The No. 10-seeded Ducks (20-12) went to the Durham, North Carolina Regional looking to prove their worth and shock the world in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
An upset overtime win over seventh-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday was a great start, but a win over second-seeded Duke (28-7) on the road would have been one of the biggest statements in recent Oregon women’s basketball history.
The Ducks fought valiantly, but losing Peyton Scott and turnover troubles sunk their upset hopes, ending their season with a 59-53 loss.
Oregon caught Duke sleeping early, breaking open a 7-2 lead in the first quarter. The Ducks held Duke — which entered the contest 14-1 at home — to just nine points in the opening frame. A gritty, 16-point second quarter saw the Ducks take a five-point advantage into the break.
Deja Kelly led the Oregon offense with 20 points in the loss. The former North Carolina Tar Heel entered the contest with a good amount of experience against Duke, but her record against the Blue Devils sunk to 5-3 in the season-ending loss.
Down low, Phillipina Kyei battled in the paint in what will be her final game as a Duck. She tallied another double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) to close out her Oregon career.
To pull the upset, Oregon needed a big day from guard Peyton Scott, but she struggled against the Blue Devils’ defense and had just four points when a scary-looking leg injury ended her day — and likely her collegiate career — in the third quarter.
Duke exploded out of the locker room in the third quarter, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to erase the Ducks’ lead just seconds into the frame. A slew of Oregon turnovers — the Ducks finished with 17 — and some timely shooting from the Blue Devils saw Duke take a 10-point advantage — their largest of the game — into the fourth quarter.
Oregon got very little production from anyone not named Kyei or Kelley. The Ducks only tallied five bench points (all from Sofia Bell) and the non-Kyei-or-Kelley starters combined for a measly 14 points.
The Ducks pulled within a possession in the fourth, but never regained the lead as their season came to a close. It was a great season from head coach Kelly Graves’ Ducks in their first season in the Big Ten. Oregon bounced back significantly from a disastrous final year in the Pac-12 and carries significant momentum into the offseason.
