Tag: Sedona Prince

Oregon’s Sedona Prince will skip her senior year after injuring her elbow and it’s a massive bummer

College basketball is going to miss Sedona Prince!

The college basketball world received some unfortunate injury news out of Eugene this afternoon.

The Oregon Ducks announced via social media that their very own Sedona Prince, one of the sport’s great players and great voices, will miss her upcoming senior season as she undergoes surgery to repair a torn ligament in her elbow.

Prince will exhaust her remaining college eligibility once this season concludes, so she’ll begin the shift toward preparing for a professional basketball career.

The Ducks’ women’s basketball program will honor Prince this Friday night at their home arena before their exhibition game against Carroll College.

 

Prince, in her two seasons as a Duck, became a very important part of the frontcourt — her interior presence being key.

And already having lost a lot of talent from last season’s team to the transfer portal, Oregon will now prepare to begin its season without one of the faces of its program.

The Ducks enter the season ranked as the No. 20 team in the Associated Press Preseason Poll and have +6000 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win this season’s national championship.

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BREAKING: Sedona Prince will undergo season-ending surgery, ending Oregon career

According to a release from the team, Prince “has chosen to leave school to focus on rehabilitation and recovery with elbow specialists.”

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team suffered a blow on Friday morning with the announcement that veteran center Sedona Prince would undergo season-ending surgery on her elbow that will end her career with the team.

Prince, a redshirt senior, entered the year with only one remaining year of eligibility at the college level, and the team says that she will exhaust that remaining year to focus on pursuing a professional career.

According to a release from the team, Prince “has chosen to leave school to focus on rehabilitation and recovery with elbow specialists.”

“I’m heartbroken,” stated Prince in a release from the team. “I truly felt that this was the year I could showcase my work ethic and skills on the court, but also my self-growth and leadership ability. I tried to push through the injury and be there for my team, but after extensive evaluation from the best doctors in the world and looking deep inside myself at my passions and goals, I know that I have to take care my elbow now in order to ensure long-term health and a sustained professional career.  As an elite athlete, current entrepreneur, and future wave maker I pride myself on creating and continuing to drive impact in everything I do. Not being able to play with my teammates this year is painful and tragic for me.  However, I’m so grateful for the entire community of Eugene for their continued support and inspiration to always push forward through adversity. After all, pressure is a privilege.”

Prince was in line for a big final season with the Ducks, being voted to the Pac-12 preseason all-conference team for the third consecutive season.

According to the team, Friday will mark Prince’s final appearance in a Duck uniform, as she will be honored prior to Oregon’s exhibition contest against Carroll College at 6 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.

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Kelly Graves’ Ducks ranked prominently in ‘way-too-early Top-25’ despite flurry of transfers

Despite the roster upheaval this offseason, the Ducks still project to be a top-25 team next season.

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It’s been a bit of an eventful offseason so far for Kelly Graves and Oregon Ducks’ women’s basketball team, with a total of five players departing from the program, four of whom played a prominent role in 2021-22.

It was expected that Nyara Sabally was going to declare for the WNBA draft after the season, but on the same day that she announced her decision, guards Maddie Scherr and Sydney Parrish announced their intent to transfer, as did forward Kylee Watson. Just a few days ago, former 5-star recruit Taylor Bigby, who was ranked as the No. 24 player in the 2021 recruiting class, also entered the transfer portal.

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Fortunately for Graves, the Ducks have one of the top recruiting classes in the nation coming in this offseason, and a few of their core players like Te-Hina Paopao, Sedona Prince, and Endyia Rogers will be sticking around. It is because of those core facts that Oregon was still ranked prominently in ESPN’s ‘way-too-early Top-25’ for next season, coming in at No. 18 in the nation.

Another big season of change is already upon the Ducks, with Kylee Watson, Maddie Scherr and Sydney Parrish deciding to enter the transfer portal. That leaves one player, Te-Hina Paopao, from the highly regarded recruiting class of 2020. But she may have been the best of the group, and a fully healthy season from her, backcourtmate Endyia Rogers and post Sedona Prince should be enough for Oregon to make a run at a top-three spot in the Pac-12. Another top recruiting class is also on the way.

After the flurry of post-season transfers, Graves said that the departures are not because of any “stink” within the program, but rather the way that things go in college sports these days, with players looking for the best place to get playing time on the court. As we enter another season, look for the Ducks to try to find a cohesive unit of players who want to find a role and best help the team find success down the stretch.

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Offseason Outlook: A top-ranked recruiting class has Kelly Graves’ squad looking at a bright future

The 2022 season didn’t end how they planned, but Kelly Graves and the Ducks have reasons for optimism going into the offseason.

On Saturday afternoon, the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team saw their 2021-22 season come to the end in the form of an upset loss to 12-seeded Belmont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It was a thrilling game — one that came down to the final possession in double overtime — but a disappointing result for a team that had aspirations of making it to the second weekend of the tournament and potentially running further into the madness of March.

Nonetheless, Oregon’s season came to an end, and it now gives us a chance to look back on the major takeaways, and take a peak at the coming months, and where we expect them to be next season. Let’s start with what Graves said after the game about the season as a whole:

Oregon Ducks vs. Belmont Bruins: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for NCAA first round matchup

It’s tournament time, and the Oregon Ducks get things started on Saturday against Belmont. Here’s how to watch the matchup.

