UO Visits OSU to Open Pac-12 Play

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team is set to open its Pac-12 schedule Sunday, paying a visit to in-state rival Oregon State on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip at Gill Coliseum.

GAME #14
Oregon (9-4, 0-0) at RV Oregon State (11-0, 0-0)
Sunday, Dec. 31 | 2 p.m. PT | Gill Coliseum (Corvallis, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 Oregon
Play-by-play: Ann Schatz | Analyst: Mary Murphy
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (Eugene: KUGN 98.1 | Portland: KPAM 860 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

AT A GLANCE
Oregon begins Pac-12 play at rival Oregon State on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Oregon.

The game is the third of five straight contests away from home, as UO seeks to open conference play 1-0 for the second straight year and sixth time in the last seven seasons.

Oregon leads the all-time series 66-45, as the teams have split the season series each of the last two years. Dating back to the 1998-99 season, the in-state rivals have split the last 52 meetings overall.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon split two games at the Trailblazer Classic last week, finishing the three-team tournament with a 70-63 win over Oklahoma State on Dec. 21.

Four Ducks scored in double figures, led by a season-high 21 from Chance Gray - her second straight 20-point scoring effort. Freshman Sofia Bell added a season-best 15 points while Phillipina Kyei and Grace VanSlooten each finished with 13. VanSlooten also led UO with seven rebounds and three steals.

The Ducks recorded 21 assists on 27 made field goals, with Kennedi Williams matching her season high of eight assists against just one turnover. Kennedy Basham picked up four blocked shots, equaling her career high, to help UO to 10 blocks against the Cowgirls.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE
Oregon State (11-0) is off to its best start since beginning the 2019-20 season 15-0. The hot start has the Beavers receiving votes in both the Associated Press and WBCA coaches polls. OSU defeated Morgan State 80-51 on Thursday, improving to 9-0 at Gill Coliseum.

Raegan Beers has eight double-doubles on the season and is tied with Oregon's Phillipina Kyei for the conference lead. Beers is averaging 19.2 points and league-leading 11.5 rebounds a game this season while shooting 69.4 percent from the field (third in Pac-12). Talia Von Oelhoffen, who was named tournament MVP of the Maui Classic last week, scores 10.2 points a game to go with 4.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.

As a team, OSU leads the Pac-12 in bench scoring at 28.2 points per game and defensive rebounds per game at 34.8 (second nationally). Oregon State is allowing teams to shoot just 33.2 percent from the floor - second-best in the conference and 10th in the country.

INSIDE THE SERIES
In a series that dates back to 1974, Oregon holds a 66-45 lead in the all-time series with Oregon State. The in-state rivals have split the season series each of the last two seasons, with each winning at home a season ago. The sides have split the last 14 meetings and are 26-26 against each other since 1998-99 season.

The Ducks are 27-26 all-time in Corvallis, winning three of the last four road meetings. Head coach Kelly Graves is 7-12 against the Beavers in his 10 seasons at Oregon. UO last swept the season series with OSU during the 2019-20 season. Sunday's meeting marks the first since 2017 in which the Ducks were not ranked, a span of 13 games. In the last matchup, Chance Gray scored 18 points to lead four Ducks in double figures while Phillipina Kyei hauled in 10 boards in a 68-65 defeat at Gill Coliseum.

THE DUCKS' NEW BIG THREE
Oregon's top returning trio of Chance Gray, Phillipina Kyei and Grace VanSlooten have helped the Ducks win five of their last six games to close their nonconference slate. The three spearheaded four straight home wins over a nine-day span (Dec. 8-17), including three in four days at Matthew Knight Arena. Against Idaho on Dec. 8, the three accounted for 53 of UO's 59 points in an eight-point victory. The following afternoon, they again combined for 53 total points in a 65-54 win over Portland State. In that 24-hour span, they scored 106 of Oregon's 124 total points - or 85.4 percent of the team's total offense. The three were the only Ducks to score in double figures in a 67-37 win over Southern on Dec. 11, combining for 46 points. At the Trailblazer Classic hosted by Utah Tech, the three combined for 109 of Oregon's 156 points over two games.

» Over the last six games, Gray, Kyei and VanSlooten have combined to score 292 (48.7 PPG) of Oregon's 408 total points - or 71.6 percent. The trio accounted for 152 points of 191 points over three games from Dec. 8-11.
» Gray is coming off back-to-back 20-point outings after scoring 20 at UTU before a team-high 21 points against Oklahoma State on Dec. 21. It is the first time she has consecutive 20-point games, as she now has four this season and six in her career.
» Kyei produced four straight double-doubles during the Duck's 4-0 homestand, scoring a career-high 20 points against Portland State on Dec. 9 and hauling in a career-high 21 rebounds against the Jaguars on Dec. 11.
» Kyei's four straight double-doubles marked a career-long streak, while upping her season total to eight to tie for the lead in the Pac-12.
» VanSlooten has scored at least 10 in nine straight contests, with a season-high 25 point at Utah Tech. It was her second 20-point scoring effort this season and seventh of her career (fourth career game with at least 25 points).
» On the season, the three are responsible for 571 of the Ducks' 876 points (65.2%), or 43.9 points per game.

CLOSING TIME
Oregon has been at its best when it counts this season, averaging 18.8 points per game in the fourth quarter - the most of any quarter on the season. The Ducks have a plus-40 scoring margin in the fourth quarter, and hold a plus-72 scoring differential in the second half compared to a minus-4 differential in the first halves of games. As a team, UO has a higher field goal percentage (46.8%), 3-point percentage (32.1%) and free throw percentage (80.2%) in the fourth quarter than overall for the season.

» The Ducks have outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter in eight of 13 games, including five of the last six games.
» Leading by just four headed into the fourth quarter against Idaho on Dec. 8, Chance Gray went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the game's final 3:22 to help stave off Idaho.
» Gray knocked down all five of UO's 3-pointers against PSU, including four in the fourth quarter and three coming on consecutive trips down the floor to help seal the victory.
» In the last five minutes of games, the Ducks shoot 87.5 percent from the free throw line (42-for-48) while Gray is a percent 18-for-18 from the stripe.