No. 19 Oregon women host Portland in a nonleague women's basketball game

The Oregon women return to the court Saturday afternoon for their only game in a 13-day stretch.

The No. 19 Ducks take on Portland at 2 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena, an in-state nonleague game that has gone Oregon’s way the last 19 times the two teams have played in Eugene.

The Ducks (5-1), who won't play again until Oregon State comes to town on Dec. 11, enter the game with five players scoring in double-figures and an offense averaging 84 points per game.

“I kind of like what we’re doing offensively,” coach Kelly Graves said. “We’ve been pretty efficient. We’ve turned it over a little bit more than I’d like in a couple of the games, but our field-goal percentage is great, our assist-to-field goals is really good, which means we’re moving the basketball.”

Point guard Te-Hina Paopao is scoring 13.8 per game and with 23 assists and just three turnovers, she leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ration at 7.7.

Forward Grace VanSlooten is getting 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, making her one of just five freshman in the NCAA averaging at least 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Guard Endyia Rogers is averaging 12.0 points; guard Jennah Isai is scoring 10.5 per game; and center Phillipina Kyei is averaging 10.2 points and 9.8 rebounds.

Kyei is coming off a 15-point, 16-rebound performance in the Ducks' 86-78 win against Michigan State last Sunday.

“I was really impressed with Philly,” Graves said. “Obviously the 16 rebounds and 15 points are great, but I was most impressed with the fact she played 30 minutes, and played 30 quality minutes, didn’t seem to be tired or anything like that and I thought that was a big step in her growth.”

The 6-foot-8 sophomore will have a challenge Saturday matched up against Portland’s Lucy Cochrane, a 6-6 junior who is one of seven Australians on the Pilots’ roster.

Cochrane is averaging 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds and has 15 blocks in seven games.

“It’ll be a good match,” Graves said. “(Cochrane’s) got great timing inside. Now, Philly I think is stronger and a little bit bigger, but Lucy is going to be a formidable foe for her. It’ll be fun watching those two.”

Portland (5-3), which played into the second round of the WNIT last season, is led by 6-2 junior forward Alex Fowler (15.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg). She had 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals against the Ducks last season in a 62-59 win for Oregon at the Chiles Center in Portland.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

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No. 19 Oregon (5-1) vs. Portland (5-3)

2 p.m. Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena. TV: Pac-12 Oregon. Radio: KUGN-FM (98.1).

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: No. 19 Oregon Ducks host Portland Pilots in women's basketball game