Ducks Headed South For Hoopfest Challenge

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team flies south for the holiday week, where it will meet a pair of 5-1 squads at the Hoopfest Women's Challenge held at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.

The Ducks will first square off with Saint Mary's on Tuesday before closing the multi-team tournament against Old Dominion on Thanksgiving Day. After its home win on Sunday against Utah State, UO is in the midst of a stretch where it will play four games in eight days in three cities.

The Ducks lead the all-time series against the Gaels 7-2, while Oregon has claimed its only ever meeting with Old Dominion back in 1987.

GAME #7
Oregon (6-0) vs. Saint Mary's (5-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 25 | 11:30 a.m. PT | Comerica Center (Frisco, Texas)
TV/Stream: FloSports
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 97.1 FM | ESPN Portland 910 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #8
Oregon (6-0) vs. Old Dominion (5-1)
Thursday, Nov. 27 | 9 a.m. PT | Comerica Center (Frisco, Texas)
TV/Stream: FloSports
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 97.1 FM | ESPN Portland 910 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

A WIN WOULD…
» Mark the best start to a season for the Ducks since starting 8-0 in 2020-21.
» Be the fourth 7-0 start or better under head coach Kelly Graves in his 12th season (would be third 8-0 start).
» Be Oregon's seventh straight win and longest winning streak since winning eight straight in 2021-22.
» Give the Ducks an 8-2 lead in the all-time series with Saint Mary's, and first neutral -site win.
» Improve UO's all-time record against Old Dominion to 2-0.
» Improve Graves' nonconference record to 138-38 while at Oregon.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon forced 29 turnovers and limited Utah State to 26.3 field-goal shooting Sunday — including 1-of-18 three-point shooting — as the Ducks beat the Aggies at Matthew Knight Arena, 70-34. The UO women (6-0) now head out on the road for three games during Thanksgiving week.

Katie Fiso and Sarah Rambus had 13 points each to lead the Ducks, freshman Janiyah Williams added 12 and Mia Jacobs had 11 points with seven rebounds and six steals. Oregon got hot from three-point range coming out of halftime to break the game open; otherwise it wasn't the most consistent performance offensively. But the Ducks' defense was suffocating.

"We had some really good stretches offensively here and there, but it was just one of those nights," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "We just weren't really in sync offensively. Our shooting percentage has been one of our biggest strengths, but we didn't hit any of our goals overall, from the field, from the three-point line or from the free-throw line; just one of those games. But we powered through with some really good defense and a ton of disruptions."

SCOUTING THE FIELD
Saint Mary's (5-1) suffered its first loss of the season in its last outing, a 70-62 road loss at California on Nov. 20. The Gaels opened the season 5-0, including three home victories.

SMC is led by 9.0 points per game by Edie Clarke, as she also leads her team in field goal shooting at 58.1 percent. The Gaels' offense averages 61.5 points per game, while their defense is limiting teams to just 49.2 points a night.

Saint Mary's was picked to finish seventh in the West Coast Conference preseason coaches poll after reaching the first round of last year's WNIT.

Old Dominion (5-1) has won five straight games after dropping its season opener, with the Monarchs coming off an 85-48 win against North Carolina Central.

Simaru Fields (12.7 PPG) leads three ODU players that average double-figure points, joined by Simone Cunningham (12.3) and En'Dya Burford (11.2).

Buford was selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt first team, while Cunningham was voted to the third team. Old Dominion checked in at fourth in the Sun Belt preseason coaches poll, receiving one first-place vote.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and Saint Mary's will meet for the 10th time on Tuesday, with the Ducks holding a 7-2 edge in the all-time series. The last time the Ducks and Gaels met was during the 2018-19 season, with UO coming away with a 79-55 victory at SMC. The matchup will be the first neutral-site matchup between the teams and just the second meeting since the 2012-13 campaign.

Oregon and Old Dominion have met just once previously, all the way back in the 1987-88 season. The Ducks claimed that neutral-site meeting in Missoula, Mont., by an 85-64 score.

OFF AND RUNNING
The Oregon women's basketball team is off to a 6-0 start for second straight season and the sixth time under 12th-year head coach Kelly Graves after a 70-34 home victory over Utah State on Sunday. Despite the 36-point margin of victory, the Ducks failed to reach 80 points for the first time this season, snapping a streak of five straight 80-plus point outings - its longest streak to begin a season since seven straight such games to open the 2019-20 season. UO's 85.0 points per game are tied for No. 26 nationally and tied for sixth in the Big Ten.

In three of its six wins, five players scored in double figures, most recently in a Nov. 16 win over Army: Mia Jacobs (17), Sofia Bell (14), Amina Muhamad (14), Katie Fiso (12) and Sarah Rambus (12). Ten different Ducks have finished a game with 10 or more points this season, with four coming off the bench (Avary Cain, Ehis Etute, Muhammad, Janiyah Williams).

Oregon got the 2025-26 season started with an emphatic 100-59 victory over West Georgia on Nov. 3, and followed that up with a 90-47 win over Montana on Nov. 8. The 100-point scoring outburst marked the 66th time under Graves that the Ducks reached the 100-point mark, and the first time since the 2022-23 season opener against Northwestern (100-57).

