After opening Big Ten play with four of its last five games across multiple time zones, the Oregon women’s basketball team finally returns to Eugene for a home stand Wednesday against Purdue.
The Ducks (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten), boasting a 10-1 record at home this season, have been racking up their flight mileage early in conference play with trips already to Illinois, Northwestern, Penn State and Ohio State. For the next two weeks, Oregon will get to play at Matthew Knight Arena, starting with the Boilermakers (7-9, 0-5 Big Ten).
“I think our team is just really excited to be home,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “Two weeks in their own bed. They missed their entire first week of school this past week. I think being here at home for three games is really important. We’ve played well at home and hopefully that continues for three games.”
Oregon, which has utilized seven different starting lineups over 17 games and has 11 players logging over 10 minutes a game, has yet to find a steady group with so many newcomers.
Nine players are new to the roster, with seven coming in the transfer portal, and though many came with significant experience, only a handful have fully carved out roles and consistent minutes.
“It’s never fun but in a lot of cases kids just aren’t separating,” Graves said. “You just never know, but it makes the continuity difficult sometimes.”
The Ducks have touted their depth as a strength this season, and it has helped them more than it has hurt them so far this season. Key players like Peyton Scott, Phillipina Kyei and Sofia Bell have gone down due to injury, and the Ducks have had the depth to withstand those injuries without massive drop off.
The issue has been consistency. Players like Alexis Whitfield, Ehis Etute, Bell and Ari Long have all shined at moments but have played sparingly in others.
Kelly Graves says Purdue can’t be overlooked: ‘They are a lot better than their record’
Graves had strong thoughts about a Boilermaker team that is still winless in Big Ten play heading into the conference matchup Wednesday.
“They are a lot better than their record,” Graves said. “They’ve got inside players that can play, they’ve got outside players, they have playmakers that can penetrate, they’re shooting the ball like crazy in conference … we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Six of Purdue’s nine losses have come against top-25 teams, including each of the top-3 in the latest AP Poll: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 Notre Dame.
Graves said if the roles were reversed and Oregon had played Purdue’s schedule that its record would likely look a lot more like the Boilermakers’ 7-9 overall record.
The Boilermakers rank dead last in the Big Ten in point differential (-8.4), points per game (65.3) and points allowed per game (73.7), while Oregon has a top half Big Ten defense, giving up just over 60 points per game to rank seventh in the conference.
Purdue is led by senior guard Destini Lombard, who averages 12.3 points per game. Fellow senior Reagan Bass scores 10.4 points and hauls in 6 rebounds per game, as well.
How to watch Oregon women’s basketball vs. Purdue
-
TV channel: None
-
Streaming: B1G+
-
Radio: KUGN (590 AM, 98.1 FM), KPAM (860 AM, Portland), KYKN (1430 AM, Salem)
Oregon women’s basketball vs. Purdue game time
-
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 15
-
Start time: 6 p.m.
Oregon women’s basketball vs. Purdue predictions, picks, odds
The ESPN Analytics matchup predictor gives Oregon a 91.7% chance to beat Purdue.
Oregon women’s basketball 2024-25 schedule
Next five games
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 vs. Purdue: Streaming, how to watch
