The Montana Grizzlies and the Oregon Ducks were in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter on Nov. 8, 2025, at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks had pulled away from the Grizzlies early on, and with a 42 point lead, all Oregon was looking to do at this point was to end the game.

Elisa Mevius, a central figure in Oregon’s starting lineup, went up for a ball in the paint, and crashed to the paint hard grabbing her knee. She was subbed out, and fans later found out that she was done for the season.

Entering the place of Mevius in the starting lineup was junior guard Ari Long. Long has been a Duck for a season before taking over the job. The Californian spent one season at Oregon’s rival in the north, Washington. As a Husky, Long was used only 17 times in the 2023-2024 season, averaging 10.6 minutes on the court and 4.2 points.

Long’s first season in Eugene had a dip in performance. She played more games at 29, averaging 9.1 minutes and just 2.5 points per game. Long was also coming off the bench for the entire season. This year likely would have been more of the same for Long if it wasn’t for the injury to Mevius.

This year, the 20-year-old is having the year of her career. With the starting job, she’s averaged 22.5 minutes and increased her average points per game by just under four, currently sitting at 6.2 points per game. Long is also shooting better in every metric: 36% from the field, 33% from three and .833 from free throw line. She’s already doubled her assists from last year with 26 and has 1.6 assists per game.

Offensively, Long has shown she has more than what it takes to perform as a starter in the Big Ten. She fits in well with a Ducks starting lineup that consists of Katie Fiso, Mia Jacobs and Sofia Bell.

On the other side of the ball, Long is keeping up production. In her first two seasons off the bench she had 32 total rebounds, 28 defensive, in 17 games with Washington, and in season two she had 40 total rebounds with 37 coming defensively.

Being only 16 games in the season, Long has set her career high in rebounds with 55, nine coming offensively. The other 46 are defensive rebounds. She is the third best defensive rebounder on the team, only behind Jacobs and Ehis Etute. She also has over 31 steals, the most on the team, and is second on the team in blocks with 12.

Though Long didn’t start the season, she has meshed well with the team in her new role. She dropped a season high 15 points against St. Mary’s College of California and provided 14 points against Michigan, five of which came in double overtime.

Against Montana State, Long had the best overall game of her season. She had 3 defensive rebounds, scored 10 points and logged an assist and one block, all of which came in the third quarter. “I think Katie just found me when I was wide open on that first one,” Long said, talking about her three that opened up her scoring on the night. “I let it fly and then came at me again, let it fly.”

When a team loses a key player at the onset of a new season, it can throw a wrench into the whole operation. This Oregon team found a way to not let the situation get out of hand. The Ducks sit at 13-3, they just won their first conference game of the season against Northwestern and are playing overall good basketball. Ari Long is not just a player who will come off the bench and put some good minutes on the floor; she’s evolved into a legit starter who is becoming a key piece in this Ducks lineup going forward.