Ducks Host Montana Saturday at MKA

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team continues its season-opening homestand on Saturday, as the Ducks host Montana at Matthew Knight Arena at 2 p.m. PT.

The Ducks seek a 2-0 start to their season for the 11th consecutive season after defeating West Georgia in their season opener on Monday, 100-59. In the win, five players finished with double-digit points while the UO defense forced 32 turnovers behind 24 steals.

Oregon leads the all-time series with Montana 11-3, as the teams will square off for the first time since the 2009 season. The Ducks are 6-1 at home against the Grizzlies and have won three of the last four meetings overall.

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

GAME #2
Oregon (1-0) vs. Montana (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 8 | 2 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Lily Crane | Analyst: Corin Bluth | Sideline: Olivia Arciniega
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUJZ 95.3 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

A WIN WOULD…
» Mark the 11th straight season that Oregon starts 2-0.
» Improve the Ducks' record against Montana to 12-3, with a 7-1 record at home.
» Extend UO's nonconference home winning streak to 15 games.
» Give the Ducks their 75th win in their last 77 nonconference home games.
» Improve Graves' nonconference record to 133-38 while at Oregon, with an 80-4 mark at home.
» Be the Ducks' fourth win in the last five meetings with Montana, and first under Graves.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon's up-tempo offense and stifling defense were on full display in its 100-59 season-opening victory over West Georgia last Monday at Matthew Knight Arena.

UO's defense forced 32 UWG turnovers, recording 24 steals that resulted in 41 points off turnovers. The 24 steals and 32 turnovers forced were the most since tallying 24 steals and 38 turnovers against Southern on Dec. 18, 2013. Eleven different Ducks had at least one steal with seven finishing with multiple steals.

Five players scored in double figures to help UO to its first 100-point outing since the 2022-23 season opener against Northwestern. F Mia Jacobs carded a team-high 16 points while G Elisa Mevius added 15 and F Sarah Rambus scored 13. G Katie Fiso turned in a 10-point, 10-assist double-double, the first of her career in her first career start.

SCOUTING MONTANA
Montana (1-0) comes to Eugene off an 81-44 home win over Division II Seattle Pacific on Tuesday. Avery Waddington led UM with 20 points to go with eight rebounds, going 7-for-10 from the floor. Mack Konig added 14 points and five assists in the win, as the two were the only Grizzlies to finish in double figures.

Konig and Waddington were both named to the six-player preseason all-Big Sky team, the first time multiple Grizzlies were voted to the team since 2015-16. Both players averaged double-digit points last season, with Konig turning in 11.6 a game and Waddington averaging 10.0. Waddington also added 6.0 rebounds a night.

Despite going 14-18 (8-10 Big Sky) last season, the Grizzlies were picked second in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls behind Montana State, who the Ducks will face later this season. Montana and Montana State faced off in the title game of last season's Big Sky title game, with the Bobcats earning a one-point victory 58-57.

Against Seattle Pacific in their season opener, the Grizzlies led 45-12 at halftime and finished with a 48-32 rebounding edge. UM's bench scored 34 points to SPU's six, while forcing 17 turnovers that were converted into 20 points.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Saturday's matchup will mark the 15th all-time meeting between Oregon and Montana, and first since the 2009-10 season. Oregon is 11-3 against the Grizzlies, with a 6-1 record at home. The Ducks have won three of the last four meetings, going back to the 2002-03 season. In his head coaching career Kelly Graves is 9-3 against the Grizzlies overall, with most meetings occurring while he was at Saint Mary's, while this will be the first game between the teams in Graves' UO tenure.

SEASON DEBUT TO REMEMBER
Oregon women's basketball got its 2025-26 season started with an emphatic 100-59 victory over West Georgia on Monday. UO's swarming defense helped the Ducks forced 32 UWG turnovers behind 24 steals, leading to 41 points off turnovers. Their 24 steals, their most since 2013, helped the Ducks pile up 32 fast-break points and 54 points in the paint. UO shot 49 percent from the field, but just 28 percent (10-for-36) from the 3-point line.

