Tag: Oregon Ducks Women’s Basketball

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]

Report: Oregon guard Priscilla Williams enters transfer portal

Oregon guard Priscilla Williams will reportedly enter the transfer portal and leave the Ducks.

It’s the first of what could be many.

Oregon women’s basketball had a very down year and a roster turnover is expected as the first of many dominoes fell as 247Sports reporter Erik Skopil says Duck point guard Priscilla Williams will enter the transfer portal and leave Eugene.

Williams was a Duck for just one season after transferring to Oregon from South Florida. The redshirt sophomore averaged just 2.6 points a game and just over 13 minutes a game.

She started her career at Syracuse where she averaged almost 10 points a game as a freshman, but then moved on to South Florida where she battled injuries and only appeared in a handful of games.

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.

WBB Recap: Beavers deny Oregon its upset bid with key plays late

Oregon women’s basketball had a chance to shock the world with an upset over OSU, but the defense broke down late in the 64-60 loss.

It’s a game that was there for the taking.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team is going to look at film on this game and kick themselves as they let a huge upset over No. 18 Oregon State slip away. But it was the Beavers that escaped Matthew Knight Arena with a 64-60 win in front of 8,602 fans.

Not a whole lot has gone right for the Ducks this season, but they found themselves down just one at 54-53 with 4:30 left in the contest. But the Beavers took advantage of some huge holes in Oregon’s 2-3 zone to go on an 8-2 run in two minutes to pull away.

Phillipina Kyei led the Ducks with 16 points and 18 rebounds, while Grace VanSlooten added 14 points. Chance Gray poured in 15 points on 6-of-15 from the field.

Timea Gardiner had a career-high 19 points for the Beavers with Raegan Beers adding 14 and Talia Von Oelhoffen scoring 10 points. But it was Lily Hansford’s two long-range bombs on consecutive possessions late in the game that was too much for the Ducks to overcome.

Hansford shoots over 50 percent from the three-point line and somehow she was the one left open in the zone and the left-hander knocked down the big shots.

Oregon State threatened to run the Ducks out of the building early as they took a 26-15 lead in the second quarter. Oregon’s offense wasn’t hitting on any cylinders and the Beavers were finding their way. But a 10-0 Duck run towards the halftime break brought them back into the contest and it was just 30-25 OSU after 20 minutes of action.

With the loss, the Ducks now have a losing overall record at 11-12. Oregon State continues its hot play as it improves to 18-3 overall and 7-3 in Pac-12 play.

It’s not going to get any easier for the Ducks as they now travel to the Mountain schools with No. 6 Colorado next on the docket on Friday.

WBB Recap: Ducks let an upset over Utah slip through their fingers

Oregon saw its eight-point halftime lead evaporate and No. 16 Utah avoided an upset in Eugene 58-48.

Utah came into tonight’s game against Oregon averaging 86 points a game and it’s a big reason why the Utes are No. 16 in the nation.

When it was halftime, Utah had 21 and the Ducks had a huge upset within their grasp.

But by the time the third quarter ended, Oregon’s 29-21 halftime lead was completely erased as the Utes outscored the Ducks 22-7 and held a 43-36 lead.

Oregon pulled to within three in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump and Utah escaped with a 58-48 win.

This was a victory not only did this Duck team need, but the program as a whole and unfortunately they couldn’t muster enough offense. Oregon is now 11-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play with No. 3 Colorado next.

The loss wasted a great game from Phillipina Kyei who led all scorers with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Chance Gray added 18 points, but no other Duck could approach double figures.

In the second half, the Utes broke down the Ducks 2-3 zone and found open 12-foot jumpers, mostly from Alissa Pili. She scored all 16 of her points after halftime as the Ducks never adjusted to her becoming hot from the field.

The Utes were just 4-of-20 from three-point land in the first half, but in the second half, the Utes were 4-of-10, including three straight which brought them back in the game during that big third quarter.

Oregon doesn’t have much time to get over the defeat as No. 3 Colorado looms on Sunday. The Buffaloes won’t come into Matthew Knight Arena happy campers as they are coming off an upset loss to the Beavers in Corvallis.

WBB Recap: Slow start costs Oregon a possible upset on The Farm

After falling down 20-0, the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team plays No. 8 Stanford almost even on the road.

If only they could just erase those first six minutes.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team fell down 20-0 to No. 8 Stanford on the road and although they made a valiant effort the rest of the way, the Cardinal came away with an 88-63 win.

It was a historic victory for Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer as she collected win No. 1,202, which ties her with former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski for all-time wins in college basketball.

For Oregon, however, it was just another loss down on The Farm, a place the Ducks have won just three times in their history. They fell to 11-8 overall and 2-4 in Pac-12 play.

The game was over in that initial 20-0 run, but then Stanford’s All-American Cameron Brink injured her knee and didn’t come back rest on the night. With Stanford’s post player out, the Ducks went on a 15-2 run and cut that deficit in half at the end of the first quarter at 25-15.

Oregon eventually cut the lead to eight, but could never make a further dent in the deficit. The Ducks could have easily thrown in the towel, but they kept on playing and gained confidence which will hopefully carry over to the next game at California on Sunday.

Chance Gray led the Ducks with 19 points on 6-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point land. Phillipina Kyei was the only other Duck in double figures with 14 points.

The Ducks will next battle the Bears on Sunday for a noon tip-off.