Kelly Graves has once again led his Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team into the NCAA tournament and this time, they’ll be going to a historical site.

The No. 5 Ducks will travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to play No. 12 seed Belmont in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Should Oregon win, it will play either No. 4 seed and host Tennessee or No. 13 seed Buffalo.

Both games will be played on Pat Summitt Court, a building that saw countless SEC titles and numerous national championships when the legendary coach led the Lady Vols.

Oregon (22-11) will be appearing in its fifth straight NCAA tournament. Belmont is also a regular of March Madness, making its sixth appearance in seven seasons. The Bruins (22-7) are an automatic qualifier after defeating Tennessee Tech for the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

Everything we know following Oregon’s upset loss to Utah in conference semifinals

A bad third quarter was enough to see the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team be upset by Utah 80-73.

Oregon is going to look at the box score and see 23-8 in the third quarter and point to that as to what caused them to lose this game.

Utah outscored the Ducks 48-36 in the second half and that was enough to upset the No. 2 seeded Oregon team 80-73. The Utes advance to the conference finals against Stanford while the Ducks return home to await their NCAA tourney fate.

Oregon could very well host the first two rounds of the Big Dance if it is a No. 4 seed in a region. But right now, the Ducks are on the bubble for hosting.

Either way, they’re in the NCAA tournament, but this loss to Utah is going to sting for a while. Oregon was up 66-65 with 3:45 left, but Utah outscored the Ducks 15-7 the rest of the way.

Everything we know following Oregon’s 63-60 quarterfinal win over UCLA

The Ducks got a good dose of tournament action as UCLA came to play, but Oregon survives and advances with a 63-60 win.

Welcome to the Pac-12 tournament.

In a game that was vastly different from the last time these two teams played, Oregon outlasted a pesky UCLA team in a 63-60 win over the Bruins. The Ducks now advance to the conference semi-finals to face either Washington State or Utah.

Nyara Sabally and Sedona Prince truly played as the twin towers and just wore down the Bruin defense. Sabally had 15 points and 15 rebounds while her fellow post player, Prince, added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

But it was the defensive stand with six seconds left and two free throws from Sabally that clinched the game. UCLA’s Jaelynn Penn had a good look from three-point range at the buzzer to try to send the game into overtime, but her shot was short.

Everything we know following Oregon’s 73-65 win at Utah

Oregon secured the No. 2 seed of the Pac-12 tournament with a 73-65 win over Utah.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball suffered a very disappointing loss in double overtime this past Wednesday at Colorado.

But the Ducks rebounded nicely this afternoon at Utah and defeated the Utes 73-65 in the regular-season finale. Oregon finished 19-10 overall and 11-6 in conference action.

Now Oregon will focus on the Pac-12 tournament next week in Las Vegas where it will be the No. 2 seed and will receive a first-round bye.

Sydney Parrish led the way with 18 points with four three-pointers. She was one of five Ducks to score in double figures. Defensively, however, Oregon couldn’t solve Jenna Johnson, who led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-17 from the field.

Sedona Prince announces return to Oregon for senior season with Ducks

Sedona Prince is looking to run it back one more time with the Ducks. Oregon’s 6-foot-7 shooter announced that she will return for the 2022-23 season.

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We are still in the thick of the 2021-22 college basketball season, and the Oregon Ducks look primed and ready to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. However, one of the best players on Oregon’s roster made the announcement this week that she will be returning to Eugene for the 2022-23 season.

Sedona Prince is looking to run it back.

After a frustrating start to the season, Prince has found a bit of an offensive rhythm and developed a dangerous mid-range game that opens up her effectiveness on that side of the ball. Standing at 6-foot-7, Prince is already a force in the paint on defense, and she’s been having a nice year for the Ducks in a new 6-man role coming off the bench and averaging 9 points and 4 rebounds.

As far as Kelly Graves teams go, the Ducks could be stacked next season, with the return of Prince and the expected return of Nyara Sabally. Oregon will also have Te-Hina Paopao back for more, as well as 5-star recruits Grace Vanslooten and Chance Gray joining the team.

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Everything we know following Oregon’s 83-30 smashing of WSU

Oregon turned in its most complete game of the season with an 83-30 rout over WSU.

Oregon received its wake-up call for some early morning coffee and Washington State did not.

In the noon start time, the Ducks were fully awake and ready to go as Oregon jumped on the Cougars and never let up in an 83-30 rout in the Palouse. It was the biggest margin of victory over Washington State in the series history.

The Ducks shot the light out, hitting 33-of-65 from the floor for 51 percent. Washington State was quite the opposite with the Cougars missing their first 14 shots and ending up shooting just 11-of-63 for 17.5 percent.

It’s nice to see the Ducks’ offensive abilities come back. Oregon had trouble scoring down in the desert as both Arizona schools held it to under 50 points. The Ducks had over 50 midway through the third quarter against the Cougars.

Now Oregon will prepare to face its rival Oregon State for two straight games. Friday’s contest up in Corvallis and Sunday’s in Matthew Knight Arena.