Ducks Finish Regular Season at UW

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team is set for its regular-season finale on Sunday, as the Ducks visit rival Washington on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Ducks escaped with a 68-67 win against the Huskies on Feb. 12 at Matthew Knight Arena, with Deja Kelly scoring her team's final nine points to come back from a six-point deficit with less than four minutes to play.

The win gave Oregon a 57-54 lead in the all-time series with the Huskies, while winning six straight at home. UO is 19-32 in Seattle and have dropped the last three road games in the series.

GAME #29
Oregon (19-9, 10-7) at Washington (17-12, 8-9)
Sunday, March 2 | 2 p.m. | Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle, Wash.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Dick Fain| Analyst: Charli Turner Thorne | Sideline: Emma Swett
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon closed out its home schedule in style against Rutgers last Sunday, defeating the Scarlet Knights 77-58 on Senior Day.

The Ducks recognized six seniors following the win: Nani Falatea, Deja Kelly, Salimatou Kourouma, Phillipina Kyei, Peyton Scott and Alexis Whitfield. Head coach Kelly Graves started all available seniors in the game, with Kourouma not being active due to injury.

In her final home game at Matthew Knight Arena, the four-year senior Kyei recorded a career-high 25 rebounds to go with 20 points, becoming the first Duck in a decade to turn in a 20-point, 20-rebound double-double.

Her performance was tied for the third-most rebounds in a game by a Duck and was two boards shy of tying the UO single-game rebounding record. It marked the second 20-20 game in the Big Ten this year and first in league play.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON
Washington (17-12, 8-9) heads into the regular-season finale having won three straight games after sweeping a road trip at Nebraska and Minnesota. Prior to their three-game winning streak, the Huskies had lost six of their previous seven games as they currently sit in a tie for 12th in the Big Ten standings.

Four Huskies average double-digit points, paced by Elle Ladine's 17.0 a game. Ladine has led UW in scoring in each of its last three games and has finished with at least 26 points in each contest, logging five 20-point outings over her last seven games. She is second in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting (40.1 percent) and third in 3-pointers per game (2.4).

Sayvia Sellers is second at 15.3 points a game while Dalayah Daniels averages 12.2 points to go with a team-high 7.0 rebounds.

As a team, Washington is the Big Ten leader in 3-point shooting at 37.1 percent, second in field goal percentage at 47.9 percent and second in made 3-pointers per game at 7.9.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and Washington will meet for the 112th time on Sunday, with the Ducks holding a 57-54 lead in the all-time series after a 68-67 win at Matthew Knight Arena on Feb. 12. The win snapped a two-game skid to the Huskies and marked the Ducks' sixth straight home win in the series. UO is 19-32 against UW in Seattle, and has dropped the last three at Alaska Airlines Arena, last winning on the road during the 2021-22 season.

In the season's first matchup, Oregon trailed by five at halftime and by six with under four minutes to play. Guard Deja Kelly scored the Ducks' final nine points of the game, knocking down two free throws with 12 seconds left to put UO in front by a point. Kelly finished with a team-high 21 points, while Elisa Mevius added 14 points and four assists.

DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon has made life difficult for its opponents on the offensive end this season. The Duck defense forces 18.3 turnovers per game and has registered double-digit steals in 10 of its last 21 games, and in 12 of its last 25 games overall, Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to score just 62.3 points per game (sixth in the Big Ten) while shooting just 40.3 percent and 32.5 percent from the 3-point line.

» Oregon has won (or tied) the turnover battle in seven straight games, and in 22 of its last 23 games, dating back to Nov. 20. UO has turned the ball over more than its opponents just three times this season.
» The Ducks have held 17 of their last 19 opponents below its season average, and by an average of 14.0 points a game, while allowing just four teams to reach the 70-point plateau in that stretch.
» Oregon limited top-ranked UCLA to a season-low 62 points on Feb. 9, 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, 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 22 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 9.2 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 8.6.
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers nine times this season, with the nine such games being 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.

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 performances 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 Feb. 19, she dropped a season-high 22 points in an overtime loss, adding six assists, three steals and no turnovers.

» She has produced five straight games in double figures (tying her season-long stretch), including three 20-point outings in that span. Over the last three games, she has averaged 20.3 points while shooting 45.2 percent to go with 3.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.0.
» 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).
» She is the only player in the Big Ten this season to average at least 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists with an assist-to-turnover ratio better than 2.0, and one of 15 players nationally.

BIG PHILLI STYLE
Senior center Phillipina Kyei, the tallest player in Oregon history, had a breakout season in 2023-24 in which she finished as the nation's third-leading rebounder at 11.9 rebounds per game. Kyei registered 20 double-doubles in 32 games last season to tie for the Pac-12 lead and tie for No. 7 in the nation. Her 20 double-doubles tied UO legend Sabrina Ionescu in 2019-20 for the sixth-highest total in a single season in program history. Kyei logged her 31st career double-doubles against Rutgers and now sits alone in eighth in Oregon history.

» With her first rebound at Minnesota on Feb. 16, Kyei became the sixth Duck to reach 1,000 career rebounds. Last game against Rutgers, she passed Sabrina Ionescu and now sits in fifth place on Oregon's career rebounding list with 1,041.
» Kyei needs just 34 points to become the sixth Duck to join the 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club.
» On Senior Day last Sunday, the fourth-year senior turned in a career day with a 20-point, 25-rebound double-double. The 25 rebounds not only set a career high, but tied for the third-most in a single game in Oregon history and was the most by a Duck in a decade (last done by Jillian Alleyne on Jan. 31, 2015).
» She became just the fourth player in program history to turn in a 20-20 game - and first in 10 years - and the 13h such performance by a Duck.
» Over the last five games, Kyei is averaging 11.0 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 56.8 percent from the floor.