Tag: Kelly Graves

No. 25 Oregon vs. North Texas: Instant Reactions to Ducks’ blowout win over Mean Green

The No. 25 Oregon Ducks got a blowout win over North Texas on Tuesday afternoon in Matthew Knight Arena.

Kelly Graves and the Oregon Ducks picked up one of their biggest wins of the decade on Sunday evening, upsetting the No. 12 Baylor Bears in Matthew Knight Arena. They used that victory to vault into the top-25 rankings for the first time since January of 2023.

The Ducks kept that momentum rolling on Tuesday afternoon with an early game against the North Texas Mean Green.

Oregon won in blowout fashion, with Nani Falatea and Elisa Mevius shouldering the load in a game where 13 total Ducks scored. Here’s a look at

Oregon vs. North Texas Keys to the Game

  • It was a total team effort on Tuesday for an Oregon team that is riding high. 13 players scored for the Ducks, with only two of those players getting into double figures — both Falatea and Mevius had 11 points.
  • Oregon’s strong defense continued to be the story in this game, as they allowed just 9 points in the first half for North Texas, and held the Mean Green to 24% shooting on the game.
  • The Ducks were simply too big and too physical for North Texas, dominating the rebounding battle 44-30 and putting up 28 points in the paint while blocking 4 shots.

Oregon vs. North Texas Players of the Game

  • Nani Falatea: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
  • Elisa Mevius: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
  • Deja Kelly: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

What’s Next for Oregon Ducks?

  • Nov. 18 — vs. Grand Canyon
  • Nov.  20 — vs. Auburn Tigers
  • Nov. 25 — vs. Georgia Tech
  • Nov. 26 — vs. South Dakota State
  • Dec. 4 — vs. Washington State

The Ducks have two more games at Matthew Knight Arena before taking the show on the road to Hawaii for the North Shore Showcase.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Oregon vs. Baylor: Instant Reactions to Ducks’ upset win over No. 12 Bears

The Oregon Ducks got a massive upset vs. the No. 12 Baylor Bears in Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday night.

A year ago, the Oregon Ducks went 11-21 in a year that will go down as Kelly Graves’ worst since being in Eugene.

Now, a year later, Graves and the Ducks proved that this is a new team, with a new outlook in their game on Sunday night against the No. 12 Baylor Bears. Oregon got a massive upset, winning 76-74 in the biggest victory for this women’s program in several years.

Led by Deja Kelly and Alexis Whitfield, it was a great showing from Graves’ team that has missed the last two NCAA Tournaments.

Oregon vs. Baylor Keys to the Game

  • Oregon’s defense was the key in the first half, holding Baylor to just 10-for-35 from the field. The Ducks took a 35-27 lead into the break, led by Alexis Whitfield, who had a game-high 12 points in the first 20 minutes, on 5-for-5 shooting.
  • Oregon held a 14-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but they let Baylor back into the game in the final 10 minutes. This was a tied game with under a minute remaining, but the Ducks managed to pull out the victory in the end.
  • Deja Kelly proved to be the leader that the team hoped it was getting out of the transfer portal this year. Not only did she emotionally lead the Ducks in this game, but her production was next-level, leading the team with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Oregon vs. Baylor Players of the Game

  • Deja Kelly: 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
  • Alexis Whitfield: 16 points, 5 rebounds
  • Nani Falatea: 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

Oregon vs. Baylor Notable Stats

  • Oregon turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, but still managed to build an eight-point lead.
  • Baylor shot just 29% from the floor in the first half
  • Oregon finished the game shooting 50% from the floor and had 22 points from their bench in this game.

What’s Next for Oregon Ducks?

  • Nov. 12 — vs. North Texas
  • Nov. 18 — vs. Grand Canyon
  • Nov.  20 — vs. Auburn Tigers
  • Nov. 25 — vs. Georgia Tech
  • Nov. 26 — vs. South Dakota State

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Kelly Graves hires assistant Jerise Freeman as recruiting coordinator

Kelly Graves hires assistant Jerise Freeman as recruiting coordinator after spending the last three seasons at Utah.

Recruiting is always a dicey situation, especially in this climate of the transfer portal and players changing teams on a yearly basis. Oregon women’s basketball has faced their own challenges in the last few seasons, but hopefully that comes to an end with the hiring of Jerise Freeman as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Freeman comes to Oregon after spending the last several seasons at Utah where she filled the same position.

“We are so excited to add someone of Jerise’s caliber to our staff,” Graves said. “Her energy is contagious and her recruiting and coaching resume speaks for itself, as she has experienced tremendous success at two different Power 5 programs. She is a great fit for our team and community and we cannot wait to get to work.”

