The Oregon women’s basketball team picked up another huge win for its NCAA Tournament hopes Sunday, defeating Minnesota on the road, 76-70.
The Ducks (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten) fell behind 28-19 in the first half but exploded to close the second quarter and do enough in the second half to earn the crucial road victory.
Deja Kelly once again paced the Ducks and hit big shots late, scoring 20 points and dishing out seven assists with five rebounds. Elisa Mevius scored 19 points, her highest output as a Duck, and Alexis Whitfield had a massive second half off the bench, scoring 13 points to round out double figure scorers for the Ducks.
“This was the best game she’s played in a Duck uniform,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said on KUGN radio of Mevius. “Deja is starting to break out and be that star that we know she can be … It was a good all-around effort.”
The Ducks got off to a poor start, shooting under 30% from the floor until an 18-5 run to end the first half saw them take a 37-33 lead into the halftime break. Mevius scored 15 first half points, hitting three first half long balls in her best half as a Duck to date. She continued that hot shooting to open the third, knocking in her fourth 3-pointer early in the second half.
“It was our pressure defense,” Graves said of the run to end the second quarter. “When we amp the defense up, good things happen. We got some run-outs and easy baskets and got the tempo back in our favor. We pulled out a lot of different defenses tonight … we kept them a little off-balance tonight. I don’t know if they were ever in a flow offensively.”
Oregon opened up a double-digit lead to begin the third before the Gophers (19-8, 7-8) started chipping away at the lead. By the end of the third quarter, the Ducks led 57-47. The Gophers took advantage of a lackluster Oregon offense in the fourth, pulling within four with 2:35 left after a Grace Grocholski 3-pointer.
Up four with just 24 seconds left, Kelly hit a floater and absorbed contact to put the game away in the final moments, despite missing the free throw. Oregon salted away the game from there with free throws and strong defense, winning its second straight clutch-time game.
Minnesota had four players in double figures in Amaya Battle (14 points), Mallory Heyer (11 points), Grocholski (16 points) and Sophie Hart (15 points).
“Our players are gritty, they’re tough,” Graves said. “They’re experienced. They don’t let little things get them down or get to them. We’re seeing now those dividends on the court.”
What does this mean for Oregon women’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament chances?
With the win, Oregon now has wins over Michigan State (No. 22 NET), Iowa (No. 29), Minnesota (No. 31) and Washington (No. 52). With the latter three expected to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Ducks have put themselves in prime position to make the Big Dance for the first time since 2022.
The Ducks are 3-6 in quadrant 1 games in the NCAA’s NET rankings, 4-2 in quadrant 2 games, and undefeated in quadrant 3 and 4 games.
Oregon plays Nebraska (No. 37), Rutgers (No. 106) and Washington to close its regular season before the Big Ten Tournament in early March.
The win also puts the Ducks back into the top half of the Big Ten standings, which would lead to a more favorable matchup in the conference tournament.
What’s next for Oregon women’s basketball?
The Ducks hit the road again, heading straight from Minneapolis to Lincoln where they will take on Nebraska at 5 p.m. PT Wednesday.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women’s basketball picks up Big Ten road win at Minnesota
