Charles Fischer

EUGENE, Ore. — With the Oregon women’s basketball team hitting the court at Matthew Knight Arena less than 40 hours after its upset win over Baylor on Sunday night, a defensive letdown might have been expected. But that was certainly not the case Tuesday against defending American Athletic Conference champion North Texas, as the Ducks defense swarmed the Mean Green in a 66-35 win before 4,344 fans. “We were ready to play,” said head coach Kelly Graves. “We defended really well in that first half, to me, that means our experience won out. They were ready … that’s a veteran team that can do that. Let’s face it, that was a huge game the other night.” The defensive end carried Oregon (4-0) in the first half, as the Ducks allowed just nine points and four made field goals over the game’s first 20 minutes. North Texas was forced into 11 turnovers and 10.5 percent shooting (2-for-19) in the half, while the Mean Green were held without a basket in the second quarter (0-for-8 FG). “They scored a field goal on their first possession and then they just got one more the rest of the half,” added Graves. “When you’re only allowing two field goals in a half, that’s getting it done.” After starting the game 1-for-6 from the floor, the Ducks offense gained traction in the latter part of the first quarter and into the second. UO shot 50.0 percent after missing its first five shots of the game, opening a 27-9 lead at the break. The nine points allowed in the half marked the fewest given up by UO in any half in program history. Nani Falatea and Elisa Mevius, both coming off the bench, each posted a team-leading 11 points in the game. Falatea knocked down three 3-pointers while Mevius added a pair of triples to go with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Oregon’s bench accounted for 42 of its 66 points in the game. “When your two leading scorers are coming off the bench, that’s impressive. But that’s how it’s going to be all year long,” Graves said. “That’s one of our key things that we’ve talked about as a team in the beginning of the season,” said Falatea. “It’s not going to take one or two people, it’s going to take everybody and with that comes unselfishness." How It Happened: The Ducks missed their first five shots of the game before a Sarah Rambus jumper dropped just over four minutes into the game. Rambus’ bucket sparked an eight-point Oregon run, as the Ducks closed the first quarter by scoring 14 of the last 16 points to take a 14-4 lead. Sofia Bell and Mevius each hit a 3-pointer and finished with four points in the frame, with Mevius converting on a four-point play after being fouled on her triple. UO’s defense limited UNT to 2-for-11 shooting in the first. The Ducks offense clicked at a 50.0 percent pace in the second quarter, outscoring the Mean Green 13-5. UNT was held without a field goal in the period (0-for-8), with its only points coming from the free throw line (5-for-8). Falatea logged a team-best five points after hitting both of her field goals, including a 3-pointer. Ten Ducks got into the scoring column in the first half while the defense allowed just nine first-half points for a 27-9 edge headed into the locker room. UNT was forced into 11 turnovers while shooting just 10.5 percent from the floor (2-for-19). The Ducks pushed their lead to 25 after the third quarter, 46-21. Six players scored in the third, with Mevius connecting for five points without missing a shot. North Texas went 4-for-15 from the field, and had just six made field goals in the game’s first 30 minutes. The Oregon bench accounted for 18 of its 20 points in the fourth quarter, getting six from Falatea and three from Sammie Wagner. A 12-4 run midway through the fourth inflated UO’s lead to its largest of the day at 31 points, 58-27. UO went 8-of-18 from the floor while holding UNT to 6-for-15. North Texas’ six made field goals were good for half of its game total, which tied for the fewest made field goals by an opponent at Matthew Knight Arena. Notable: Ehis Etute returned to the team after missing the season’s first three games due to international team obligations, but did not play … The nine first-half points allowed were the fewest given up in any half in program history … North Texas’ 12 made field goals tied for the fewest given up by the Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena and were the fewest allowed overall since Portland State made 12 on March 22, 2019 … The Ducks begin the season 4-0 for the seventh time under Graves and picked up their 68th win over their last 70 home nonconference games … The game marked the first-ever between Oregon and North Texas. Up Next: The Ducks host Grand Canyon on Monday (6 p.m., B1G+).

This was a surprisingly poor showing, but after being down 13 in the second half, they decided they wanted the win and played tough at the end. "We're lucky, we're very fortunate," UO coach Dana Altman said. "… Believe me I'm so happy we won the game, because I would be unbelievably miserable. Now I'm just miserable." SIDEARM Integrations GODUCKS.COM Oregon didn't play well most of the night Tuesday, but the Ducks finished strong to beat Portland in overtime. See more OBD forum comments below...

Naw, he is enjoying life and doing fine.

That is reasonable to me, but again....the media is only there for 15 minutes, effectively through their warm-ups. If Lanning was going to push them--the media still would not see it.

It was announced to the media on Sunday afternoon that all Oregon football practices this week are closed to the media. It is puzzling because the media is only allowed for the first 15 minutes of practice--that's it. You cannot tell much, you don't see anything of the offense/defense, and the only thing you CAN do is see who is injured, recovering or not. This week is not special; this is not the B1G Championship Game, nor a major game left on the schedule in Wisconsin, and after that we have a bye week before finishing the regular season against Washington. So WHY are they closed? The only thing I can come up with is there is an injury to someone crucial, and they don't want the media to see anything. That's all I got....what does this wise community pose as other reasons?

