Oregon women’s basketball rebounded in a big way last season. Head coach Kelly Graves embraced a new philosophy in building a team, because NIL and the transfer portal have changed how teams recruit and build a roster. With the exodus of so many players over previous seasons, and the bottoming-out that occurred in the 2023-24 season, this new mentality was kind of foisted upon him, but was necessary regardless.
The end result of last season was encouraging, with the Ducks winning 20 games in their inaugural season in the Big Ten. The ladies found ways to win a good many close games, including their OT win in the first round of the NCAA tournament over Vanderbilt.
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The success last season was driven in large part by a veteran-laden squad, led by Deja Kelly, Peyton Scott, Phillipina Kyei, and Nani Falatea. Those seniors were the top scorers for the Ducks and have moved on.
Graves selectively brought talent in from the portal. Those transfers include:
Astera Tuhina is a 5-9 Sr. G from Washington State. She started in all 35 of WSU’s games last year, shooting 36.4% from the field and from beyond the arc, and 73% at the line. She averaged 7.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She was the primary point guard, with 130 assists last season, and look for her to fill that role for the Ducks this season.
Avary Cain is a 6-1 So. G from UCLA. That the Ducks would snag a 5* recruit from UCLA should not be a huge surprise. As I noted in my Big Ten women’s basketball preview, UCLA returns nearly all of their starters from last season’s Final Four team, so Cain (and others) really had no hope of getting much playing time. Hey, it’s Oregon’s turn to take a 5* from the portal instead of giving them to the portal, and I’m good with that.
Mia Jacobs is a 6-2 Sr. F from Fresno State. She was named first-team all-Mountain West in 2024-25 after leading her team with 18.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8 percent from the field.
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Gone are the tall centers that have been the cornerstone of so many Kelly Graves teams here at Oregon. The tallest player now is 6-4 Sr. Amina Muhammad. What this means is that Graves, while keeping the excellent defenses that Oregon fields on the court, will be emphasizing a faster-paced game than what we’ve seen lately. It looks like the Ducks have some good shooters to go along with that pace, and we’ll be looking at how that gels and plays out in the early season.
Oregon was in a four-way tie for eighth place in the Big Ten last season. This season, they will be looking to make a stab at being in the top five in the conference, and they may have the team to do it.
The Ducks begin their 2025-2026 season this week at MKA. There will be plenty of opportunities to see Oregon at home in the non-conference part of the season, as they are playing six of their first seven games in Eugene. Overall, 9 of 14 non-conference games will be played in MKA, and three are against teams that appeared in the 2025 NCAA tournament: Oregon State, Grand Canyon, and Montana State.
The Big Ten will be a battle again this season. All games are important, but the home games against Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State will be must-see.
It all starts in two days, when the Oregon Ducks host the Western Oregon Wolves. Tipoff is at 6:00 pm and can be seen on B1G+.
