Over the weekend, the unranked Oregon Ducks women's basketball team hosted No. 12 Baylor and stunned the top-25 team by handing the Bears a 76-74 loss.
After the win, the Ducks not only moved to 3-0 for the season but the team also earned its first spot in the Top 25: the No. 25 team in the country. So, after the hard-fought victory over the Baylor Bears, can Oregon fans start talking about Kelly Graves' Ducks being back?
The Ducks have entered the chat. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/FijQuiS5pS
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) November 11, 2024
Here are a few things Oregon's win over Baylor means for the rest of the Ducks season:
Oregon should fly through the rest of non-conference play
The Baylor Bears were Oregon's only ranked non-conference opponent this season, according to the initial AP Top 25. With the win over Baylor, the Ducks' non-conference schedule doesn't look quite as insurmountable as it did just a few days ago.
Oregon's remaining non-conference games:
- vs. North Texas
- vs. Grand Canyon
- vs. Auburn
- vs. Georgia Tech
- vs. South Dakota State
- vs. Washington State
- vs. Air Force
- vs. UC Irvine
While Auburn and Washington State aren't necessarily women's basketball programs to scoff at, the remaining non-Big Ten games on Oregon's schedule should be (at least slightly) less challenging than its matchup against the Bears.
Not to mention, Oregon gets to stay at home for all of its non-conference games and won't travel away from Matthew Knight Arena until the end of December.
Oregon doesn't have that many ranked matchups remaining
The Ducks are now in the Big Ten but with the rapture of some of the conference's biggest stars (*ahem* Caitlin Clark) to the WNBA, the Big Ten isn't quite as formidable as it was just a year ago.
Currently, the only ranked teams in the conference are No. 25 Oregon, No. 23 Illinois, No. 21 Nebraska, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 11 Maryland, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 3 USC.
Luckily for Oregon, the Ducks are only scheduled to play each of those teams once this year which means Graves and his squad only have six matchups remaining against currently-ranked opponents.
Deja Kelly solidified herself as a star for the Ducks
What a pickup Deja Kelly was from the transfer portal. The former North Carolina Tar Heel joined the Ducks over the offseason and has already left her mark on the Oregon stat book.
Against the Bears, Kelly led the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. So far this season (through just three games), she has already produced 51 points, 20 rebounds, 16 assists, and 3 steals. She has averaged a minimal 1.33 turnovers per game.
While Kelly already started in the first three games of Oregon's season, her performance against Baylor cemented her in the starting lineup.