According to Freeman, joining the Ducks is a dream come true.

“I am thrilled to embark on this new journey with Oregon women’s basketball,” said Freeman. “I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to learn from and work with Coach Graves and his amazing staff. Joining the vibrant Eugene community fills me with absolute joy, and I cannot wait to contribute to the program’s success.”

A native of Wichita, Kan., Freeman’s collegiate playing days began at Seward County Community College, where she helped her team to a combined 67-8 record over two seasons. Freeman finished her playing career at Pacific (Calif.), averaging 13.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game her senior season. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology with a focus in criminal justice from Pacific in 2007.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Oregon women’s basketball named one of biggest transfer portal winners in 2024

According to On3, Oregon women’s basketball is a huge winner in rebuilding the roster through the transfer portal.

Oregon Ducks women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves will be the first to say that the 2023-24 season didn’t go as planned.

The Ducks were 11-21 last season and won just two conference games. To add insult to injury, there was a mass defection of the roster into the transfer portal, leaving coach Graves to completely rebuild the roster.

But as it turns out, that may have been a blessing in disguise. Graves and his staff got down to work and searched the entire country, and then some, to fill out the roster with talent and possibly return the Ducks to past glory.

According to On3 (subscription required), the Ducks have been a huge winner where the portal is concerned. This is writer Talia Goodman’s assessment of Oregon’s off-season.

“The Oregon Ducks lost five players to the transfer portal this offseason, including two starters. But they were slowly but surely able to add a class of seven additions, including UNC star Deja Kelly, Texas sophomore Amina Muhammad and BYU’s Nani Falatea,” she said. “The high-major additions averaged a total of 51.4 points per game in their last full season, and Kelly was one of the biggest recruiting wins in the portal this season.”

Although the former Tar Heel will be a Duck for just one season, she’s the type of talent that could help a program turn things completely around very quickly.

“Kelly has one year of eligibility remaining and averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists last season at UNC. She’s made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in each of her four years as a Tar Heel,” Goodman wrote. “She was named to the first-team All-ACC for the third year in a row after last season and was named a WBCA All-America region finalist for the third year.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

North Carolina transfer guard Deja Kelly commits to Oregon out of transfer portal

Deja Kelly, a four-year guard at North Carolina, has committed to the Oregon Ducks after entering the transfer portal this offseason.

It’s been a rough few seasons for Kelly Graves and the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team. This year’s Ducks ended the season on a 14-game losing streak, won just 11 games all season, and for the second year in a row, Graves lost all of his top players to the transfer portal.

But at last, Graves and the Ducks have won a round in the transfer portal by picking up Deja Kelly, a fifth-year senior guard who earned All-ACC honors three times at North Carolina.

Kelly’s strong season with the Tar Heels, a season in which she averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, came to a disappointing end. For the second year in a row, UNC was knocked out in the second round of the NCAA tournament, this time in an 88-41 rout by the South Carolina Gamecocks, the eventual national champions.

After the damage the transfer portal has done to Oregon’s roster, Kelly is coming to a team in a desperate search for a best player, and with her college experience, Kelly leading the Ducks’ backcourt seems like a natural role for her to fill.

When she gets the ball in her hands, Kelly is always looking for ways to score, whether it’s with a drive to the rim or a jump shot she creates for herself. Her 16.3 points per game in 2023-24 is an impressive number, but she didn’t score with efficiency, shooting 34.6% from the field in 2023-24, which is, hopefully, something she can improve for her final season at Oregon.

Kelly isn’t the only transfer Graves has brought in this offseason, and she will fill the 15th and final roster spot on next year’s team. Another exciting transfer addition for Oregon is Alexis Whitfield, a 6’2″ forward who averaged 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game at Santa Barbara last season, and she is a potential pick-and-roll partner for Kelly.

Kelly Graves adds former BYU guard Nani Falatea to 2024-25 roster

Kelly Graves has added former BYU guard Nani Falatea to next season’s roster.

Oregon Ducks women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves is in the midst of rebuilding the roster and the latest addition is Nani Falatea.

As a sophomore in the 2022-23 season, she started all 32 games where she averaged 34.9 minutes per game and 15.3 points on 39.2 percent shooting. Falatea led the Cougars with 149 total assists, 4.5 assists per game, eld the second-highest three-point percentage at 36.7 percent and was BYU’s second-leading rebounder at 3.9 rebounds per game.

