Ducks Back Home to Host Bobcats

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team returns to Matthew Knight Arena for a two-game homestand starting Sunday against Montana State at 12 p.m.

Oregon is coming off its first loss of the season in its Big Ten opener, an 80-59 setback at No. 4 UCLA on Sunday. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak to begin the season.

The Ducks and Bobcats will meet for the ninth time ever, and the first time since 1991 on Sunday. UO leads the series 7-1 with a 4-1 home record, while winning seven straight in the series.

GAME #12
Oregon (10-1) vs. Montana State (6-2)
Sunday, Dec. 14 | 12 p.m. | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Carson Mercier | Analyst: Lily Crane | Sideline: Olivia Arciniega
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM | ESPN Portland 910 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

A WIN WOULD…
» Be the best 12-game start since starting 11-1 in 2019-20.
» Be the third 11-1 start under head coach Kelly Graves in his 12th season.
» Be Oregon's 20th straight nonconference home win and 21st home win in a row against an unranked team.
» Give the Ducks an 8-1 all-time record against Montana State, with a 5-1 home mark.
» Extend UO's winning streak against the Bobcats to eight straight.
» Give the Ducks their 80th win in their last 82 nonconference home games.
» Improve Graves' nonconference record to 142-38 while at Oregon, with an 85-4 home record.

LAST TIME OUT
The Oregon women's basketball team outscored fourth-ranked UCLA in the second half on Sunday, but the Bruins used a strong first half to come away with an 80-59 victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Pauley Pavilion.

Oregon (10-1, 0-1) suffered its first loss of the season after beginning a season 10-0 or better for just the third time in program history. The Ducks outscored the Bruins 33-31 in the second half, but trailed by 23 at the half.

Ehis Etute came off the bench to score 14 points and haul in a team-leading nine rebounds. Sophomore Katie Fiso matched Etute's 14 points and gave out seven assists while senior Mia Jacobs added 11 points, as she surpassed 1,500 points for her career.

UCLA shot 49 percent while holding a 31-10 rebounding edge in the first half. UCLA center Lauren Betts had 13 points and 11 boards in the half and finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Bruins.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE
Montana State (6-2) has split its last four outings and is coming off a 99-57 home victory over North Dakota on Dec. 6. The Bobcats are 4-0 at home with a 2-2 road record after dropping two of three across a three-game road trip from Nov. 24 to Dec. 3.

MSU features a pair of 18-point scorers in Taylee Chirrick (18.9 PPG) and Addison Harris (18.0 PPG). Chirrick also leads the Bobcats with 6.9 rebounds a night while Harris is shooting a team-high 55.8 percent from the field.

Montana State is the national leader at 17.6 steals per game, helping the Bobcats force for 27.6 turnovers a game - good for third-best in the country. MSU's plus-11.0 turnover margin leads the Big Sky and is No. 6 in the nation.

In the Big Sky's preseason coaches and media polls, MSU was voted to repeat as league champion while Chirrick was named to the preseason all-conference team. Montana State went 30-4 a season ago to earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and Montana State will meet for the first time since the 1991-92 season, where the Ducks came away with an 81-80 overtime win in Eugene. UO is 7-1 all-time against the Bobcats, with the first matchup occurring in 1974. The Ducks are 4-1 at home against MSU and have won seven straight in the series.

OFF AND RUNNING
Oregon began the season 10-0 for just the third time in program history before suffering its first loss of the season last Sunday at No. 4 UCLA. It marked the first 10-0 start since beginning the 2015-16 season 11-0, and the second 10-0 start or better under 12th-year head coach Kelly Graves. The Ducks' offense has scored 80 or more in eight of 11 games, including five straight to being the season - its longest streak to begin a season since seven straight such games to open the 2019-20 season. UO's scoring offense of 79.8 points per game ranks No. 32 nationally and 10th in the Big Ten.

