Ducks Open Season Monday with Northwestern

EUGENE, Ore. — The 2022-23 Oregon women's basketball season officially gets underway Monday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m., as the Ducks host Northwestern out of the Big Ten at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks look to extend their winning streak in season openers to 10 straight, dating back to 2013-14, while head coach Kelly Graves seeks to be a perfect 9-0 in openers at the helm of the Ducks.

Northwestern marks the first Power 5 opponent that the Ducks will face in a season opener since taking on North Carolina to kick off the 2015-16 season. The Wildcats are the first Power 5 squad to visit Matthew Knight Arena to begin a campaign since Illinois in 1994-95.

The Ducks and Wildcats have split the only two previous meetings, the last a 68-63 Oregon victory on Dec. 1, 1991. The teams were slated to play last season in Evanston, but was cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests within NU's program.

GAME #1
No. 20 Oregon (0-0) vs. Northwestern (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 7 | 3 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Oregon Live Stream
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Terry Jonz | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

STAYING POWER
Oregon opens the 2022-23 season ranked in the preseason AP top-25 poll for the sixth straight season, and is one of just seven programs to be ranked in the AP's top 20 in each of the last six season-opening polls - an exclusive group that includes Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, South Carolina, Stanford and UConn.

Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Oregon has been ranked in 85 of 97 AP poll releases, reaching a ranking as high as No. 9 a season ago.

» The Ducks were ranked in the top 10 for 64 straight polls before dropping to No. 11 on Jan. 4, 2021.
» Oregon is one of seven teams to open the season in the top 20 of the preseason AP poll (Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, South Carolina, Stanford, UConn).
» Oregon has picked up 42 wins over top-25 teams under Kelly Graves, including 15 against top-10 foes and six against teams ranked in the top five.

PROTECTING HOME COURT
Matthew Knight Arena has proved to be one of the top home-court advantages in the country during non-conference play, as the Ducks begin 2022-23 having won 48 of their last 49 home games against non-league opponents. UO owned a 44-game home non-conference winning streak that began Dec. 29, 2014, a streak that was snapped with a 64-57 setback to UC Davis on Dec. 1, 2021. In that same span, the Ducks have won nine times against Power 5 teams and four times in the NCAA Tournament.

» Oregon is 52-3 at home in non-conference play under head coach Kelly Graves, with two of the three losses coming in his first year at the helm of the program in 2014-15.
» The Ducks have lost just 11 times against non-Pac-12 teams at MKA, owning a 77-11 record all-time.

PLAYING THE BEST
Oregon will once again take on one of the toughest schedules in the country, with potentially seven games against teams ranked in the preseason AP top 25. The Ducks could potentially play 12 games against teams that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament, with possible matchups against tournament squads coming at the Phil Knight Invitational (Iowa State) and San Diego Invitational (Ohio State). Additionally, Oregon will have three games WNIT teams, with two coming against Oregon State and another against Arkansas while at the San Diego Invitational.

The Ducks' schedule features matchups with No. 2 Stanford (twice) No. 12 North Carolina and No. 19 Arizona (twice). The Cyclones, who UO could face at the Phil Knight Invitational is ranked eighth while Ohio State, in the field at the San Diego Invitational, is the preseason No. 14 team. The Cardinal reached the Final Four a season ago while Iowa State and North Carolina both reached the Sweet Sixteen.

The Ducks will face some early-season tests in non-conference action, beginning with Northwestern out of the Big Ten. Monday's game will mark the first time UO has opened its season with a Power 5 opponent since 2015-16 when the Ducks defeated 22nd-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill 79-77.

» Could potentially play three of last year's Sweet Sixteen teams (Iowa State, North Carolina, Stanford).
» 10 games against 2022 NCAA Tournament teams, with the potential of playing two more at the Phil Knight Invitational (Iowa State) and San Diego Invitational (Ohio State).
» Of Oregon's 13 non-conference matchups, four (possibly five) will be against Power 5 foes.