But as last season began, Falatea stepped away from the BYU program only after a few games. No reason was given. Now as a Duck, the 5-foot-9 guard from Salt Lake City has a chance to start and play the minutes she is used to.

New player poll from The Athletic paints Oregon’s Kelly Graves in a poor light

A mass exodus and player polls paint Oregon’s Kelly Graves in a poor light.

For the second year in a row, Oregon Ducks women’s basketball has been sent into a tailspin at the start of the offseason.

On Wednesday morning, three Ducks entered the transfer portal. Two of them were the team’s best players, leaving the roster full of unknowns.

The next step for Oregon will be trying to replace those players with transfer additions of its own, but that may be tough for head coach Kelly Graves. In a straw poll by the Athletic, players around the country were asked which coach they’d like to play for least, and Graves ranked second.

The champion of that list was, unsurprisingly, LSU’s Kim Mulkey, who is infamous for her harsh words and attitude toward players. Mulkey received 32 of the 48 votes, while Graves received seven votes. That seems small in comparison, but second place is second place, especially on a list like that.

Not long ago, Graves’ Ducks were at the top of the basketball world, due in part to his aptitude for talent acquisition. In 2020, Oregon was in the fast lane on the road to a national championship before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. On that team were several WNBA-caliber talents, none greater than Sabrina Ionescu, who was one of the best women’s college basketball players ever, and has gone on to greater heights as the point guard for the New York Liberty.

Three years later the narrative has flipped. Throughout the past season, there was a growing sentiment among fans that Graves’ chair should be heating up. That sentiment was fueled by the Ducks’ 14-game losing streak to end the season — the longest losing streak in program history.

The Ducks need a roster overhaul, but it will be hard to bring in elite players with the program led by one of the coaches players would like to play for the least. And if Graves can’t figure out how to bring in a talented team, he will be on the hot seat.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Oregon women’s basketball roster loses three big pieces to transfer portal

Grace VanSlooten, Chance Gray and Kennedy Basham all leave the Oregon programs and enter the transfer portal.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team didn’t have the best of seasons, and this might make things worse before they get better.

Head coach Kelly Graves just saw three of his top players leave and enter the transfer portal in one day as forwards Grace VanSlooten and Kennedy Basham as well as shooting guard Chance Gray have all decided to go play elsewhere.

This was just a few days after guard Priscilla Williams announced her intentions to enter the portal.

That leaves four huge holes Graves will have to fill before next season and no doubt he will be perusing the portal the best he can in this new world of college athletics.

VanSlooten came to Oregon as a five-star recruit from Toledo, Ohio where she averaged 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in her two seasons. She was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.

Gray was the No. 7 player in the nation when she committed to Oregon from Cincinnati. In her two years as a Duck, she averaged 12 point a game and was named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman team in 2022-23. She made 115 three-pointers last season.

Basham was one of the top post players to come out of high school when she committed to Oregon, but she suffered a knee injury that slowed her in her freshman season. In her two years, Basham played in 47 games, averaging 3.5 points and 2.8 rebounds a game.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Point guard and defensive specialist Elisa Mevius joins Ducks

Oregon women’s basketball gained a defensive specialist out of the MAAC with Siena’s Elisa Mevius joining Kelly Graves’ team.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team will be joining the  Big Ten Conference with a new point guard.

Elisa Mevius, who will be a junior for the 2024-25 season, has transferred to Oregon from Siena College in Loudonville, NY.  Siena is far from Oregon, but Mevius is used to playing far from home as she is from Rendsburg, Germany.

Oregon has had some good luck with players from Germany as the Sabally sisters, Satou and Nyara, hail from that country.

As for Mevius, she is a defensive specialist. She was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Mevius set the MAAC single-season record with 135 steals. She also averaged 12 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists a game for the Saints this past season.

Point guard Peyton Scott out for the season with knee injury

Oregon point guard Peyton Scott suffered a season-ending injury Monday night.

Oregon Ducks’ guard Peyton Scott will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season after suffering a knee injury in Monday’s game against Northern Arizona, head women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves announced Wednesday.

The Oregon point guard was chasing down a loose ball early in the season opener with the Lumberjacks. Her knee twisted as Scott went down to the floor where she was later helped off.

A native of Lynchburg, Ohio, Scott spent four seasons at Miami (Ohio), leaving as the program’s No. 4 all-time scorer with 1,871 points. She earned all-MAC recognition four times, including second-team honors in back-to-back seasons (2020-21, 2021-22). Scott is fourth in Redhawks’ history with 36 20-point scoring efforts and 676 career-made field goals.

She’ll likely be able to receive a medical redshirt and return to the Duck program for 2024-25.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]