By Danielle Daniels
1 12 2025
GAME NOTES
https://goducks.com/documents/2025/1/10/17_-_Ohio_State_Game_Notes.pdf
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Oregon women’s basketball team finishes a two-game road trip on Sunday at No. 9 Ohio State, with tipoff set for 10 a.m. PT at Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
Oregon has won three straight Big Ten games and sits at 3-2 in conference play following its 63-61 win at Penn State on Thursday. The Buckeyes are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the Big Ten and just one of three unbeatens nationally.
The teams will meet for the fifth time ever Sunday, and first since the 2022-23 season, with OSU holding a 3-1 lead in the all-time series. The matchup will be the first between the teams in Columbus.
GAME #17
Oregon (12-4, 3-2) at No. 9 Ohio State (15-0, 4-0)
Sunay, Jan. 12 | 10 a.m. PT | Schottenstein Center (Columbus, Ohio)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Eric Vah | Analyst: Connor Canfield | Sideline: Ainsley Blue
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
Oregon fended off a furious Penn State comeback on Thursday in University Park, as guard Deja Kelly knocked down the game-winning jumper with 4.1 seconds on the clock to seal a 63-61 victory.
UO led by as many as 17 in the third quarter before the Nittany Lions took their first lead of the game at the 1:40 mark of the fourth quarter.
With 15 points, Kelly led three Ducks in double figures. Phillipina Kyei finished with a dozen and Nani Falatea added 10, her fourth consecutive double-digit outing.
Oregon forced 24 PSU turnovers behind 11 steals, marking the eighth time the Ducks have forced at least 20 turnovers and the 10th game with 10 or more steals.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
No. 9 Ohio State (15-0, 4-0) is one of two remaining undefeated teams in the Big Ten along with No. 1 UCLA, and one of three unbeaten in conference play, after the Buckeyes’ 84-77 win at 25th-ranked Michigan on Wednesday.
The Buckeyes’ win over the Wolverines marked their second ranked win of the season, both coming in conference play. Jaloni Cambridge scored a game-high 29 points on Wednesday, helping OSU overcome a 13-point halftime deficit.
Ohio State’s scoring offense is tops in the Big Ten and ninth in the country at 86.2 points a night. Defensively, OSU is first in the league with 14.1 steals per game (sixth nationally) and turnover margin at plus-12.5 (first nationally).
All five Buckeye starters average double-figure points this season, led by 17.4 a game by Cotie McMahon. Forward Ajae Petty is the team’s leading rebounder at 7.8 boards with Taylor Thierry next with 6.3 rebounds a night.
Taylor Thierry is No. 2 in the Big Ten in steals game, averaging 2.4, while Cambridge is fourth at 2.3 per game.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Sunday’s game will be the fifth all-time meeting between Oregon and Ohio State, and the first since the two met in San Diego on Dec. 21, 2022, with OSU holding a 3-1 series edge. In a battle of two top-25 teams, the third-ranked Buckeyes came away with an 84-67 over the 16th-ranked Ducks in the latest matchup. Sunday will be the first game between the sides in Columbus and first as members of the Big Ten Conference. Oregon’s lone win in the series was a 68-60 win in Portland back in 1981.
OREGON vs. RANKED TEAMS
No. 9 Ohio State will mark the third ranked team Oregon will face this season after defeating then-No. 12 Baylor on Nov. 10, 76-74 and falling to sixth-ranked USC 66-53 in Eugene. The win over the Bears snapped a 14-game skid to top-25 teams and gave head coach Kelly Graves his 46th ranked victory of his UO tenure. Last season, Oregon went 0-13 against top-25 opponents last season and has dropped its last 14 road games against ranked squads.
» The Ducks are 24-122 (.163) against top-10 teams all-time, with its last top-10 victory coming at home against ninth-ranked UConn on Jan. 17, 2022 (72-59).
» The last time the Ducks won on the road against a top-10 team was Feb. 24, 2020 when they took down then-fourth-ranked Stanford 74-66.
» As an unranked team, Oregon last upset a top-10 team on Jan. 5, 2022 when it defeated No. 7 Arizona 68-66.
» The last road win by an unranked Ducks team over a top-10 foe coming in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament when UO upset No. 9 Duke 74-65.