WBB Recap: Ducks complete weekend sweep with close win over Arizona

Despite 27 turnovers, the Oregon women’s basketball was able to hold off Arizona 70-68 for their second straight conference win.

Just 48 hours earlier, the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team’s season was on life support. But after some home cooking and a weekend sweep over the Arizona schools, the Ducks have plenty of life left.

Oregon completed the weekend sweep with a 70-68 win over Arizona to move to 11-7 overall and 2-3 in conference action. The Wildcats suffered a tough weekend in the Willamette Valley as they fell to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in league play. The two-point loss in Eugene came after a double-overtime loss in Corvallis to the Beavers.

Grace VanSlooten led Oregon with 19 points, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line. The Ducks were 19-of-28 from the charity stripe to Arizona’s 5-of-10.

Chance Gray and Phillipina Kyei each scored 13 points for the Ducks. The Wildcats were led by Jada Williams’ career-high 23 points.

It was a back-and-forth final quarter with Oregon leading throughout, but it was two threes from Sammie Wagner that gave the Ducks some breathing room.

Despite that, the Wildcats still had a shot at the buzzer for the win, but Skylar Jones’ desperation 35-footer was off the mark and the Ducks held on.

It wasn’t exactly a picture-perfect game. Both teams turned the ball over at inordinate amounts. Oregon had 27 turnovers, while Arizona was charged with 15 miscues.

Unfortunately, not many were able to watch this close affair as the game was not available for fans to attend due to the icy conditions in the Eugene-Springfield area. Only a few family and friends of the two teams were able to witness the contest in person.

Now the Ducks will go to No. 8 Stanford and California next week, starting with the Cardinal Friday, Jan. 19 on the Pac-12 Network.

WBB Recap: Ducks find the win column with victory over ASU

WBB Recap: Ducks find the win column with victory over ASU

It had been a long three weeks between wins for the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team and all they needed was a little home cooking.

Playing a team 1-20 in their last 21 conference games helped too.

The Ducks used a big second half and defeated Arizona State 65-53 to capture their first Pac-12 victory. Oregon is now 10-7 overall and 1-3 in league action. The Sun Devils are 8-8 and 0-4 in Pac-12 play.

It was 33-29 Ducks at halftime, but then Oregon outscored ASU 16-6 in the third quarter and cruised in the fourth.

Chance Gray led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 from the field, including the team’s only two three-pointers on the night. Grace VanSlooten added 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Phillipina Kyei put up her 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Arizona State was led by Journey Thompson’s 12 points.

The bigger Duck team pounded the Sun Devils on the glass to the tune of a 48-27 advantage which included 19 boards on the offensive end and 19 second-chance points.

Now the Ducks will try to build upon this win as they host Arizona Sunday, Jan. 14 for a 12 pm tip.

WBB Recap: Trojans make the plays down the stretch to down Ducks

The Oregon women’s basketball team came close to upsetting No. 9 USC, but the Trojans made plays down the stretch to win.

One team was used to playing some close games down the stretch and one team wasn’t.

Unfortunately, that team that wasn’t used to a close game was the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team as the Ducks went down to No. 9 USC 68-54.

The final score doesn’t indicate how close this game actually was. Oregon was within one at 50-49 with just nine minutes remaining. But then the Trojans locked down on defense and outscored the Ducks 18-5 the rest of the way.

Hopefully, the Ducks (9-7, 0-3) can build upon this effort, which was significantly better than the 75-49 loss they suffered at the hands of UCLA two nights earlier.

Oregon’s defense is good enough to win in this conference, but it’s the lack of consistent offense that is killing this team right now. Having Chance Gray back in the lineup was a huge plus against USC. She missed the game with the Bruins due to being in the concussion protocol. But Gray was able to 11 points and just having her as a threat to score from the outside helps.

Grace VanSlooten led all scorers with 18 points and Sofia Bell also added 11.

Defensively, the Ducks did a nice job on Trojans’ sensational freshman JuJu Watkins. She was held to 17 points, but that’s 10 points below her average.

The Ducks will now attempt for their first Pac-12 victory when they host Arizona State Friday, Jan. 12 at Matthew Knight Arena.

WBB Recap: Ducks collapse in second half against the Beavers

Oregon State crushes Oregon in the second half to take Round 1 of the Civil War in Corvallis.

The Oregon women’s basketball team had the Beavers on the ropes in Corvallis, but let Oregon State off the hook due to poor offensive execution.

The Ducks could muster up just 18 points in the second half, while Oregon State got hot and the Beavers took Round 1 of the Civil War 62-41.

Grace VanSlooten led the Ducks with 15 points and Phillippina Kyei added six points and 16 rebounds.

But those efforts weren’t nearly enough against a tenacious Beaver team that made several halftime adjustments after going down 23-15 at halftime.

A part of those adjustments weren’t very complicated. Oregon State began to hit shots, especially its three-pointers. After not hitting one trey in the first half, the Beavers torched the Ducks from the outside by going 5-of-10 from the outside in the second half and 18-of-30 from the field to outscore the Ducks 47-18 after the halftime break.

Raegan Beers had a career night by putting up 24 points and 17 rebounds.

Oregon State was quicker, bigger and quite frankly, tougher than Oregon and that showed up in a big way in the second half. The Ducks just couldn’t get any rhythm offensively and struggled to find open shots.

Oregon fell to 9-5 overall, while the Beavers remained undefeated at 12-0. The Ducks will now go down to Los Angeles to face two Top 10 teams in USC and UCLA.