By Ryan Oppenheimer
EUGENE, OR — Oregon Women's Basketball (15-13, 6-11 PAC-12) takes on the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-18, 1-16) at noon Sunday for their final game of the season.
It hasn't been an easy season for the Ducks, as injuries and lack of depth have held the talented group back from reaching their potential. Heartbreaking one-score losses in January to Oregon State and Washington seemed to drain any momentum they had. Before you could blink, they had dropped seven in a row, and an injury to Grace VanSlooten put a strain on an already small roster.
But they finally righted the ship Thursday night, coming together in VanSlooten's absence to pull off a convincing 14-point win over nationally ranked Arizona. While it's been Kelly Graves's least successful season since his first as a Duck, he has a chance to end it on a good note by sweeping the Arizona schools and giving seniors Taylor Hosendove, Endyia Rogers, Taya Hanson and Ahlise Hurst a proper sendoff.
VanSlooten's injury leaves the team without ther second leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, but that has only led to Te-Hina Paopao looking far more aggressive as a scorer. She has scored over 20 points in her last two games, and while VanSlooten is questionable to return today, expect her to continue to hunt her shot against a porous ASU defense.
The Sun Devils' scoring attack is extremely guard heavy, with their starting backcourt of Tyi Skinner and Jaddan Simmons combining for 31.8 points per game and over half of the team's assists. Last Thursday, they got their first PAC-12 win of the season, defeating Oregon State 75-73. Today, just like Oregon, they are looking to redeem a losing streak with a couple of wins to end the year.
Neither team has much postseason implications to play for, as both are in the bottom third of the PAC-12 standings, but it should be an emotional night for the seniors and the faithful crowd. Riding off Thursday's momentum, I expect the Ducks to take care of business and head into the conference tournament with hopes of a cinderella run.
Prediction: Ducks win 74-60