DUCK DEPTH
Oregon’s depth, helped by seven transfers among nine newcomers, has keyed the Ducks’ 12-4 start this season. Six different players have led (or tied) UO in scoring through 16 games, including three off the bench in Nani Falatea, Katie Fiso and Elisa Mevius. The Oregon bench is averaging 29.8 points per game and has outscored its opponents’ bench 477-260 on the season, an average of 13.6 points a game. Last year, UO averaged just 9.6 points a night from its bench and opponents outscored the Ducks’ bench by 288 points.
» After Oregon’s bench scored 46 points at Northwestern, the Ducks’ bench has outscored the starting five in three out of four games from Dec. 19-31, and four times total this season.
» Over the last six games, the reserves have accounted for 204 of Oregon’s 444 total points (45.9 percent) and averaged 34.0 points a game in that span.
» Five players finished in double figures at Northwestern, including three off the bench in Falatea (13), Alexis Whitfield (11) and Ehis Etute (10), while seven players turned in at least nine points in the win.
» UO’s bench has outscored its opponents in all but two games this season, and nine times by double digits.
» The Ducks dropped a season-high 51 bench points on Air Force on Dec. 17, the most points scored by the bench since scoring 58 against Seattle U on Nov. 28, 2020.
» Ten players finished with at least eight points against the Falcons, with four scoring in double figures, while six handed out multiple assists and seven recorded multiple steals.
» The Ducks followed that up by scoring 48 bench points in their win over UC Irvine, combining for 99 points in a two-game stretch – their most in any two-game span on record.
» Eight players are averaging at least 5.0 points per game, including three bench players, with Falatea leading the bench scoring at 7.7 points per game. The eight players with at least 5.0 PPG are tied for the most such players in the Big Ten.
» The Oregon bench has scored at least 20 points 12 times, and five times eclipsed the 40-point plateau. Last year, UO’s single-game bench high was 26 points while surpassing 20 points just twice.
» The Ducks have been led in rebounding by six different players, five of which are newcomers, this season. Deja Kelly, Phillipina Kyei and Amina Muhammad are the only players to lead the team in rebounding in multiple games.
DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon has made life difficult for its opponents on the offensive end this season. The Duck defense has registered double-digit steals in seven of its last nine games, and in nine of its last 13 games, including a season-high 17 coming against Air Force on Dec. 17. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 29.0 percent from beyond the arc, and has allowed only six teams to shoot over 30.0 percent. UO allowed North Texas and Grand Canyon to shoot a combined 7-of-30 from deep over a two-game stretch (Nov. 12-18).
» With 10 or more steals in eight of their last 11 games, the Ducks have 10 games this season with double-digit steals after turning in only two such games last season and seven times in 2022-23.
» The Ducks recorded 10-plus steals in five straight games from Nov. 26-Dec. 19, their longest streak since putting together seven straight games with 10 or more steals in 2013-14.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 10.2 steals a game (fourth in the Big Ten), which would mark the most on a per-game basis since averaging 10.2 in 2013-14. UO ranks fourth in steals per game in league play at 10.2
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers eight times this season, including in five of their last seven games after forcing 24 at Penn State. The seven such games are already the most since doing so seven times in 2019-20.
» UO had just one game forcing 20 or more turnovers last season and five such games in 2022-23. The last time the Ducks had more than seven games forcing at least 20 turnovers was 2013-14, when they recorded 11 such performances.
» UO forced USC, Illinois and Wisconsin each into 22 turnovers and is averaging 20.8 turnovers forced per game in Big Ten play, the third-highest rate in the league.
» The Ducks forced a season-high 29 turnovers against Air Force on Dec. 17, marking the most forced turnovers since forcing 29 against CSUN on Nov. 19, 2017.
» On the season, Oregon’s defense is forcing teams into 19.1 turnovers per game, good for fifth in the Big Ten, while owning a plus-5.25 turnover margin, which is fifth-best in the league.
» The 19.1 turnovers forced a game would mark the highest rate by the Ducks since averaging 20.8 per game in 2010-11.
» Oregon has finished with fewer or the same number of turnovers 14 times this season, and has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in 11 straight games.
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