Six different Ducks have led or tied for the team lead in scoring, with 11 different players producing a double-digit scoring performance. Three times this season five different players finished in double figures, most recently in a Nov. 16 win over Army: Mia Jacobs (17), Sofia Bell (14), Amina Muhamad (14), Katie Fiso (12) and Sarah Rambus (12). Five of the 11 players with a double-figure scoring game came off the bench (Avary Cain, Ehis Etute, Muhammad, Astera Tuhina and Janiyah Williams).

» Oregon's offensive rating of 109.8 (points per 100 possessions) ranks ninth in the Big Ten while averaging 72.7 possessions per 40 minutes (eighth in Big Ten). UO had an offensive rating of 96.0 with an average of 70.2 possessions per 40 minutes last year.
» UO's field goal percentage of 49.5 is 13th-best in the country, with its 56.3 percent on two-point shots ranking No. 13 in the nation and fifth in the conference.
» Oregon ranks 17th in the country and sixth in the league with an effective field goal percentage of 54.7 percent.
» The Ducks' bench put up 56 points against Old Dominion on Nov. 27, outscoring the Monarchs' entire team in an 84-46 win on the final day of the Hoopfest Women's Challenge.
» It was the second game with 40-plus points for UO's reserves, as they accounted for 47 of 90 points against Montana on Nov. 8 and fourth outing of at least 30 points (28.3 bench points per game ranks 47th in the nation).
» UO's 19.0 assists per game is good for 18th nationally, posting an assisted shot rate of 61.7 percent (eighth in the Big Ten).
» The Ducks are second in the Big Ten and No. 11 in the nation in free throw shooting (80.6 percent), while their 1.33 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 24th nationally.

GO, FISO, GO
Sophomore point guard Katie Fiso has stepped into the Ducks' lead guard spot this season, as she takes over after the departures of graduate guards Deja Kelly and Peyton Scott. Fiso, who was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Washington her senior season, got her first career start in the season opener against West Georgia on Nov. 3 and turned in her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists without a turnover. She produced her first 20-point scoring effort while handing out 10 assists against Grand Canyon on Nov. 11 and has since recorded points-assists double-doubles against Army (12 points, 10 assists), Saint Mary's (15 points, 10 assists) and Oregon State (23 points, 14 assists). Producing back-to-back 20-point outings against Auburn and Oregon State, she has carded a team-best four 20-point scoring efforts this season.

Against Oregon State, Fiso turned in one her best games of the season with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go with a career-high 14 assists. Her 14 assists equaled the second-highest assist total in a game in program history, and were three shy of Sabrina Ionescu's record of 17 set in 2018.

» Fiso's four 20-point games are tied for third-most in the league among Big Ten guards.
» Her five points-assists double-doubles this season lead the nation with the next closest players having three, while only seven players in the country have multiple such double-doubles.
» There have been eight points-assists double-doubles in the Big Ten this season, with Fiso accounting for five of them and the only player with more than one.
» Five total double-doubles are tied for the Big Ten lead and tied for eighth-most in the nation.
» Turned in the first 20-point, 10-assist double-double by a Duck since Sabrina Ionescu had 20 points and 12 assists against Stanford on March 8, 2020.
» First Duck with multiple points-assists double-doubles in a season since Ionescu during the 2019-20 campaign (17).
» Her and Ionescu are the only two Ducks since at least 1999 to have a minimum of five points-assists double-doubles in a season.
» First Duck with 10-plus assists without a turnover since Minyon Moore did so at USC on Feb. 16, 2020, and first Duck since Ionescu on Feb. 1, 2020 with a point-assists double-double without committing a turnover.
» Led (or tied) UO in assists in all 11 outings this season and ranks second in the Big Ten at 7.8 assists a night (fourth nationally).
» On Monday, Fiso earned her second selection to the Big Ten's weekly honor roll after averaging 18.5 points and 10.5 assists.
» Fiso is one of three players in the country averaging at least 7.0 assists and shooting 50.0 percent or better from the floor.

