-digit scoring performances this season during that stretch - including five straight from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12. Over the last eight games, she is averaging a team-best 10.8 points per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from 3-point range. Falatea has drained a 3-pointer in 10 straight games, the longest streak of any Duck this season, and leads the Ducks with 25 triples on the year. The BYU transfer earned her third start of the year Thursday against Penn State, as she is averaging 23.9 minutes per game over the last eight games after playing a team-high 30 minutes off the bench Jan. 12 at Ohio State. She 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 169-69 (.710). Since 2017-18, UO is 101-22 (.821) at Matthew Knight Arena, with a 43-19 (.694) conference record, averaging 80.0 points a game and winning by an average of 20.1 points during that span.

» The Ducks are 11-1 at home this season, with their only loss coming to then-No. 6 USC 66-53 on Dec. 7.
» Head coach Kelly Graves has now produced at least 10 home wins in nine of his 11 seasons in Eugene.
» UO's offense scores 74.6 points per game at home while allowing only 56.0 points. The Ducks score 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.