Darren, I loved the stats, and the fun of the article until....we got to the "Death Stare," as I was no longer thinking about hockey at a bar, but the looks my "ex" used to give me. I'm over it now...

Isn't QB one of his few recruiting/coaching successes?

Very cool...

As I said...they know nothing about us and rely on impressions from a decade ago..

The title was tongue-in-cheek, as our beloved mascot has been putting on a show for years, but this was fun...

Husky fans are going to need some Copium prescribed soon...

"The B1G got Oregon and three Fresno States."

You know, he made a high, athletic catch, and I thought he might stumble before the goal line. Pretty talented young-gun on the offensive line!

He also predicts Oregon to be the No. 5 Seed and host Boise State again in the first round, and with a win would face his predicted winner of the Big-12 in Colorado. Beyond that round would loom Ohio State again (No. 1 Seed) in the National Semi-finals. He places Alabama as the No. 2 Seed that the winner of the third game between Oregon and Ohio State would face the 'Natty. Ohio State is going to drive us...nuts.

In one article in The Athletic, it was predicted that Oregon will be the first team of officially qualify for the new 12-Team Playoff. But in another article Stewart Mandel says this... "Oregon has done absolutely nothing wrong, but I’m back to riding Ohio State if they meet in a Big Ten Championship Game rematch." Ohio State is a good team, and will be intensely ready for us, but I like being an underdog in the eyes of many. We still have to earn our spurs...

EUGENE, Ore. — Only one week and three games into the new college basketball season, Oregon displayed fight and toughness in defending its home court Sunday against a top-15 opponent. The Ducks hadn’t defeated a ranked opponent since February 2023 and had dropped their last 14 such games until Sunday night, when UO fought off a furious comeback bid from 12th-ranked Baylor to pull off a 76-74 upset in front of 6,372 fans at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon (3-0) saw its 16-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate after a 17-2 Baylor run to start the final frame. Trailing by two with under 90 seconds to go, Deja Kelly came up with the tying basket and then set up teammate Elisa Mevius, who drove and sank her only field goal of the night with 22 seconds on the clock. “The goal was just to get a good look,” Kelly said of the go-ahead possession. “I drove baseline, I knew that we were going to have our two guards on the opposite side and Elisa made a great play herself.” Mevius caught the ball in the far corner and used a screen from Phillipina Kyei to find a seam in the Baylor defense and get to the basket to hit the go-ahead lay-in. “I couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Oregon head coach Kelly Graves. “We played so, so well for a good portion of that game and lost that big lead, but to come back and make the plays down the stretch like we did, shows a lot of character. Just really proud of our team.” Kelly finished with a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds to go with five assists and three steals. The Ducks’ graduate transfer point guard scored 13 of her points in the second half on 5-of-9 shooting. Alexis Whitfield finished with 16 points, including nine second-quarter points, and Nani Falatea added 12 off the bench and drained a pair of 3-pointers. “Today showed we have fight in us, and we want it and that we can battle,” said Whitfield. “That was the importance of this game today for us as a team, to show we know how to fight and be strong.” How It Happened: The Ducks seized momentum early in the ballgame, as UO scored the first six points of the game and jumped out to a 13-4, courtesy of four points apiece from Kelly and Peyton Scott. The Bears would make a run of their own in response, outscoring Oregon 10-2 to cut the Ducks’ lead to 15-14 after 10 minutes. Baylor claimed its first lead of the night early in the second quarter, but had no answer for Whitfield, who scored nine of her 16 points in the second period. After the Bears took a 25-20 lead, the Oregon graduate transfer made back-to-back buckets to kickstart a 15-2 Oregon run. Whitfield was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field during the run before Nani Falatea capped the half with her first three of the night to extend the UO lead, 35-27, at the half. The Bears opened the second half by scoring five of the first seven points to pull within two, but five points from Kelly and a three from Sophia Bell pushed the lead back up to double digits. Oregon kept Baylor at arm’s length for the rest of the period, not letting the Bears get back within eight, thanks to increased intensity on the defensive side. UO forced six turnovers in the quarter after generating five in the first half. Mevius tallied two steals herself as the Ducks raced out to a 64-48 lead heading into the fourth, their largest lead of the night. Baylor chipped away at the Oregon lead, as the Bears began the fourth quarter on a 17-2 run to cut the Oregon lead to just one, 68-67, with just over five minutes left to play. A Kyei putback and two Kelly free throws pushed the lead back to five, giving the momentum back to Oregon and its raucous crowd with 3:32 to play. Down two with under 90 seconds on the clock, Kelly tied the game at 74-74 with a jumper, giving her 20 points on the night. After the Ducks got a defensive stop, Kelly found Mevius, who maneuvered around a Kyei screen and sank the go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left. Notable: UO snapped a 14-game losing streak to ranked opponents, picking up its first ranked win since Feb. 23, 2023 against then-No. 14 Arizona (73-59) … The Ducks begin the season 3-0 for the 10th straight season and picked up their 67th win over their last 69 home nonconference games … The win was Oregon’s first in the series history against Baylor (1-5). Up Next: The Ducks host North Texas on Tuesday (11 a.m., B1G+).

If you're playing San Jose State as a conference game...you gotta do something.