The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team came into the season looking to improve tremendously after finishing its previous season on a 14-game losing streak and last in the Pac-12. Thanks to many roster additions in the offseason, the Ducks are already on track for a much better season. After upsetting then No. 12 Baylor University 76-74 on Nov. 10, Oregon has found itself in the Top 25.
One of the significant additions to this team was junior guard Elisa Mevius, who scored the go-ahead layup with 22 seconds remaining against Baylor.
Mevius played on the German national Olympic team in 3×3 Women’s Basketball this past summer. Germany went 8-1, boasting wins against the USA, Canada and Spain on its way to a gold medal. Mevius scored 32 points with 11 assists, averaging 3.6 points per game. In the Gold medal game against Spain, Germany trailed early, but Mevius put up four points and an assist to lead the team to a 17-16 win.
Oregon was looking forward to bringing her in not just for her offense, but for her defense.
“Elisa Mevius, you know, after winning a gold medal, she’s really come in and just defensively is our most disruptive player,” head coach Kelly Graves said before the season. “She does a great job, she’s got great feet, great anticipation. I think she was first or second in the nation last year in steals, and now I see why. It wasn’t just because she was playing at maybe a different level. She can impact the game defensively.”
Mevius spent her first two years playing for the Siena College Saints in Albany, New York. She averaged 12.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 4.5 steals per game in her sophomore season. She was selected as a first-team All-MAAC, and won Defensive Player of the Year in her league. As a freshman, Mevius won MAAC Rookie of the Year and was nominated for a Third-Team All-Conference selection.
“I think it goes back to our team pressure,” Mevius said regarding her defense. “I think it’s easier to be in the gap and get steals if there’s pressure on the ball. So I think I take a lot of pride in defending, but also the team backs me off.”
In the beginning of her run as a Duck, Mevius averaged 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. She recorded 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in Oregon’s win last Tuesday over the University of North Texas. The Ducks had a slow start but broke away in the second half for a 66-35 win. After the game, Mevius was asked if the struggles in the first half were connected to the quick turnaround after the Baylor game.
“Kelly (Graves) said we celebrate every win, but after we celebrated that, we were focusing on the next game,” Mevius said. “So I think our biggest opponent in the end is ourselves, and today we were a little bit in our heads in the first half, but then we picked it up, we played faster, and we got back to our own shape.”
The Ducks have another month of home games before their first road trip. The team is on pace to stay hot going into the heart of the season, and there’s no doubt that we’ll be hearing about Mevius a lot along the way.