TUNE UP
In its only exhibition contest of the preseason, Oregon took care of Carroll College 72-41 on Oct. 28.

The Ducks were led by 12 points from a pair of freshmen in Jennah Isai and Grace VanSlooten. Isai drained 4-of-6 field-goal attempts while VanSlooten was 6-for-12 from the field. VanSlooten added a team-high nine rebounds.

Senior Endyia Rogers turned in 11 points while backcourt teammate Te-Hina Paopao put up 10 to round out four players in double figures.

Defensively, UO limited the Saints to 27.3 percent from the field and 3-for-14 from three (21.4%) while forcing 17 turnovers. Oregon held a 20-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

RETURN AISLE
Oregon brings back five letterwinners and two starters from last season's tournament team, while it loses eight letterwinners and three starters. Returns include Taylor Hosendove, Phillpina Kyei, Ahlsie Hurst Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers. Paopao and Rogers headline the group of returners, as each made 22 starts last season and were voted onto the Pac-12's preseason all-conference team.

PLAYMAKING PAOPAO
Junior guard Te-Hina Paopao has raked in the preseason honors ahead of the 2022-23 season. Friday, she was added to the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's Watch List, given annually to the nation's top female collegiate player.

Earlier in the preseason, Paopao was added to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list (nation's top point guard) while also being voted to the Pac-12's preseason team - both for the second straight season. The Oceanside, Calif., native has been an all-conference selection in each of her first two seasons in Eugene, and has career averages of 12.0 points per game, 3.6 rebounds a game and 3.8 assists per game.

RODGER THAT
Endyia Rogers turned in an all-conference campaign in her first season as a Duck after spending two years at league-rival USC. Rogers averaged 14.3 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per game.

Rogers is the Ducks' leading returning scorer and ranks second in the Pac-12 among active scorers with 1,075 career points. Additionally, she is third among active players in the league in career assists (259) and fourth in career made three-point field goals (112).

AMONG ACTIVE PLAYERS IN THE PAC-12
» Second in career points (1,075)
» Third in career assists (259)
» Fourth in career 3-point field goals made (112)

FAB FRESHMEN
Oregon head coach Kelly Graves signed the nation's No. 2 recruiting class, including four freshmen all ranked in ESPNW's top 60.

The quartet includes forward Kennedy Basham, guard Chance Gray, guard Jennah Isai, and forward Grace VanSlooten. Gray was tabbed as the seventh-best incoming freshman while VanSlooten (No. 13), Isai (No. 36) and Basham (No. 59) all cracked the top 60. Basham

NATION'S NO. 2 RECRUITING CLASS (ESPNW)
» G Chance Gray (No. 7)
» F Grace VanSlooten (No. 13)
» G Jennah Isai (No. 36)
» F Kennedy Basham (No. 59)

VETERAN ADDITION
Oregon welcomed in a veteran addition and added a former Pac-12 rival in fifth-year senior guard Taya Hanson, who transferred to UO after spending four seasons at Arizona State.

Hanson, a native of British Columbia, Canada, started all 50 games for the Sun Devils the past two seasons, averaging 10.4 points a contest in that span. She drained 95 three-pointers in the last two seasons and her 144 career made threes ranks third among active players in the Pac-12.

Hanson, alongside teammate Phillipina Kyei, represented Team Canada's National Junior Team at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup this past fall. The Duck duo led Canada to a fourth-place finish in the event, which was held in Australia from Sept. 22 to Oct. 1.

YEAR IN REVIEW
Oregon is coming off its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid after a 20-12 record (11-6 Pac-12), earning a No. 5 seed in the Wichita Region. The postseason appearance marked the Ducks' 17th in program history and fifth under Graves.

For fifth time in the last six seasons, Oregon reached the 20-win mark while finishing in the top two of the conference standings for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

University of Oregon Athletics

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