Ducks Continue Road Swing in Bay Area

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team continues a three-game road trip Friday, as the Ducks travel to California for a 7 p.m. PT start at Haas Pavilion in Berkley, Calif.

The Ducks look to win their eighth straight against Cal and snap a two-game skid overall after suffering a 68-65 loss at Oregon State last Friday. Against the Beavers, freshman Chance Gray paced the Ducks with 18 points behind a career-best six 3-pointers.

Friday's contest will mark the only meeting in the regular season between Oregon and Cal. UO leads the all-time series 45-33 and has won five straight on the road.

GAME #20
RV Oregon (13-6, 4-4) at California (10-9, 1-7)
Friday, Jan. 27 | 7 p.m. PT | Haas Pavilion (Berkley, Calif.)
TV: Pac-12 Oregon
Play-by-play: Greg Mescall | Analyst: Maylana Douglas
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Terry Jonz
Listen Online | Live Stats

AT A GLANCE
Oregon continues a three-game road trip with a pair of games in the Bay Area, first taking on California Friday at 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Oregon. Friday's tilt will be the only meeting between the Ducks and Bears during the regular season.

The Ducks have lost consecutive games for just the second time this season after a 68-65 setback against Oregon State last Friday.

Oregon has won seven straight against Cal, including five straight in Berkley. UO leads the all-time series 45-33. The Ducks fell out of the Associated Press top-25 poll for the first time this season following UO's 68-65 loss to Oregon State last Friday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Ducks have lost consecutive games for just the second time this season after a 68-65 setback against Oregon State last Friday. UO and OSU split the regular-season series for the third straight year.

OSU outscored Oregon 46-16 in the paint, with the minus-30 point differential being UO's largest of the season. The Ducks made 12 3-pointers to the Beavers' four, with six coming in the final quarter.

Chance Gray led the offense with 18 points while hitting a career-high six threes, and has drained 11 3-pointers over her last two games. Gray was joined in double figures by Taya Hanson (14), Endyia Rogers (12) and Te-Hina Paopao (11).

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA
California enters Friday night's contest on a five-game losing streak, dropping seven of its last nine games overall. A week ago, the Bears were swept at home by No. 24 Colorado (73-66) and No. 8 Utah (87-62). Cal is 7-5 at home and 1-4 at Haas Pavilion in Pac-12 play.

The Bears' offense averages 70.2 points per game, the ninth-highest average in the conference, while shooting 42.9 percent from the field (eighth in the Pac-12). Cal ranks fourth in the league in 3-point shooting at 35.1 percent, led by Leilani McIntosh who is fourth in the Pac-12 at 45.3 percent. As a team, Cal is 11th in the conference in rebounding (37.4) and 10th in rebounding margin (plus-2.3).

McIntosh (10.4 PPG) is one of four Golden Bears averaging double-digit points. Jayda Curry leads Cal at 14.2 points a game, followed by Kemery Martin at 10.9. Evelien Lutje Schipholt paces the team in rebounds, averaging 5.6 a game.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday's matchup will be the season's only meeting between Oregon and California. The Ducks hold a 45-33 lead in the all-time series, going back to 1979. UO has won seven straight, and nine of the last 11, against Cal, including five straight in Berkeley.

Oregon is 19-18 on the road against the Bears and won last season's matchup in Berkley 88-53. In that game, Te-Hina Paopao scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting (4-for-5 3PT) with four assists and two rebounds. The Ducks finished the season series sweep at Matthew Knight Arena with a 52-47 victory on Feb. 18. Head coach Kelly Graves is 10-3 against Cal in his Oregon career.

THE "O" STANDS FOR OFFENSE
Oregon's 110.7 offensive efficiency rating (points per 100 possessions) is the ninth-highest mark in the country and third-best in the Pac-12 behind only Utah (113.6) and Stanford (112.8). The Ducks' 80.0 points per game rank as the 16th-best mark in the country and second-highest in the conference. UO's 17-point scoring margin is the third-best rate in the Pac-12 and 20th in the nation while the team's 51.9 effective field goal percentage ranks third in the league.

