By Charles Martindale

With Ducks football now distant in the rearview mirror, basketball becomes the main sports focus on campus, and the Oregon women’s team is putting together a promising season just as students return to Matthew Knight Arena. Ranked 21st in the nation, the Ducks have yet to lose to any opponent outside the top 10. While they sit at sixth in the Pac-12, four out of the Pac-12 top five are ranked nationally within the top 15, including regular powerhouse Stanford and eighth ranked UCLA. Friday is an opportunity for the Ducks to improve their reputation in conference play. Unranked Washington is on a three game skid, are 1-3 in Pac-12 play, and are ahead of only Arizona State (who have yet to win a conference game) in the conference standings. Quite simply, this is the type of game the Ducks need to win if they want to continue their strong start.

Oregon boasts a well rounded scoring attack, with guards Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers averaging 12.7 and 15.4 points on the season. Freshman forward Grace VanSlooten has provided a needed punch to go along with the guards, averaging 15.7 points and 6.8 rebounds on the year. Oregon trails just Stanford and Utah in points per game this season in the Pac-12. Phillipina Kyei has been dominant on rebounding, leading the team with 12.4 per game, nearly double that of the next highest player. This included a 20 board performance in Oregon’s blowout win over USC. Kyei will need some help against the Huskies, who rank 2nd in the Pac-12, and 9th nationally, in rebound margin. Washington’s defense has a pair of playmakers as well, with Dalayah Daniels coming in at 7th in the conference in blocks per game, while sophomore guard Jayda Noble is 7th in steals. The rebounding mismatch, along with Daniels and Noble, means the Ducks will need to play a very clean game, and will need to make sure time of possession is on their side to avoid being upset at home. Daniels is most of the offense for a team that ranks last in the Pac-12 in points per game, so its easy to guess where the Ducks defensive focus will be.

Oregon hasn’t lost to the Huskies since late 2016, and the way Oregon has played even in their losses this season have been somewhat encouraging. Both conference losses have been by single digits, and their largest loss of the season, to No. 3 ranked Ohio State, saw a 29 point performance from VanSlooten, with the Ducks simply being outpaced by OSU’s shooting as the game went on. Head coach Kelly Graves has had the team on a very solid track all year, sticking to their game and playing composed despite a difficult conference and schedule. Friday, the Ducks have an opportunity to play as the favorite, and a chance to show further the potential the team has.