» Oregon's offensive rating of 115.4 (points per 100 possessions) ranks sixth in the Big Ten while averaging 73.5 possessions per 40 minutes (eighth in Big Ten).
» UO's field goal percentage of 50.8 is tied for 10th-best in the country, with its 59.3 shooting percentage on two-point shots ranks No. 10 in the nation.
» Oregon ranks 13th in the country with an effective field goal percentage of 56.4 percent, good for fifth in the Big Ten.
» The Ducks' bench accounted for 47 of 90 points against Montana on Nov. 8, while reserves are averaging 29.3 points per game this season (eighth in Big Ten).
» UO's 21.0 assists per game are tied for third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally, posting an assisted shot rate of 62.7 percent (sixth in Big Ten).
» The Ducks are averaging 13.2 turnovers per game, the 39th-best rate in the nation and sixth-best in the Big Ten.
» UO's turnover rate of 15.4 percent is seventh-lowest in the Big Ten and No. 46 in the country.
» The 1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 12th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten.

STORM AND SWARM
Oregon's swarming defense, which was a chief reason for Oregon's success a season ago, is back and better this season. The Ducks have forced over 20 turnovers in five is six contests to start the seasons, including forcing West Georgia into 32 turnovers behind 24 steals in the season opener. Their 24 steals, their most since 2013, helped the Ducks pile up 41 points from turnovers, 32 fast-break points and 54 points in the paint. Oregon's defense recorded 12-plus steals and forced at least 23 turnovers in four consecutive games to begin the season. The four straight games with double-digit steals were one shy of matching the longest streak from a season ago, while the four consecutive games forcing 20-plus turnovers was its longest since eight straight such games during the 2010-11 season.

» The Ducks recorded 18 steals and forced 29 Utah State turnovers in their 70-34 win on Sunday, both the second-highest totals of the season.
» The 34 points allowed were the fewest since a 97-33 win over Charleston on Dec. 18, 2022 - and the ninth time yielding 34 points or fewer since 1999.
» The Aggies went just 1-of-18 (5.6 percent) from the 3-point line, UO's lowest 3-point percentage allowed since holding Baylor without a 3-point field goal in the 2019 Final Four.
» The Ducks are one of 10 teams in the country with at least five games of 12 or more steals, and one off the national leaders.
» Oregon is recording a steal on 18.5 percent of opponent possessions, which is the second-highest rate in the Big Ten and ninth-highest in the nation.
» Opposing teams are turning the ball over on 29.7 percent of its possessions, the second-best rate in the conference and 12th-highest in the country.
» The five games with 23-plus forced turnovers are one shy of the national and Big Ten lead (6, Michigan State).
» The Ducks have started hot in all six games this season, averaging 19.8 points and shooting 54.6 percent from the field in the first quarter of games while teams are scoring just 9.1 points on 28.9 percent shooting.

HERE WE GO, FISO
Sophomore point guard Katie Fiso has stepped into the lead guard spot this season, as she takes over after the graduation of veteran guards Deja Kelly and Peyton Scott. Fiso, who was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Washington her senior season, got her first career start in the season opener against West Georgia and turned in her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists - without a turnover. She produced her first 20-point scoring effort while handing out 10 assists against Grand Canyon on Nov. 11 and again put up a points-assists double-double with 12 points and 10 helpers Nov. 16 against Army.

» Scored a career-high 22 points at Washington State on Nov. 19 while going 10-for-14 from the floor and dishing out a team-high eight assists.
» Over her last four games, she has gone 30-of-44 (68.2 percent) from the floor while averaging 16.6 points and 8.5 assists.
» During the week of Nov. 10-16 (two games), she averaged 16.0 points and 10.0 assists while going 14-of-16 from the field (87.5 percent) and was named to the Big Ten's weekly honor roll on Nov. 17.
» Three double-doubles in six games (first double-doubles of her career) to tie for the Big Ten lead.
» Turned in the first 20-point, 10-assist double-double by a Duck since Sabrina Ionescu had 20 points and 12 assists against Stanford on March 8, 2020.
» First Duck with multiple points-assists double-doubles in a season since Ionescu during the 2019-20 campaign (17).
» One of just three Ducks since 2009 to have multiple points-assists double-doubles in a season (Maite Cazorla, Ionescu).
» She has led UO in assists in all six outings this season and is second in the Big Ten at 8.2 assists a night (fifth nationally).
» Her double-double against West Georgia was the first points-assists double-double by a Duck since the 2022-23 season when Te-Hina Paopao did so in the WNIT on March 3, 2023.
» First Duck with 10-plus assists without a turnover since Minyon Moore did so at USC on Feb. 16, 2020, and first Duck since Ionescu on Feb. 1, 2020 with a point-assists double-double without committing a turnover.
» Fiso is the only player in the country averaging at least 5.0 assists, 25.0 minutes and shooting over 60.0 percent from the field with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5 or better.

MAMA MIA
Senior F Mia Jacobs, a Fresno State transfer, has made an immediate impact for Oregon on the young season. She leads the team with 16.2 points per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Jacobs has finished as the team's leading scorer in four of six games, including a season-high 26 points in UO's 84-66 win over Grand Canyon on Nov. 11. It marked the highest scoring performance by a Duck since Te-Hina Paopao scored 28 points against Stanford on March 2, 2023. Additionally, she has connected on 24-of-26 free throw attempts on the season (92.3 percent).

» Jacobs drilled a season-high five 3-pointers against Washington State on Nov. 19 on her way to her second 20-point outing of the season, going 4-for-5 from range in the second half of UO's 86-59 victory.
» She leads the Big Ten in free throws made and attempted per game, while she ranks eighth nationally in free throw shooting among players with at least 20 made free throws (tops in the conference).
» She went 12-of-13 from the line against GCU, marking the most made free throws by a Duck since Sabrina Ionescu made 17 against Mississippi State on Dec. 18, 2018.
» Last season, Jacobs led the Mountain West with 19 double-doubles last season, which tied for No. 7 nationally, as she averaged 18.3 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 40.8 percent from the floor.
» Jacobs was named first-team all-Mountain West in 2024-25 while being named MW Player of the Week three times.