Five Ducks turned in double-digit scoring efforts, led by 16 points from F Mia Jacobs. G Elisa Mevius added 15, F Sarah Rambus dropped 13 and both G Katie Fiso and F Amina Muhammad contributed 10 points. Fiso also handed out 10 assists without committing a turnover for her first career double-double. In total, 11 different players finished with at least one steal and 11 players handed out at least one assist. Oregon finished with 30 assists on 43 made field goals while turning the ball over just six times, marking its highest assist-to-turnover ratio (5.00) since Jan. 10, 2021.

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).

» UO's 30 assists are tied for fifth-most in a game so far this season, and second in the Big Ten behind Michigan State (33).
» The Ducks' six turnovers and tied for the fourth-fewest in a game this season, and three behind national leader Michigan State who had three turnovers in its win over Mercyhurst.
» The 5.00 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third nationally and second in the Big Ten.
» Oregon's bench produced 38 points in the victory over the Wolves after averaging 25.5 bench points per game last season that ranked second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally.
» Five players made their UO debut vs. UWG: G Sara Barhoum, G Avary Cain, F Mia Jacobs, G Astera Tuhina, G Janiyah Williams.
» Barhoum (6 points) and Williams (7 points), both freshmen, recorded their first collegiate points and field goals.

DEVIOUS MEVIUS
Senior G Elisa Mevius, who enters her second season with the Ducks after two seasons at Siena, has been a menace on the defensive end in her career. The Rendsburg, Germany, product has compiled 254 steals over 91 career games for an average of 2.79 steals per game - which ranks fourth among active Division I players. Additionally, her 254 career steals are sixth-most among active players and third-highest among Power 4 players. Against West Georgia in the season opener, Mevius recorded three steals her for 45th career game with three or more steals, which ranks as No. 3 among active players. She has at least three steals in 45 of her 91 career games (49.5 percent), which is also the third-highest rate among active players.

» Scored 15 points to go with three steals and two assists against UWG in the season opener.
» With 890 career points, needs just 110 more to join the 1,000-point club.
» Recorded at least one steal in 14 of 19 games played a season ago and has at least one steal in 81 of her 91 career games (89.0 percent) and multiple steals in 65 contests (71.4 percent).

HERE WE GO, FISO
Sophomore point guard Katie Fiso is poised to be a major contributor and leader this season, as she takes over the lead guard spot after the graduation of 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. It was just her fourth career game scoring in double figures, as she went 4-for-8 from the floor.

» 10 assists and three steals were both career highs against UWG, logging 23 minutes after averaging just 9.7 a game last season.
» Her double-double 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 Sabrina Ionescu on Feb. 1, 2020 with a point-assists double-double without committing a turnover.

WHATTYA SAY, RAMBO
According to head coach Kelly Graves, junior F Sarah Rambus put together one the team's best offseasons and is ready to make a big leap forward in 2025-26. Rambus displayed some of that potential in the team's lone exhibition game against Western Oregon, as she scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds. In the season opener with West Georgia, she earned her third career start and turned in 13 points in just 14 minutes, going 6-for-10 from the field while grabbing four boards. It was Rambus' fourth career game scoring in double figures, with UO going unbeaten in games she scores 10 or more points.

MKA MAGIC
Since its opening in 2011, the Ducks have been dominant in defending Matthew Knight Arena, posting an all-time record of 174-71 (.710). Since 2017-18, UO is 106-24 (.815) at home, with a 47-20 (.701) conference record, while outscoring opponents by an average of 19.9 points a game in that span. Last season, opponents averaged just 57.4 points a game while shooting 39.1 percent from the floor.

» The Ducks have posted a .500 record of better at home in 12 straight seasons, dating back to 2013-14.
» Oregon boasts a record of 79-4 (.952) against nonconference teams at home under head coach Kelly Graves (since 2014-15), and has won 74 of its last 76 nonconference home tilts.