UO has scored at least 75 points in 12 of 19 outings while reaching the 90-point mark four times. Under ninth-year head coach Kelly Graves, the Ducks are 52-0 when scoring at least 90 points. This season, Oregon is 4-0 when reaching the 90-point plateau, surpassing the total number of 90-point efforts during the 2021-22 and 2020-21 seasons (three times each). At Matthew Knight Arena this season, the Ducks are averaging 82.0 points per game while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from behind the arc. In total, Oregon gets a Pac-12 high 32.8 percent of its points from 3-pointers.

TREY GRAY
Oregon freshman Chance Gray, after a career-high 22 points and five made 3-pointers against Washington State on Jan. 15, was tabbed Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Gray's honor was the first of her career and the Ducks' sixth weekly award this season to lead the conference (most awards since collecting six in the 2017-18 season). It is the third time two different Ducks have been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and first since the 2019-20 season (Jaz Shelley, Holly Winterburn).

Gray followed up her career-high point total by draining 6-of-12 3-point attempts at Oregon State last Friday - the most made threes by any freshman in the Pac-12 this season. Her six threes are tied for the fourth-most by a Duck freshman in program history and most by since Shelley's freshman record of 10 set on Dec. 16, 2019. Gray leads Pac-12 freshmen with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game.

Over her last two games, Gray has connected on 11 3-pointers (30.6 percent of her season total of 36 made threes). Additionally, Gray has connected on 22 straight free throw attempts dating back to Nov. 14 at Southern - a span of 17 games - and leads the team at 93.5 percent from the line.

NUGGETS AND TRENDS
This season, Oregon averages just 11.0 turnovers per game in victories while turning the ball over 15.0 times per game over six losses. When the Ducks have 15 or more turnovers, they are 2-4 while all four of UO's six losses have come to teams ranked in the nation's top 15.

In its 13 victories, Oregon is shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range while averaging 9.0 3-point field goals. Defensively, the Ducks are holding teams to 26.7 percent and 5.5 made 3-pointers. In defeats, the Ducks are shooting just 33.3 percent from behind the arc and their average made 3-pointers drops to 8.2 while opponents are making 8.2 3-pointers a game at a 40.5 percent clip.

Through the season's first 10 games, UO's perimeter defense suppressed opponents to just 24.0 percent from 3-point range (4.8 made 3-pointers per game). In the next six-game span, UO allowing teams to shoot a combined 43.4 3-point percent on 9.8 3-pointers. Those numbers have dropped to 25.4 percent from three (4.3 made per game) over the last three games against Washington, Washington State and Oregon State.

In losing consecutive games for just the second time this season, the Ducks have been outscored by a combined 52 points in the paint, including a minus-30 differential against Oregon State last Friday. The Ducks had been outscored in the paint just once this season prior to their last two games and boasted a plus-221 margin for the season in the paint (plus-13.0 per game).

Since the 2020-21 season, Oregon is 3-6 in games decided by three points or less with a 1-3 overtime record, dropping its last three games that have gone to overtime. Under Graves, the Ducks are 5-5 in overtime decisions.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
As a team, Oregon has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.44 - good for tops in the Pac-12 and seventh in the country. A high assist-to-turnover ratio is a theme under head coach Kelly Graves, as the Ducks lead the category since the 2017-18 season at 1.54. Oregon led the country in assist-to-turnover ratio in back-to-back seasons (2018-19, 2019-20) and finished fourth in 2017-18.

The Ducks lead the Pac-12 and rank 11th in the country in fewest turnovers per game at 12.3. Conversely, UO is forcing opponents into 13.6 a game for a plus-1.6 turnover margin. Additionally, the Ducks have an assisted shot rate of 60.1 percent and a net rating of 23.5 (margin of victory per 100 possessions).