Charles Fischer

That was SO good, and you have to turn the sound up!

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | JANUARY 31, 2026 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | @OregonWBB COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The first road game of January for the Oregon women's basketball team was an upset of a ranked opponent, and the month ended in the same fashion. The Ducks went across the country and knocked off No. 16 Maryland on Saturday, 68-61, taking the lead midway through the fourth quarter on a trio of three-pointers by junior Sofia Bell. That capped an 11-0 run that put the Ducks up 61-54, a run sparked by two of Ehis Etute's career-high 26 points before Bell caught fire from behind the arc. The UO women won their first road game of January at No. 21 USC, and capped the month with another ranked win Saturday. The Ducks (17-7, 5-6 Big Ten) ended the month with a season-best three-game win streak in conference play, and play three of their next four at home beginning Wednesday against Illinois. "I think this means that we've finally pieced it together, we finally found each other," said Etute, whose team endured a four-game losing streak in the middle of January before winning their last three in a row. "We have finally worked on our team chemistry and got way better, and now we've finally translated that into our games and are finally winning the hard ones." Etute's 26 points came on 10-of-15 shooting, and she grabbed 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Bell added 16 points on four made three-pointers, including the three in a row that gave the Ducks the lead. "I think we're playing really well together," Bell said. "We know our strengths at this point, and we've kind of identified ways that we need to improve. And I think we're doing those things, and that's going to help us in March." The Ducks shot 45 percent and held Maryland to 37 percent shooting Saturday, and Oregon had a 39-35 advantage on the boards. The UO women also had 17 assists on 25 made field goals, and improved to 3-5 this season in games decided by single digits. "We've been in games like this before, and we haven't always finished them," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "It was great to finally finish one tonight. … This was a really great win — certainly one of my most memorable." How It Happened: The Ducks misfired on their first three shots of the day, while Maryland hit its first three – all coming from Oluchi Okananwa – as the Terrapins built an early 7-1 lead. Mia Jacobs connected a triple for UO's first bucket and later converted a layin to cap a 6-0 run that handed Oregon its first lead at 10-9, as the Ducks held the Terps scoreless over a four-minute stretch. As the quarter closed, an Amina Muhammad layup put the Ducks in front after 10 minutes, 14-13. Oregon's lead grew to eight after hitting on its first three field goals in the second, including a three-pointer by Avary Cain. Astera Tuhina later knocked down a triple, putting the score at 25-19 in favor of the Ducks. After Maryland converted an and-one, Bell pushed the lead up to eight with her team's third three-pointer of the quarter, followed by a floater to put the score at 30-22 with 3:41 remaining in the half. "I thought our kids executed really well," Graves said. "Our turnovers were a little high (19); when we struggled, it's because we were trying to do too much. But when we settled down and tried to run something in the halfcourt — and usually that something ended up trying to get the ball inside to Ehis — we made it work. We executed it." The Terrapins held the Ducks scoreless the rest of the quarter, however, as they proceeded to score the half's final 14 points to take a 36-30 lead into the locker room. Okananwa accounted for nine of her team's points during the spurt to lead all scorers with 23 first-half points. Etute paced the Ducks with 10 points and six rebounds. After a Maryland bucket, Oregon scored 10 straight points to begin the third quarter to reclaim the lead at 40-38, getting eight points from Etute in that stretch. Etute finished the quarter with eight points, five rebounds and two steals, but the Ducks trailed 50-44 headed into the fourth quarter. With UO leading 40-38, the Terps ended the frame on a 12-4 run. "I appreciated the trust my teammates showed in me, and how they kept giving me the ball," Etute said. "Obviously, I wanted to show up for them, and they needed me in that moment, so I delivered." Etute got the fourth quarter started with back-to-back layups, her first of four layins in the quarter's first four minutes, to inch the Ducks within two at 54-52. From there, Bell knocked down three consecutive three-pointers over a three-minute span to give Oregon a 61-54 lead with under three minutes to go. "I was pretty open, and my teammates found me," Bell said. "So all that was going through my mind was just knock it down." The Ducks then went scoreless for the next two minutes, and Maryland crawled back within 63-61 with 27 seconds left. But Katie Fiso, Jacobs and Bell all knocked down free throws down the stretch and Oregon got the win. Up Next: The Ducks return to Matthew Knight Arena to host Illinois on Wednesday (6 p.m., B1G+).

