On Friday night, Oregon Women’s Basketball (11-8, 2-4 Pac-12) lost big against the No. 8 ranked team in the country, the Stanford Cardinal (16-2, 5-1 Pac-12). 

The Cardinal controlled the game from the jump, immediately jumping out to a whopping 20-0 lead in the first quarter. The Ducks initially responded well with their own 13-0 run behind Chance Gray getting hot. 

This was the only notable momentum Oregon was able to sustain for the rest of the game. 

The Ducks’ run happened immediately after the Cardinal lost their superstar forward Cameron Brink about halfway through the first. With its best player injured, Stanford looked to be reeling for the rest of the first quarter, especially when it was held scoreless for almost four minutes. 

However, the Cardinal responded with their own 12-0 run late in the second quarter to take a 17-point lead at halftime.

Stanford was easily able to dismantle Oregon’s zone defense en route to a statement 88-73 win. This is without the dynamic scoring of the Cardinal’s top scorer and primary playmaker. 

The Ducks needed to continue their string of wins in order to stay out of the basement of the Pac-12. In a game like this one, however, keeping it within 20 points would have been considered a tremendous success. 

Oregon only really kept itself in the game with short spurts of positive basketball, but once Stanford regained footing, it seemed far too easy for the Cardinal to score in volume and stymie the Ducks offense. 

Going forward, the Ducks would benefit tremendously from more help from the players outside of the starting five. 

It was evident given Friday’s performance that head coach Kelly Graves is having a hard time getting the most out of his players. The bench unit looked extremely lackluster, especially compared to the production Stanford got from its secondary and tertiary scorers. 

For the Cardinal, they had five total players score in double digits with two of them coming off the bench. The Ducks, on the other hand, had two players score in double digits, Chance Gray with 19 and Phillipina Kyei with 15. 

Further, Oregon only had eight total bench points for the game, while Stanford’s bench added 29. 

It is evident that there is a lack of considerable involvement outside of Gray, Kyei and Grace VanSlooten. Players coming off the bench seem to be exceedingly less involved with the defensive scheme.

The team often plays as if Graves is only coaching for four or five of them. It’s not just that they aren’t as talented as the starters, they just seem a lot less involved. While the big three are all having dominant seasons, the rest of their team seems very checked out. 

The mentality of the team has felt super negative since Peyton Scott’s injury, and one has to wonder if Graves or the players will recover from this in 2024. While consistency remains to be seen, Oregon Women’s Basketball flounders in the depths of the Pac-12, even while harboring some of the nation’s most exciting players.