Oregon women’s basketball has been on an absolute tear to start the season. Having only dropped two games through their first 14, the Ducks enter conference play with an impressive record of 12-3. The bench has been on fire, the starters have been clicking and the product on the court has been outstanding. 

This rendition of the Ducks has been putting together a much better season than what was expected of them. The Ducks lost a big player in center Phillipina Kyei to graduation, and that loss propelled the Ducks into adapting a new style of offensive play: sending out three guards and two forwards.

Throughout the season, the offense has been working hard under the new system. With the intense pace of play coming from the smaller lineup, the speed of the game would be hard for any team to keep up throughout the season. Oregon has remained quick on the court.

Sophomore guard Katie Fiso has returned and shown up for the Ducks this season, leading the fast-paced Oregon offense. Through the first 15 games of the season, Fiso has 228 total points, averaging 15.2 points a game and is shooting .503% from the field with .313% from three. 

Backing up Fiso is senior forward Mia Jacobs who is shooting .464% from the field and .380% from three. The native of Australia has 216 total points, is averaging 14.4 points per game and is fueling the offense alongside Fiso.

Players off the bench have been performing exceptionally well. Ehis Etute has been the best member of the Ducks coming off the bench, averaging 8.4 points per game and shooting .494% from the field through her 254 minutes on the court. Amina Muhammad has been great for the Ducks as well, averaging 5.8 points per game and shooting .649% from the field through just under 240 minutes.

Although the Ducks had a strong start to the season, they have run into a small rut: Oregon has dropped its first two Big Ten games. No. 4 UCLA and No. 6 Michigan both proved tough challenges for the Ducks. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 and showed why they are, outplaying the Ducks in all areas. 

But the Ducks weren’t lame against all opponents. Against Michigan, the Ducks, despite being down 18 points in the second quarter, came back. They tied the game up at 69 a piece at the end of regulation and sent the game into overtime. Though, the Ducks did drop the game 92-87. 

It’s always important to get the first conference win out of the way early. It took Oregon three games to do so, but on New Year’s Day against Northwestern, Oregon cruised to an 87-54 victory. Fiso dropped 17 points with six assits, and Jacobs had 16 points with four assists and six defensive rebounds. 

The Ducks will continue to play against tough Big Ten teams in the coming weeks. No. 17 USC, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 14 Iowa are scheduled to play in back-to-back-to-back games in early January. Throughout the remainder of the season, Oregon will face No. 19 Ohio State, No. 20 University of Nebraska and No. 7 Maryland. 

While ranked play is always a deciding factor on how good a team is, for the Ducks, the game against Maryland on Jan. 31 will show if the Ducks have the ability to make a strong push through the rest of the season and into tournament play. 

The Terrapins shoot well, take care of the basketball and allow the second to least opponent points per game with 53.7. On paper, Maryland can be compared to Michigan. If Oregon can draw from the late game performance against Michigan, the Ducks have a strong chance at pulling out a win against the Terrapins.

The Ducks will head back down to Los Angeles, this time to face USC. The Trojans are a very strong defensive team, ranking fifth among Big Ten teams in points allowed at 55.2 and averaging a Big Ten best 7.1 blocks per game. The upside for the Ducks is that USC frequently ranks lower than Oregon offensively. While the game could be low scoring, the Ducks have the chance to snag a win against a ranked opponent.