The Oregon women’s basketball team didn’t just get its first Big Ten win of the season on Tuesday. It also put to bed a pair of long losing streaks.
Five players scored in double-digits for the Ducks as they dominated Northwestern in an 85-65 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.
The victory snapped a 15-game losing streak in regular-season conference play for Oregon (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten), a stretch that began with the final 13 games of the 2023-24 Pac-12 season and carried over after losses to USC and Illinois at the start of Big Ten play this season.
The win was also the first for the Ducks against a conference opponent on the road since beating California in Berkeley on Jan. 27, 2023. That losing streak had also reached 15 games.
“I’m just really proud of us,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said during his postgame radio interview on KUGN. “I think anytime you get a split on the road in conference play — whatever conference you play in — I think that’s a good thing.”
Peyton Scott paced the Ducks against the Wildcats (7-7, 0-3) with 14 points, Nani Falatea scored 13, Phillipina Kyei had 12, Alex Whitfield 11 and Ehis Etute 10.
Overall, Oregon shot 55.9% from the field, got 46 points from its bench, scored 46 in the paint and had 25 assists in 33 made field goals.
“One of our best games we’ve played up until now,” Graves said. “Offensively we did some really good things.”
Milestone performance for Oregon’s Deja Kelly
Deja Kelly joined the 2,000-point club 1:46 into the game when she scored on a layup for the Ducks’ first points.
The fifth-year senior point guard finished the game with nine points to bring her career total to 2,007. She also had eight assists, four rebounds and no turnovers.
“She’s capable of doing that every given night,” Graves said. “I thought she was great at the point.”
Kelly became the NCAA’s 10th active player with 2,000 career points — and the second Duck in three games to do so.
Scott became a 2,000-point scorer against UC Irvine on Dec. 19. With her 14 points on Tuesday, she increased her career total to 2,026.
Center Phillipina Kyei sparks Ducks
Kyei fell one rebound short of getting her third double-double of the season, but she still gave Oregon a lift in the first half.
After back-to-back scoreless games — including a 0-point, three-rebound performance in just nine minutes of playing time against Illinois this past Saturday — the senior responded with 13 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday.
Most of that production came in the first half when she had 10 points and six rebounds.
“I thought Philly really set the tone early,” Graves said. “We’re just a different team if we get good inside-out balance and she gave us that tonight, a presence around the rim.”
What’s next for Oregon women’s basketball?
The Ducks will play their first game of the new year at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Wisconsin at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Badgers (10-4, 1-2) are coming a 59-50 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women’s basketball beats Northwestern in Big Ten play
