Preview Oregon Ducks vs. Washington Huskies

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The rivalry between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies continues in women’s college basketball this evening at 5:00 ET at the Matt Court. The Ducks are 8-5 and coming off of back-to-back losses, while the Huskies are 8-3 and had a five game winning streak snapped in a 60-55 loss to Oregon State to start Pac-12 play. Both teams are 0-1 right now in the conference and don’t want to dig themselves into an 0-2 hole right off the bat.

Nia Jackson showed up to the shootaround with a swollen right knee and missed the team’s last game; likely the main reason for a putrid performance against Washington State. Jackson is day-to-day and probably won’t be able to play, but the Ducks will be prepared for her absence. It’s not much solace, however, and Washington is definitely better than Wazzu. The Huskies have center Regina Rogers, and she will be a huge factor in this game. Rogers averages 17.8 points per game and 8.2 boards per game with a 67.5 FG%. She is the fourth best scorer in the conference and the tenth best rebounder; Ducks star Jasmin Holliday is just ahead of her with 8.4 boards per game. Holliday, of course, is the only one in the Ducks triumvirate who will play against their rivals.

The Huskies will have to travel to the Matt Court for the first time in their team’s history, and the Ducks subdued their rivals 68-64 in their last home game. However, Nia Jackson and Kristi Kingma- Brett’s brother who is out for the season- will not be able to shred the Huskies today. Danielle Love averages eight points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game, but she also only makes a third of her shots from the floor. She will need to step up in this game to replace the star power lost.

Jazmine Davis might average 11.4 points per game, but she is a very inefficient player. Davis shoots just 33% from the floor and commits 3.9 turnovers per game, but unfortunately, Jackson (2.6 steals per game) won’t be there to exploit this matchup; she is third in the entire conference in steals per game.

Although they don’t have an offense that is capable of putting up the points the Ducks offense can, the Huskies don’t need a high-powered offense to win games. They average 44.2 rebounds per game and hold their opponents to a 33 FG% and 55.4 points per game. They are one of the best defensive teams in the country, and their average of 65.5 points per game is sufficient.

The Ducks are much worse offensively without Amanda Johnson and average 17.8 less points per game without their star player. In fact, they average the same number of points per game (65.5) as the Washington Huskies when Johnson isn’t starting for the Ducks. Their rebounding margin has fell from +3.7 to -5.3 without her playing, and that 9-point drop won’t bode well for Oregon in this contest. Regina Rogers and Mackenzie Argens average 8.2 and 7.7 rebounds per game respectively, and their rebounding margin is +8.4.

Without Nia Jackson, I just don’t see how the Ducks are able to win this game. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but they will be without both their captains and their star point guard (4.2 APG). Jackson is their third best player and a key cog for them. Oregon doesn’t have the personnel to cope with this loss on top of the absence of Amanda Johnson from the starting line-up. To be honest, their backup point guards are less than adequate. Rogers has a great day for the Huskies, and Washington controls the boards and holds down Oregon’s now merely average offensive attack in a 65-56 loss for the Ducks.

You can follow me on Twitter @SorianoJoe and Autzen Zoo @Autzen_Zoo.