Oregon women’s basketball didn’t have many joyous moments in the past two seasons.
When head coach Kelly Graves was interviewed on the Big Ten Network following the program’s first Top-25 victory in over a year, his smile returned.
The entire Ducks team interrupted Graves’ interview to jump around him in celebration. He held his hands into an “O.”
“See what I’m dealing with every day,” Graves said playfully to the camera.
The previous two years seemed like an eternity for a program that had become accustomed to success since Graves’ arrival a decade ago. Between injuries plaguing the roster, star players transferring out and a record 14 straight losses to end the 2023-24 season, it appeared that Oregon’s days of consistently making the NCAA Tournament had ended.
But Graves and his staff got to work in the offseason gathering commitments from top players in the transfer portal. It has paid off with a perfect record through four games, including a 76-74 win over No. 12 Baylor University.
“I just think we needed to freshen things up,” Graves said before the start of the season. “We’ve done that in roster turnover and in coaching responsibilities.”
Among the transfers into the program was Deja Kelly, one of the top point guards in the portal. She was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team selection with the University of North Carolina. Kelly’s transfer to the Ducks was the first signal that the energy was about to shift within the program.
Oregon has added strong veteran leadership with the additions of Kelly and Alexis Whitfield, as well as the return of Peyton Scott from injury.
“[The seniors] are hungry,” Graves said ahead of the team’s exhibition game on Nov. 1. “A lot of them haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament and this gives them one last chance to do so and I certainly think we’re a good enough team to get there.”
In the previous two seasons when the team didn’t make the postseason, the roster was smaller and the stars were younger. The Ducks, at times, struggled to have enough healthy players required to play a game.
Not only does Graves have a bigger roster this season, but he expressed that he feels comfortable playing 12 players a game.
“We wanted to do a lot more defensively, put a lot of pressure on people, plus we have the depth to do it,” Graves said following the first win of the season. “We didn’t have that. We weren’t in that position in the past.”
Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao were two of Oregon’s top players in 2022-23. They both transferred the following season. Last year, it was sophomores Chance Gray and Grace VanSlooten who led the team. Again, they both left.
Graves didn’t just stop at getting new stars from the portal this time. This season, the Ducks appear to have what they didn’t in the past two: supplementary scoring. Seven different Ducks reached double figures in the opening four contests.
A win like the Oregon had against the Bears on Nov. 10 didn’t feel possible the last two years. The difference is that this team seems to be buying into what Graves is telling them.
“We’ve kind of talked to them all year about, ‘Hey, we can be a really really great team,’ but until you see it and until you get a win like this, you may not believe it,” Graves said after the Baylor victory. “So they’ve got that now in the back of their heads.”
This Ducks’ squad is engaged even when they’re on the bench. They’re animated in the postgame huddle.
And for the first time in a long time, Graves has a team that believes it can be a top team in the Big Ten and make a postseason run.
