Ducks Visit Minnesota Sunday

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team heads into a crucial stretch with three of its final four Big Ten matchups taking place on the road, beginning with a 12 p.m. PT tipoff at Minnesota on Sunday at Williams Arena.

The Ducks clinched a berth in the Big Ten Tournament and snapped their season-long three-game skid with a 68-67 home win over rival Washington on Wednesday. The win was the UO's fifth in games decided by two points or fewer, as its last three wins have come with the Ducks trailing at halftime.

The Ducks and Golden Gophers will match up for just the third time in the programs' history, with UO leading the series 2-0. The last meeting occurred in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, with the Ducks advancing with a 101-73 victory in Eugene.

GAME #26
Oregon (17-8, 8-6) at Minnesota (19-7, 7-7)
Sunday, Feb. 16 | 12 p.m. PT | Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minn.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUJZ 95.3 FM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon completed another second-half comeback to take down Washington 68-67 on Wednesday at Matthew Knight Arena. The win secured a berth into the Big Ten Tournament for the Ducks in their inaugural season in the league.

Deja Kelly scored the Ducks' final nine points in the fourth quarter, helping UO overcome a six-point fourth-quarter deficit. Kelly finished with a team-high 21 points, scoring 15 in the second half.

Elisa Mevius recorded 10 of her 14 points in the second half, while center Phillipina Kyei added 11 points and five rebounds.

Oregon's last three wins have come when trailing at halftime, as the Ducks picked up their conference-leading 14th home victory.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota (19-7, 7-7) enters Sunday's game just one game behind Oregon in the Big Ten standings following its 87-84 overtime loss at No. 9 Ohio State on Thursday. The Golden Gophers, who spent two weeks in the top 25 this season, have lost four of their last five and six of their last nine games.

All five Gopher starters average at least 8.8 points a game, while four players average double-digit points. Amaya Battle paces Minnesota with her 12.0 points a night while also averaging 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Mallory Heyer is her team's leader with 7.3 rebounds a game while also averaging 8.8 points.

As a team, Minnesota is the Big Ten leader and fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.58), while also averaging the second-fewest turnovers per game in the country at 10.7. The Golden Gophers rank third in the league in scoring defense (59.1 PPG) and turnover margin (plus-5.5).

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon is 2-0 all-time against Minnesota, as the teams will meet for the third time on Sunday and the first time outside of the postseason. The teams last met in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, when the sixth-ranked Ducks defeated the Golden Gophers 101-73 at Matthew Knight Arena to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. UO went on to the Elite Eight that season, its second of three consecutive Elite Eight appearances. The game will be the first in Minneapolis, as the first-ever meeting between the programs came in the quarterfinals of the 1979 WNIT in Amarillo, Texas.

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 10 of its last 18 games, and in 12 of its last 22 games overall, after notching 11 steals against Maryland on Feb. 6. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to score just 60.9 points per game (sixth in the Big Ten) while shooting just 40.1 percent and 30.6 percent from the 3-point line.

» The Ducks have held 15 of their last 16 opponents below its season average, and by an average of 14.3 points a game, while allowing just two teams to reach the 70-point plateau in that stretch.
» Oregon limited top-ranked UCLA to a season-low 62 points on Sunday, the Bruins' lowest point total since scoring 62 against Washington on Jan. 26 of last season.
» On Jan. 30, Oregon held 16th-ranked Michigan State to 59 points - more than 23 points below its season average of 82.8 points a game entering the contest. The 59 points were a season low for the Spartans, who had averaged 89.5 PPG while going 10-0 at home before Thursday.
» Oregon held Iowa to a season-low 49 points on Jan. 19, its lowest output since the 2012-13 season, and gave up just 17 second-half points.
» UO then limited Indiana to 47 points the following game below, marking the second time this season that it held consecutive opponents under 50 points (Air Force, UC Irvine) and first time in conference play since the 1993-94 season.
» With 10 or more steals in 11 of their last 20 games, the Ducks have 13 games this season with double-digit steals after turning in only two such games last season and seven times in 2022-23.
» The 13 games with 10-plus steals are tied for the third-most such games among Big Ten team, and tied for 27th nationally. It is the most such games by Oregon since producing 10-plus steals 14 times in 2019-20.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 9.5 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 fifth in steals per game in league play at 9.1.
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers nine times this season, including in six of their last 16 games after forcing 23 against Purdue on Jan. 15. 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.

CLUTCH DUCKS
The Ducks have become accustomed to close games of late. Oregon's 68-67 comeback win over Washington on Wednesday marked UO's fifth victory by two points or less this season, as the Ducks are unbeaten in those games. UO trailed by five at halftime and by as many as eight points in the game. Oregon has trailed at the half in each of its last three wins, trailing by 10 points at half against Iowa on Jan. 19 and by three against Indiana on Jan. 24. The Ducks trailed by as many as 15 points against the Hawkeyes, 10 against the Hoosiers and eight points against the Huskies.

» The five games decided by two points or less are tied for the most in the nation, while the Ducks are the only team to be unbeaten in five two-point outings this season.
» The five such victories are Oregon's most since at least 2009-10.
» Additionally, the Ducks are 6-0 in games decided by four points or less, with three of those wins coming in January.
» Oregon has won its last seven games decided by two points or less dating back to the 2022-23 season, and eight of the last nine such games going back to 2021-22.
» Despite only scoring 50 points against the Hawkeyes, UO picked up its first victory when scoring 50 points or less since defeating Utah 50-44 on Nov. 25, 2006 - snapping a streak of 49 straight losses when scoring 50 or less.
» UO has played nine "clutch games" (games within five points with 5:00 or less to play) and won seven of those, including five straight.
» In those nine clutch games, guard Deja Kelly leads the Ducks with 13.2 points - up from her season average of 10.4.
» Three of Kelly's four 20-point outings have come in those games, including her team-high 21 points against Washington on Wednesday.
» Phillipina Kyei averages 8.1 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 52.6 percent from the floor in clutch games while producing four double-figure scoring performances.