MAMA MIA
Senior F Mia Jacobs, a Fresno State transfer, has made an immediate impact for the Ducks on the young season. She ranks second on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor. Jacobs finished as the team's leading scorer in three of the first four games to begin the season, including a season-high 26 points in UO's 84-66 win over Grand Canyon on Nov. 11. It marked the highest scoring performance by a Duck since Te-Hina Paopao scored 28 points against Stanford on March 2, 2023. Additionally, she has connected on 40-of-47 free throw attempts to rank eighth in the Big Ten at 85.1 percent.

» Sunday at UCLA, Jacobs eclipsed 1,500 points for her career and her 1,507 points rank 32nd among active players.
» She is second on the team with three 20-point outings after scoring 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting on Dec. 3 against Oregon State.
» Jacobs drilled a season-high five 3-pointers against Washington State on Nov. 19 on her way to her second 20-point outing of the season, going 4-for-5 from range in the second half of UO's 86-59 victory.
» Jacobs' 19 made 3-pointers lead the team and are second-most among Big Ten forwards (tied for No. 17 nationally among forwards).
» She went 12-of-13 from the free throw line against GCU, marking the most made free throws by a Duck since Sabrina Ionescu made 17 against Mississippi State on Dec. 18, 2018.
» Her free throw percentage of 85.1 is ninth-best in the nation among forwards with at least 40 made free throws and tops in the Big Ten.
» Last season, Jacobs led the Mountain West with 19 double-doubles last season, which tied for No. 7 nationally, as she averaged 18.3 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 40.8 percent from the floor.
» Jacobs was named first-team all-Mountain West in 2024-25 while being named MW Player of the Week three times.
» Jacobs is also a passionate and talented photographer and can often be seen on the sidelines capturing the action at several different Oregon Athletics events.

RING THE BELL
Junior guard Sofia Bell is a phenom on the court and in the classroom. Bell earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon after only two years and is already enrolled in an MBA program at UO. On the basketball court, she is a disruptor to opposing offenses and has developed into a knock-down 3-point shooter. The 6-foot Bell is the Ducks' leader in blocks and second in 3-pointers and steals, recording at least one steal in 10 of 11 games this season with multiple steals in seven contests. Sunday at UCLA, she saw her career-best 13 stretch of consecutive games with a steal come to an end, dating back to last season. Bell has registered at least one theft in 43 of her 60 career games (71.7 percent), while finishing with multiple steals 23 times. Nine of her 26 career blocks have come this season after having just three over 28 games last year.

On the offensive end, she is shooting 39.1 percent from behind the 3-point line (18-of-46) and has drained multiple 3-pointers six times. Bell is one of just 15 players in the nation, and one of two players in the Big Ten, to have at least nine blocks while making at least 18 3-pointers.

EHIS THE BEAST
Sophomore F Ehis Etute has begun to tap into her raw potential in her second season in Eugene. The Luxembourg product has scored in double figures in three straight games, including setting a new career high in scoring in back-to-back games. Etute first turned in 15 points to go with eight rebounds against Old Dominion on Thanksgiving Day before a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double off the bench at Auburn on Nov. 30. It marked Etute's first double-double of her career while grabbing a career high in rebounds, going 7-of-10 from the floor. She scored nine points and hauled in 11 boards in the second half to help UO overcome a 14-point second-half deficit.

» Over the last three games, Etute is averaging 15.0 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 56.7 percent from the field.
» Etute has led UO in rebounding in seven of 10 games she has played this season and has finished as the team leader 11 times in her career.
» Against Washington State on Nov. 19, she hauled in 13 rebounds for her first 10-rebound effort, with eight coming on the offensive end - the second-best total by any player in the Big Ten this season.
» Etute boasts a total rebounding rate of 24.3 percent, the second-highest rate in the country among players averaging at least 15.0 minutes per game, with her offensive rebounding rate of 24.3 percent leading the nation among those players.