Ducks Begin Season vs. California Baptist

Monday, November 4

Eugene, OR

4 p.m.

University of Oregon

California Baptist

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11/02/24 | Women's Basketball

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EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon women's basketball is set to open its 52^nd season Monday, as the Ducks welcome defending WAC champion California Baptist to Matthew Knight Arena for a 4 p.m. PT tipoff.

The new-look Ducks bring in nine newcomers, made up of seven transfers and a pair of talented freshmen in Ehis Etute and Katie Fiso. In its lone exhibition contest on Friday, UO saw all 14 players in the game score, with a game-high 18 points and 11 steals coming from transfer Elisa Mevius.

Monday's matchup will be the first-ever meeting between Oregon and CBU, who qualified for the NCAA Tournament a season ago after winning both the WAC regular-season and tournament championships. Graves seeks his 11^th straight season-opening win while at Oregon, while the Ducks look for their 65^th win in the last 67 nonconference home games.

Season and single-game tickets are now on sale and available at GoDucks.com/WBBtix.

GAME #1
Oregon (0-0) vs. California Baptist (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 4 | 4 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

AT A GLANCE
Oregon women's basketball is set to embark on its 52nd season, and 11th under head coach Kelly Graves, on Monday against California Baptist at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks return two starters among six letterwinners from last year's team. UO also welcomes in nine new faces, including seven transfers and a pair of talented freshmen in Ehis Etute and Katie Fiso.

Returning starters feature Sofia Bell and Phillipina Kyei to pair with returners Sarah Rambus, Peyton Scott, Filippa Tilliander and Sammie Wagner.

Kyei took home all-Pac-12 honorable mention accolades last season after ranking third in the country in rebounding at 11.9 a game. She also tied for the conference lead with 20 double-doubles, and tied for seventh nationally - the most in a single season by a Duck since Sabrina Ionescu in 2019-20.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon displayed its depth in its only exhibition contest on Friday, as it hosted Warner Pacific at Matthew Knight Arena and came away with a 110-21 victory.

All 14 Ducks who played in the game scored, including four in double figures. Elisa Mevius scored a game-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting to go with 11 steals.

Freshmen Katie Fiso scored 15 points and Ehis Etute added 14, with transfer Amina Muhammad finishing with 10 points. Eight newcomers who played accounted for 83 of UO's 110 points.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
California Baptist enters the 2024-25 season as the defending WAC regular-season and tournament champion, earning its first-ever bid into the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Lancers were a No. 15 seed and fell at second-seeded UCLA in the first round, 84-55.

CBU brings back a pair of starters from last season, led by its second-leading scorer in Filipa Barros, who averaged 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. The Lancers also retained Anaiyah Tu'ua, who made 24 starts and put up 7.0 points and 4.4 boards a contest.

The Lancers, who went 28-4 last season, will be without leading scorer Chloe Webb, who was tabbed both WAC player of the year and WAC Tournament most outstanding player. She led the conference at 20.7 points per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and bringing down a team-high 7.9 rebounds a night.

CBU was picked second in the WAC preseason coaches poll just behind Grand Canyon, receiving four first-place votes.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Monday's game will mark the first between Oregon and California Baptist. CBU began its transition to Division I and the Western Athletic Conference in 2018-19. The Lancers have won two WAC regular-season and tournament titles over the last four seasons. CBU is the first of two teams from the WAC on the Ducks' nonconference schedule, along with Grand Canyon (Nov. 18).

RETURN AISLE
The Ducks retain six letterwinners from a season ago, including starters Sofia Bell and Phillipina Kyei, in addition to reserves Sarah Rambus, Peyton Scott, Filippa Tilliander and Sammie Wagner. Kyei was the lone Duck to start all 32 games last season, while Bell started 21 games to begin the season before an injury ended her year prematurely. The pair represent UO's leading returners in every offensive category, with Bell as the leading returning 3-point shooter.

» In addition to being the team's leading rebounder, Kyei led Oregon in field goal percentage at 52.3 percent.
» Rambus was second with her 41.4 percent field goal percentage, as she saw action in all 32 games while making one start.
» Scott returns for her sixth collegiate season after she was granted a medical hardship due to a knee injury she suffered in last year's season opener. Scott started and was injured just five minutes into the Ducks' first game against Northern Arizona.
» Scott enters 2024-25 with 1,873 career points and 629 rebounds, averaging 16.7 points per game in 112 career games.
» Tilliander saw action in 15 contests, amassing four points and eight rebounds, while Wagner played in 29 games and averaged 0.9 points and 1.0 rebounds.

