By: Ian Sutliff

Eugene, OR-- After two straight wins over the Arizona schools at home, Oregon will take on a Washington squad it split the season series with. For both teams, a deep run in the conference tournament will likely be the only way to an NCAA tournament bid. With a loss tonight, one of these teams seasons will be over as the two squads have gone through their fair share of struggles.

Oregon:

It’s been an up and down season for the Ducks as the biggest month of college basketball begins. After a rough stretch for Oregon in which it lost seven straight games, Kelly Graves’ club won two straight games against a tough Arizona team and a struggling Arizona State squad. One of the reasons the Ducks have had a lot of success recently is the re-emergence of Te-Hina Papao who has finally found confidence in her shot again. Over her last three games, the junior guard has averaged 22 points per game on 61.8% shooting. Even better news for the Ducks has been her amazing three point shooting. She has made 18 threes over the last three games and is shooting an incredible 64.3% from beyond the arc in that time. Over the losing streak, she went just 4-24 from beyond the arc. That has kept a lot of pressure off Endiya Rogers who leads the team in points and has continued to be a consistent bright spot for a very inconsistent squad this season. If Oregon is to extend its season, Chance Gray and Phillipina Kyei will need to step up in the absence of Grace VanSlooten on Wednesday.

Washington:

Potentially one of the only teams that is more inconsistent than the Ducks has been the Huskies. After upsetting Stanford at home, the Huskies only two wins have been against the Oregon schools and it has been blown out by Utah, Colorado, and USC in that same span. One of the reasons for Washington’s struggles this year has been its ability to score. Of the 350 division 1 basketball teams, the Huskies rank just 244th in terms of points per game at 62. Just one of its players averages in double figures as well in terms of points. That’s sophomore forward Dalayah Daniels who has put 11.1 points per contest on 50.4% shooting. It’s a balanced scoring attack that has helped in games against Stanford but the lack of a go-to scorer has been a big reason why Washington has been held under 55 points on eight occasions this season. With a surging Ducks offense, the Huskies will need to put up points in bunches to keep up in the first round of this tournament. 

Prediction:

This may be one of the toughest matchups to predict as both of these squads have been wildly inconsistent since the beginning of PAC-12 play. With Paopao playing her best basketball, Oregon is showing flashes of the ranked team it used to be at the start of the season. VanSlooten being out for the tournament opener is worrisome, but there are other scoring options for Oregon. Washington just beat Oregon a couple weeks ago but these are both different teams since that point. The Huskies have been on somewhat of a downward arc and the Ducks are playing their best basketball in months. Graves’ squad is more battle tested and the experience of Oregon will play a big part in this must-win game.

Oregon 66 - Washington 58