Senior Day on Deck Sunday

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team is set for its home finale on Sunday, as the Ducks will host Rutgers on Senior Day for a 2 p.m. tip at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks will honor six graduating seniors in Nani Falatea, Deja Kelly, Salimatou Kourouma, Phillipina Kyei, Peyton Scott and Alexis Whitfield.

Oregon and Rutgers will meet for the fourth time ever and the first time since the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament. UO is 1-2 against the Scarlet Knights and 1-0 at home.

GAME #28
Oregon (18-9, 9-7) vs. Rutgers (10-17, 2-14)
Sunday, Feb. 23 | 2 p.m. | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Lily Crane | Analyst: Olivia Arciniega | Sideline: Isaac Dubey
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon dropped an overtime shootout on Wednesday, falling to Nebraska 94-90 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

Five Ducks finished with double-digit points, including season highs from both Deja Kelly (22) and Nani Falatea (20). Falatea matched her career high with six 3-pointers, as UO tallied 12 triples in the game. Kelly also dished out six assists with three steals without committing a turnover.

Phillipina Kyei flirted with a double-double, turning in 16 points and nine rebounds with Peyton Scott scoring 13 points off the bench. Scott knocked down three 3-points, all in the second quarter.

The Ducks trailed by one at halftime but led by 14 in the third quarter before the Cornhuskers rallied to force overtime. It was the first overtime game for UO this season and snapped a streak of six straight wins in clutch games.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers (10-17, 2-14) enters Sunday's tilt having lost three straight games after an 83-65 loss at Washington on Thursday. Overall, the Scarlet Knights five of their seven, and 13 of their last 15 games.

Kiyomi McMiller is her team's leader at 18.7 points and 3.0 assists per game with Destiny Adams second in scoring at 17.5 points a night. Adams also paces Rutgers with 9.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals a game.

As a team, the Scarlet Knights are fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding at 39.3 a game, including 14.0 offensive boards a game, while ranking fifth at 4.3 blocks per game. Defensively, teams are shooting 30.6 percent from the 3-point line, good for the sixth-best rate in the conference.

Adams' 12 double-doubles are the fourth-most in the conference while ranking third in rebounding and leading the league with 66 steals. McMiller is the fourth-leading scorer in the Big Ten.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and Rutgers will meet for the fourth time on Sunday, and the first since the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament in which the Scarlet Knights defeated the Ducks 79-76 in Ames, Iowa. The teams have played a home-and-home series in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons, with each team winning on its home floor. Oregon defeated Rutgers 92-78 in Eugene on Jan. 14, 1990.

CLUTCH DUCKS
The Ducks are no strangers to close games this season. Oregon's 68-67 comeback win over Washington on Feb. 12 marked UO's fifth victory by two points or less this season, with the Ducks going 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 three of its last four wins, trailing by 10 points at half against Iowa on Jan. 19 and by three against Indiana on Jan. 24. The Ducks trailed by multiple possessions in each of their last four wins: 15 points against the Hawkeyes, 10 against the Hoosiers, eight points against the Huskies and nine at Minnesota.

» 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 6-1 in games decided by four points or less, with three of those wins coming in January. Wednesday's 94-90 overtime loss at Nebraska stands as their only loss in games decided by four or less.
» 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 11 "clutch games" (games within five points with 5:00 or less to play) and won eight of those, with a six-game winning streak in clutch games being snapped against the Cornhuskers on Wednesday.
» In those 11 clutch games, guard Deja Kelly leads the Ducks with 14.6 points - up from her season average of 11.1.
» Five of Kelly's five 20-point outings have come in those games, and has scored 20 or more in each of the last three games (all clutch games) including her team-high 22 points at Nebraska.
» Phillipina Kyei averages 8.5 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 55.7 percent from the floor in clutch games while producing five double-figure scoring performances.

QUEEN OF CLUTCH
Oregon point guard and leader Deja Kelly has been at her best when it matters most this season. In three clutch games over the last week, she produced three consecutive 20-point efforts - a season-long stretch by any Duck and her longest such streak since three straight last season at North Carolina (Feb. 1-11, 2024). Against Washington on Feb. 12, she scored the Ducks' final nine points over the final 2:30 in leading her team to a 68-67 comeback victory. Kelly finished the game with a team-high 21 points, scoring 15 in the second half.

On Feb. 16 at Minnesota, 15 of her team-high 20 points came in the second half, including seven in the fourth quarter and five points in the final five minutes after the Golden Gophers trimmed Oregon's lead to four points late in the fourth quarter. She handed out seven assists while committing just one turnover. At Nebraska on Wednesday, she dropped a season-high 22 points in an overtime loss, adding six assists, three steals and no turnovers. Over the last three games, she has averaged 21.0 points while shooting 45.7 percent to go with 4.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.3.

Kelly is one of only three active players to have at least 2,100 career points, 500 rebounds, 450 assists and 150 steals (Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith), and has registered seven games this season with at least five assists and one or fewer turnovers (two behind the Big Ten lead).

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 172-71 (.709). Since 2017-18, UO is 104-24 (.813) at Matthew Knight Arena, with a 46-21 (.687) conference record, averaging 79.1 points a game and winning by an average of 19.9 points during that span.

» The Ducks are 14-3 at home this season, with the only three losses coming to teams ranked in the top 20 (No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 16 Maryland).
» The 14 home wins are tied for the most in the Big Ten and tied for the sixth-most in the nation, just three behind the national lead. The 14 home victories are tied for the fifth-most wins in a season in the history of Matthew Knight Arena, and are tied for the most home wins since 2022-23.
» Head coach Kelly Graves has now produced at least 10 home wins in nine of his 11 seasons in Eugene.
» UO's offense scores 69.4 points per game at home while allowing only 57.4 points. The Ducks score 63.3 points a game away from home.

FALA-TREY-A
Redshirt junior guard Nani Falatea has caught fire over the last 17 games, recording nine of her 11 double-digit scoring performances this season during that stretch - including five straight from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12. In that five-game span, Falatea averaged a team-leading 12.2 points a game while shooting 47.8 percent (22-for-46) from the floor and 40.9 percent (9-for-22) from behind the arc.

Over the last 17 games, she is averaging 9.5 points per game (second on team) while shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range. Falatea leads the Ducks with 38 triples on the year and tied her career high with six made threes at Nebraska on her way to a season-best 20 points. The BYU transfer earned her seventh start of the year against the Cornhuskers on Wednesday, as she is averaging 25.7 minutes per game over the last 17 games after averaging 15.6 minutes a night over the season's first 10 games.