BIG PHILLI STYLE
Junior center Phillipina Kyei, the tallest player in Oregon history, had a breakout season in 2023-24 in which she finished as the nation's third-leading rebounder at 11.9 rebounds per game. Kyei registered 20 double-doubles in 32 games last season to tie for the Pac-12 lead and tie for No. 7 in the nation. Her 20 double-doubles tied UO legend Sabrina Ionescu in 2019-20 for the sixth-highest total in a single season in program history. Kyei's 28 career double-doubles are currently tied for No. 9 in Oregon history.

» Kyei needs just 251 points and 155 rebounds to become the sixth Duck to join the 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club.
» With 845 rebounds, she sits just three rebounds away from cracking the top-10 list in UO history, as she has produced two of the top five single-season rebounding seasons in program history.
» Her 381 boards last season rank as the third-most in any season in program history, with her 376 rebounds in 2022-23 tied for fourth with Oregon legend Bev Smith.
» Kyei is the nation's leading returning rebounder and one of just six players entering 2024-25 to average at least 11.0 rebounds per game last season, while four of the six are now in the Big Ten.
» Kyei produced a double-double in nine of her last 13, and 12 of the last 17 games, to close last season and had five separate streaks of at least three consecutive double-doubles and two four-game stretches (career high).
» Her 28 career double-doubles are tied for No. 9 in Oregon history, needing three more to sit alone in eighth place.
» Kyei grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds to go with 10 points at Washington on Feb. 23 for her second 20-rebound double-double and the 24th in UO history.
» Over the last two seasons, Kyei has turned in 26 double-doubles in 67 games, good for a 38.8 percent rate.
» Kyei was 10th nationally with 4.3 offensive rebounds per game while her 7.7 defensive boards a night ranked 14th.
» Kyei was one of just four players in the country last season to average at least 12.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while shooting better than 50.0 percent from the floor - and is one of just two returning in 2024-25 along with Macy McGlone of Eastern Illinois.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT LIKE 2K
Oregon guards Deja Kelly and Peyton Scott are each approaching 2,000 career points. Kelly, a graduate transfer from North Carolina, has amassed 1,858 career points over four seasons (121 games). After four seasons at Miami (Ohio), Scott has tallied 1,873 points in 112 career games. Scott enters her sixth collegiate season after receiving a medical hardship waiver due to her season-ending knee injury suffered in the 2023-24 season opener.

» Scott enters the season No. 6 among active players in career points, while Kelly is next at seventh.
» The duo are the only set of teammates in the top 10 in scoring among active players, and the pair sit as the top two players in the Big Ten in career points.

MEVIUS THE MENACE
Oregon incoming transfer Elisa Mevius was a menace in her two seasons at Siena. The 2024 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year racked up 135 steals last season to set both the Siena and MAAC single-season records, while her 4.5 steals per game ranked No. 2 in the country. She also produced Siena's first-ever triple-double last season with her 16 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists at Rider on March 7.

» Enters 2024-25 second among active players with her career average of 3.3 steals per game.
» Registered multiple steals in all 30 games last season, with five or more steals in 15 games.
» One of just two players in the country last season to average at least 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals a game (Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame).
» Named first-team all-MAAC in addition to being named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.
» Tabbed MAAC Rookie of the Year after her freshman season to go with all-MAAC third-team honors.
» Became the first player in MAAC history to be named both Player and Rookie of the Week in the same week (Feb. 13, 2023).
» Her 135 steals last season would have been the most in a single season in Oregon history - by 40 steals - while her 4.5 steals per game are a full steal higher than UO's single-season high.

NEW DUCKS TO THE FLOCK
Oregon head coach Kelly Graves was busy this offseason and brought in seven transfers to go with two incoming freshmen for 2024-25. Six of the seven transfers have at least two seasons of Division I experience, including three graduate transfers, while six have Power 5 pedigree. Graves added four guards to the backcourt in addition to three forwards, with the seven incoming transfers have played a combined 488 career games, making 295 total starts - with 215 of those career starts coming from the four guards.

Nani Falatea, Deja Kelly, Salimatou Kourouma and Amina Muhammad all bring NCAA Tournament experience, with the four combining for eight tournament appearances. Kelly led North Carolina to four straight postseason berths, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2022. Last season, Muhammad guided Texas to its first No. 1 seed since 2004, as the Longhorns advanced to the Elite Eight. With Arizona, Kourouma helped the Wildcats to a victory in the First Four of last season's tournament, while Falatea was with a BYU squad that was a six-seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.