Notes - No. 3 Ducks Head South for Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 3 ranked Oregon women's basketball team heads to the Bay Area this weekend for a pair of games at the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic.

The Ducks will meet UC Riverside at noon on Friday before playing the host Gaels at 2 PM on Saturday.

#3 OREGON DUCKS (4-0)
PPG: 95.0 | FG%: 53.5 | 3FG%: 42.0 | FT%: 84.4
Notes: The Ducks are coming off the winningest season in school history, with a program-best 33-5 record. Oregon won both the Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles last year and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second straight season. The Ducks ranked seventh in the NCAA in scoring last year (82.4 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (50.0), third in three-point percentage (40.1) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52-to-1).

UC RIVERSIDE HIGHLANDERS (2-3)
PPG: 58.8 | FG%: 36.2 | 3FG%: 30.4 | FT%: 59.0
Series: Tied, 1-1 | Last: W, 95-81 (12/15/16)
Notes: UCR has played a pair of power 5 teams, falling 73-55 to USC and 76-51 to Oklahoma State.

SAINT MARY'S GAELS (2-1)
PPG: 72.0 | FG%: 50.0 | 3FG%: 33.3 | FT%: 56.5
Series: UO leads, 6-2 | Last: L, 78-69 (11/11/12)
Notes: Forward Sydney Raggio leads the Gaels with 13.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg. SMC has made just 17 threes.

KEY STORYLINES
- Junior Sabrina Ionescu has two triple-doubles and two double-doubles through UO's first four games this season.
- All five of Oregon's starters are averaging 12+ points per game this year, led by Ruthy Hebard's 18.3 ppg.
- The Ducks have knocked down 92 free throws this year, the most in the NCAA, on 109 attempts (84.4%).
- Oregon was picked to win the Pac-12 this season in the league's coaches poll for the first time in program history.
- Ionescu is one of five AP preseason All-Americans (Asia Durr, Katie Lou Samuelson, Arike Ogunbowale, Kalani Brown)
- Oregon returns four starters off last year's Elite Eight team, with all four averaging 10+ points per game last season.
- UO features both the national point guard of the year (Ionescu) and the national power forward of the year (Hebard).

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV - None
Stream - For SMC game only, WatchStadium.com
Radio - Catch the UC Riverside game on Friday on 95.3 FM (Eugene), 1640 AM (Portland) & TuneIn. Find the Saint Mary's game on Saturday on 590 AM (Eugene), 1640 AM (Portland) and on TuneIn. Search for "Oregon IMG" in the TuneIn app or online at TuneIn.com.

DUCKS IN THE POLLS
The Ducks are ranked No. 3 in the AP poll for the third straight week. It's the highest ranking in program history. UO finished the 2017-18 season ranked No. 5 in the Coaches Postseason Poll.

UC RIVERSIDE HISTORY
- UO and the Highlanders have met twice all-time.
- UC Riverside won the first meeting, 74-69, during the 2010-11 season in Eugene.
- The Ducks got revenge with a 95-81 win on Dec. 15, 2015 in Eugene. Then-freshman Maite Cazorla had 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

SAINT MARY'S HISTORY
- The Ducks and Gaels have played eight games all-time, with Saint Mary's winning the last two meetings.
- SMC won, 78-69 and 72-62, in Eugene in 2011 and 2012.
- The last time the teams played in Moraga was on Dec. 19, 2010, with UO winning 100-71.
- The teams met once in the postseason, with Oregon defeated Saint Mary's, 72-61, in the WNIT on March 13, 2002.

KELLY GRAVES AT SAINT MARY'S
- Kelly Graves got his first head coaching job at Saint Mary's for the 1997-98 season.
- Graves, who was an assistant at Portland before taking over in Moraga, led SMC to a 20-9 record in his first campaign, including wins vs. Cal and UCLA.
- Graves took the Gaels to the NCAA Tournament in his second season after winning the WCC Tournament title. SMC lost to Notre Dame, 61-57, in the first round.
- In Graves' third and final season at Saint Mary's, the Gaels went 20-10 and 11-3 in WCC play but were upset by Portland in the first round of the WCC Tournament and the Gaels went on to the WNIT.
- Graves went 36-7 at McKeon Pavilion during his three seasons as Saint Mary's head coach.
- Saint Mary's twice hosted the Thanksgiving Classic during Graves' tenure. The Gaels defeated Colgate and Morgan State in 1998-99 and knocked off UNC Greensboro the following year before falling to LSU in overtime, 68-65, in the second game.

SYRACUSE SHOCKER
The No. 3 ranked Ducks pulled off a thrilling comeback win over No. 18 Syracuse on Nov. 10 at Matthew Knight Arena. Down six points with just over two minutes left to play, the Ducks hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers (two by Sabrina Ionescu and one from Erin Boley) to take a 70-67 lead. Oregon hit its free throws down the stretch to hold on for a 75-73 win over the Orange.

NCAA STAT RANKINGS
- Oregon leads the NCAA with 92 made free throws this season. The Ducks are shooting 84.4 percent at the line, good for ninth in the country.
- The Ducks rank third in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 95.0 points per game. UO has scored 100+ points twice this season (Alaska & Buffalo).
- Oregon ranks seventh in the NCAA in field goal percentage (53.5) and 18th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (42.0).