Road Trip Continues at Washington State

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon's four-game road trip continues Friday, as the Ducks visit Washington State for a 7 p.m. PT start at Beasley Coliseum.

The Ducks look to snap their season-long five-game skid and split the regular-season series with the Cougars Friday. UO fell 67-57 at No. 18 UCLA on Sunday, as seven of UO's 11 losses have come to a top-25 this season. Each of Oregon's last 10 games have been decided by 10 or fewer points.

Oregon is 72-20 all-time against WSU, marking its most wins against a single opponent in program history. The Cougars claimed an 85-84 overtime win in the season's first meeting on Jan. 15 at Matthew Knight Arena to end the Ducks' eight-game winning streak in the series.

GAME #26
Oregon (14-11, 5-9) at Washington State (16-9, 6-8)
Friday, Feb. 17 | 7 p.m. PT | Beasley Coliseum (Pullman, Wash.)
TV: Pac-12 Oregon
Play-by-play: Greg Heister | Analyst: Stephanie Hawk-Freeman
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUJZ 95.3 FM)
Play-by-play: Terry Jonz
Listen Online | Live Stats

AT A GLANCE
Oregon finishes its four-game road trip with two games against the Washington schools this weekend, beginning with a Friday contest at Washington State. The Ducks seek a regular-season split after WSU earned an 85-54 overtime win at Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 15, snapping UO's eight-game winning streak against the Cougars.

The Ducks lead the all-time series Cougars, 72-20, and have won 10 of the last 13 meetings. UO is 33-9 on the road against WSU and has won the last six. Washington State sits one game ahead of Oregon in the Pac-12 standings.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon suffered a 67-57 defeat at No. 18 UCLA on Sunday, pushing the Ducks' season-long losing skid to five games. Seven of UO's 11 losses have come to teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25, while each of Oregon's last 10 games have been decided by 10 points or less.

Endyia Rogers paced the Ducks with 19 points while freshmen Chance Gray and Grace VanSlooten each finished with 13. Oregon's bench managed just two points while UCLA turned 14 turnovers into 18 points. Phillipina Kyei grabbed 13 rebounds to lead all players.

Rogers hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining in game, but the Bruins closed out the game on a 12-2 run. UCLA ended the game with a 19-3 edge in fast-break points and a 24-2 edge in bench points.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State (16-9, 6-8) returns home after dropping two games to ranked teams during its two-game road trip at Colorado (71-6) and Utah (73-59). The Cougars have lost three of their last four, all coming to teams ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll.

Charlisse Leger-Walker continues to pace WSU with 18.8 points per game, good for third in the Pac-12. Leger-Walker averages 18.1 points a game during conference play, which also ranks third. She is joined in double-figure scoring by Bella Murekatete's 13.0 points a game. Murekatete is the team leader at 7.0 rebounds a contest.

Additionally, Leger-Walker's 4.3 assists per game is second-highest in the league while averaging 36.3 minutes (second in conference).

As a team, Washington State ranks third in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting at 73.8 percent and fourth at 4.3 blocks per game.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday's matchup will be the 92nd meeting in the series' history between Oregon and Washington State, with the Ducks holding a 71-20 lead dating back to 1974. UO's eight-game winning streak against the Cougars was snapped in the season's first meeting, an 85-84 overtime decision at Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 15. It marked WSU's first win against the Ducks since Jan, 1. 2017.

Oregon is 33-9 all-time in Pullman, including winning each of the last six games on the road in the series. WSU last won at home against the Ducks on Feb. 23, 2014 (108-88). Head coach Kelly Graves is 10-4 against the Cougars in his UO tenure with a 6-0 road record. Oregon's 71 wins mark the most by the Ducks against a single opponent in program history.

In the season's first meeting, Endyia Rogers scored a game-high 33 points - her second of three 30-point games this season. WSU was led by five players in double figures, including 20 from Murekatete and 17 from Leger-Walker. The Cougars came away with an 85-84 overtime win, UO's only overtime contest this season.

THE "O" STANDS FOR OFFENSE
Oregon's 106.6 offensive efficiency rating (points per 100 possessions) is the 19th-highest mark in the country and third-best in the Pac-12 behind only Utah (114.4) and Stanford (111.8). The Ducks' 76.2 points per game rank as the 32nd-best mark in the country and third-highest in the conference.

UO has scored at least 75 points in 14 of 25 outings while reaching the 90-point mark five times. The Ducks' 100-92 loss to No. 7 Utah on Feb. 5 marked the first loss under ninth-year head coach Kelly Graves in which the Ducks scored at least 90 points and lost (had been 52-0). This season, Oregon is 4-1 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 80.5 points per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from behind the arc. In total, Oregon gets 29.9 percent of its points from 3-pointers - No. 2 in the Pac-12.

FAB FRESHMAN DUO
Freshmen Chance Gray and Grace VanSlooten have already etched their names into the Oregon record books. Gray is in the top 10 in program history with 42 made 3-pointers 42 (No. 9) and 62 assists (No. 10). VanSlooten is 10th in points by a UO freshman with 362 points.

Gray needs three more 3-pointers to move into an eighth-place tie on Oregon's freshman list and five more assists to move into ninth. VanSlooten is 17 points shy of Duck legend Bev Smith, whose 379 points as a freshman ranks ninth all-time in program history.

Both Gray (10.8) and VanSlooten (14.5) average double-digits points. The last freshman Duck duo to average 10-plus points was Ruthy Hebard (14.9) and Sabrina Ionescu (14.6) in 2016-17 - the only pair of UO teammates to do so since at least the 2009-10 season.

NUGGETS AND TRENDS
This season, Oregon averages just 10.9 turnovers per game in victories while turning the ball over 13.6 times per game over 11 losses. When the Ducks have 15 or more turnovers, they are 2-6. Despite losing seven of its last eight games, UO is averaging 10.3 turnovers a game in that stretch (below its season average of 12.0), but shooting just 37.4 percent from the field and 30.1 percent from behind the 3-point line.

In its 14 victories, Oregon is shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point range while averaging 8.6 3-point field goals. Defensively, the Ducks are holding teams to 27.2 percent and 5.6 made 3-pointers. In defeats, the Ducks are shooting just 31.3 percent from behind the arc and their average made 3-pointers drops to 6.7 while opponents are making 8.1 3-pointers a game at a 39.3 percent clip.

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. Each of Oregon's last 10 games have been decided by 10 points or less (2-8 in that span).