It's true...I'm easily amused!

For those who can watch Twitter of "X" videos...some good ones!

These are fun memories/humor from a year ago. Gotta have some fun!

This is a great article for perspective by Don Marsh, and I sure welcome guest articles such as from him, Mike Whitty and Jon Joseph. Everyone is welcome to write about a topic that is on your mind, and just email me with it at charles@fishduck.com and I'll take it from there. How close is a 'Natty between winning and losing? We know Indiana won by six points, so effectively...when a backup tight end as a punt protector made the split-second decision to block inside instead of blocking the punt rusher further--that decision by one player in a micro-second decided the national championship. THAT is how close it becomes...

Cignetti is building a great reputation for analyzing talent with high upside. Years ago...when Washington dominated the conference with Don James as coach in the 80s, he had a policy that the Huskies would not offer a player unless two other Pac-8 schools did. The only exception was Oregon; if Rich Brooks offered a 3-Star....Washington would too, and they grabbed these players in the NW. Such was the respect for our talent analysis at that time. Cig is now that man, and he can't hog them all! 😄

That is one damned interesting post! You did that past 10:00 PM on a Tuesday night?

Ohio State and Michigan back-to-back?

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2026 FOOTBALL | @OregonFootball 2026 Oregon Football Schedule Announced EUGENE, Ore. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2026 Oregon football schedule on Tuesday, with the Ducks set to host seven regular-season games in Autzen Stadium for the fourth year in a row. The Ducks will open the 2026 season at home against Boise State on Sept. 5, followed by a trip to Oklahoma State on Sept. 12. Oregon will wrap nonconference play with an in-state matchup against Portland State in Autzen Stadium on Sept. 19. A trip to Los Angeles to face USC will kick off Big Ten play on Sept. 26. Following Oregon's bye week, the Ducks will return to action with back-to-back home games against UCLA (Oct. 10) and Nebraska (Oct. 17). Oregon's first trip to Illinois since 1993 is scheduled for Oct. 24, with the Ducks then returning home to host Northwestern on Halloween. The final month of the regular season begins with a trip to Ohio State on Nov. 7 that is sure to be one of the premier showdowns of the college football season. Oregon will then host Michigan on Nov. 14 before going to Michigan State on Nov. 21, with the Ducks then wrapping the regular season at home against rival Washington on Nov. 28. Season ticket holders can renew for the 2026 season and fans can submit 2026 season ticket deposits by visiting www.GoDucks.com/FBTix. The deadline for renewals and deposits is this Friday, Jan. 30. Current season ticket holders can renew their 2025 seat locations at their discounted loyalty price, ensuring they keep their seats and continue to enjoy priority benefits tied to season ticket loyalty. Fans who don't currently hold season tickets but want access before the public on-sale in March can get a head start by submitting a season ticket deposit ahead of Friday's deadline. Deposit holders will be eligible to select seats during the seat selection process in late February, ahead of the general public. 2026 Oregon Football Schedule Sept. 5 - Boise State Sept. 12 - at Oklahoma State Sept. 19 - Portland State Sept. 26 - at USC* Oct. 10 - UCLA* Oct. 17 - Nebraska* Oct. 24 - at Illinois* Oct. 31 - Northwestern* Nov. 7 - at Ohio State* Nov. 14 - Michigan* Nov. 21 - at Michigan State* Nov. 28 - Washington* Home games at Autzen stadium in bold

A ton of B1G and interesting games! Then the conference championship...

THANK YOU for the notification...a very polite one at that. Duck fans get that all the time too as they refer to Oregon as OU, when we are UO...not Oklahoma.

Great to see you posting, and it was fun to chat with you recently. We need more Big-10 fans in here to give us their perspectives, so WELCOME!

No sweat. All opinions and OBD members posting here are valued and protected, unpopular or not as I welcome ALL of the different opinions. You are new here and I'm glad to see you posting!

Great article, and great topic David. In your conclusion--you touch on the diametrically opposed viewpoints of which both are true...and hard to wrap our heads around. Oregon got their butts-kicked two years in a row to finish their season. Oregon had two 13 win seasons back-to-back for the first time in our 140 year+ history. Each fan decides what they want to focus upon...