With three games left in the regular season, Oregon women’s basketball (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten) sits in eighth place in the Big Ten, having already punched its ticket as one of the 12 teams that will play for the conference Championship in Indianapolis. 

Despite leveling out with some strong play of late, it’s been a season of ups and downs for head coach Kelly Graves’ squad. 

After storming out of the gate with six straight wins, one of which came against then-No. 17 Baylor, Oregon has been a mostly average team for the remainder of the season. The Ducks’ clear peak of the season came on Jan. 30 with a win over then-No. 16 Michigan State, but the victory was soon met with three straight losses that damaged their NCAA Tournament hopes. 

Still, with the Big Ten’s competitiveness and the pair of high-quality wins, Oregon’s tournament dreams are entirely in its own hands. Recent wins over Washington and Minnesota have surely helped the Ducks bolster their Big Ten Tournament seeding, improving the likelihood of a NCAA Tournament berth. 

The Ducks are ranked No. 37 in NET, with 13 Big Ten teams in the top 50 and nine Big Ten teams ranked ahead of them. An away showdown with Nebraska is their last chance to improve their resume against a sure-thing NCAA Tournament team. The pair of remaining games against Rutgers and Washington are effectively must-wins.

Helping the Ducks get hot at the right time has been a breakout performance from Deja Kelly, who scored back-to-back 20-point games for the first time since the second and third contests of the season. Kelly has scored 14, 21 and 20 points while playing 35 or more minutes over the Ducks’ last three games. 

“That’s why we were blessed and excited to get Deja here,” Graves said after Kelly hit a pair of clutch free throws to beat the Huskies. “She’s made for these types of games.”

ESPN’s Charlie Creme slated the Ducks as the No.9 seed in the Birmingham regional, with a matchup against hypothetical No.8 Oklahoma State in the first round. In Creme’s model, the Big Ten has 13 teams in the tournament –– the most in the nation. Creme projected that all four of the Big Ten’s newcomers would earn berths.

The Ducks made the tournament in 2021 and 2022 but have missed each of the last two tournaments. The final seedings will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 16.