Preview by John Evans
EUGENE, OR - This Monday at Matthew Knight Arena, #20 Oregon Women's Basketball will host the unranked Northwestern Wildcats for the Ducks’ first game of the regular season. The game is set to tip off at 3:00 PM PT and will be the first part of a doubleheader that will see the #21 ranked men’s team start their season against Florida A&M. This game comes off the back of a 72-41 drubbing over Carroll College in an exhibition matchup on October 28 that saw a pair of strong performances from the highly-ranked freshman duo of Grace VanSlooten and Jennah Isai, with each of them contributing with 12 points a piece. The Ducks currently sit as the third-highest-ranked team in the Pac-12, coming in only behind #2 Stanford and #19 Arizona, and will look to improve that with a strong performance in the season opener against a Northwestern team that finished 7th in the Big Ten last season.
Preseason Hype
Heading into the season, the Ducks are looking to build on a strong season last year in which they finished third in the Pac-12 and qualified as a #5 seed in the NCAA tournament before suffering a tragic upset defeat in double overtime at the hands of the Belmont Bruins in the first round. They were set to return three starters from last season, including the second and third leading scorers from last year’s squad, in guards Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao, as well as Lisa Leslie Award hopeful, Sedona Prince. Additionally, all three players were also named to the Pac-12 preseason all-conference team. Unfortunately, this was all before it was announced on the day of Oregon’s preseason matchup against Carroll College that Prince had suffered a torn ligament in her elbow that would require surgery that would force her to preemptively cut her college career short, choosing to step away from the team in order to focus on recovery and her pursuit of a professional career. Despite the loss of Prince to injury before her season could even begin, Oregon will still look to field a team that will compete as one of the top teams in the Pac-12, and hopefully push for another spot in the NCAA tournament.
Fresh Faces
Following the loss of last season’s leading scorer, Nyara Sabally, who was drafted with the fifth overall pick by the New York Liberty in the 2022 WNBA draft, the Ducks are expecting to see major contributions from its strong freshman class that features four players who were ranked in ESPN’s top 100 players in the class of 2022, in addition to a strong cast of returning veterans. The highest-ranked of this class is five-star guard, Chance Gray, from Ohio, who was ranked as the 7th-best player and 2nd-best guard in the class of 2022. Gray struggled to find her shot in the exhibition game against Carroll College, going 3-13 from the field and 0-4 from three, but still finished the game as a positive +17 while she was on the floor, which was tied for third best on the team. She profiles as a strong combo-guard, able to simultaneously create shots for herself and teammates, and will have plenty of opportunities to learn from her experienced backcourt mates, Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao. A fellow five-star Ohian, forward Grace VanSlooten ranked as the 13th-best player nationally and the 4th-best forward in her class. VanSlooten made an immediate impact against Carroll College, joining Gray in the starting lineup, and tying for the team lead with 12 points while also making an impact defensively, grabbing 9 boards in addition to 2 steals and 2 blocks. Her presence in the Oregon lineup was immediately felt, as she led the Ducks in plus/minus, with a staggering +23 for the game. Four-star, Jenna Isai, also showed lots of promise during the exhibition game as well, tying VanSlooten with 12 points, shooting efficiently from the field, going 4-6 on the day, and managing to get to the free-throw line multiple times, shooting 4-5. Isai, who was ranked as the #36 overall player in her class, should see a significant role as a sparkplug scoring guard off the bench this season. Finally, Arizona’s Kennedy Basham, who stands at a towering 6’7” and was ranked as the 59th-best player and 9th-best center in the 2022 class, should see plenty of opportunity to learn from starter Phillipina Kyei, as she tries to develop into one of the premier interior forces in the Pac-12.
Northwestern Wildcats
It looks like Northwestern will likely be headed toward another middle-of-the-pack finish in the Big Ten this year, as despite retaining many of the key contributors that helped them finish 7th in the conference, they lost their best player by far, and didn’t make any splashes in the 2022 recruiting class. Last season, Veronica Burton led the team by averaging 17.8 points per game, while no other Wildcat was even in double figures. With her leaving for the WNBA following the Dallas Wings selecting her with the 7th overall pick in this year’s draft, it leaves big shoes to fill in the scoring department for Northwestern. The Wildcats will return their second through fourth-best scorers from last season, Courtney Shaw, Jillian Brown, and Laya Hartman, but they will need to step up their performance in order to keep up with the rest of the conference. The breakout performer to watch out for this season for the Wildcats will be sophomore forward, Caleigh Walsh. Following an up-and-down freshman season that saw her move from the starting lineup to the bench in mid-January, Walsh looks poised to breakout this season, posting a 21-point and 12-rebound double-double in Northwestern’s exhibition win over Parkside.
Final Overview
Although Northwestern is a Power Six out-of-conference opponent, this should be a game that the Ducks win pretty handily. It will still be an adjustment for Oregon to figure out how things will work without Sedona Prince in the lineup, but this year’s team is very talented, with lots of different scoring options in the starting lineup and off the bench. I think one of the keys to victory for the Ducks will be to limit Caleigh Walsh and Northwestern’s three-point shooting, as in their exhibition game Walsh went 3-6 from three while Jillian Brown added 4 threes of her own on 7 attempts. Additionally, Oregon should try to get out and run in transition by creating turnovers, as in their exhibition game they were able to turn a +11 turnover differential into +20 points off turnovers, while Northwestern managed to only gain a +1 turnover differential and +2 points off turnovers, despite playing a far inferior opponent. Overall, I think this will be a good opportunity for the Ducks to start their season off with a strong out-of-conference win, and make the first strides toward another winning season.