Oregon Women's Basketball Releases 2021-22 Non-Conference Schedule

The season begins with an exhibition at Matthew Knight Arena on Oct. 28.

The Oregon Ducks women's basketball team has released its non-conference schedule for the 2021-22 season.

Mark your calendars 📆

Take a look at our full 12-game nonconference schedule, plus a couple of exhibitions in MKA to kick things off. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/VUdk4rFRzu

— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) September 2, 2021

The season will kick off with a pair of exhibition games at Matthew Knight Arena against Saint Martin's University (Oct. 28) and Westmont College (Nov. 6).

Oregon's regular season opens with a matchup against the reigning Big Sky regular season and tournament champion Idaho State on Nov. 9, followed by a date with Division 2 Dixie State on Nov. 14.

After the two home games, the Ducks will take flight to Paradise Island in the Bahamas for the inaugural women's Battle 4 Atlantis, where they will face Oklahoma in the first round on Nov. 20 and the winner of South Carolina/Buffalo in the second round.

A matchup with South Carolina would be a battle between two elite programs, as Dawn Staley's team has advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the past seven NCAA Tournaments and went 32-1 in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the tournament.

The Ducks and Gamecocks could meet for the first time since 2002 when the Gamecocks blew out the Ducks 67-40 in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the US Virgin Islands.

If Oregon can advance to the championship game, it would face one of UConn, South Florida, Minnesota and Syracuse. The Ducks would need to win three games in three days to win the tournament.

When the calendar flips to December, the Ducks will host UC Davis, who won the Big West Tournament a season ago. The Ducks faced the Aggies last season and prevailed 63-57 in an uncomfortably close game.

On Dec. 4, the Ducks will head to the Chiles Center for the second consecutive year to face the Portland Pilots. Oregon defeated Portland 85-52 on Nov. 30 last season.

Long Beach State (Dec. 11) and McNeese State (Dec. 14) come to Eugene before a pair of games against purple wildcat teams. Kansas State will host Oregon on Dec. 18 after the two teams met in Eugene in 2019-20. The Ducks then head to Evanston, Ill., for a date with Northwestern — a team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season and advanced to the second round for the first time since 1993.

The final non-conference game is a potentially season-defining matchup against Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks, led by the big three of Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard, and Satou Sabally, handled the Huskies in Storss 74-56 for the first win in program history against UConn.

The Ducks are coming off of a 15-9 season in which they advanced to their fourth straight Sweet 16 before falling to Louisville. Kelly Graves has a brand new coaching staff after Mark Campbell and Xavier Lopez departed in the offseason. Mike Moser and Jackie Nared Hairston replace the longtime assistants.

The roster also underwent a complete makeover as four key players — Taylor Chavez, Jaz Shelley, Angela Dugalic, and Taylor Mikesell entered the transfer portal. The Ducks will also be without Lydia Giomi and Erin Boley, who graduated in the spring.

The Ducks will still have plenty of talented returners in 2021-22, including Sedona Prince, Nyara Sabally, Te-Hina Paopao, Maddie Scherr, Kylee Watson, and Sydney Parrish. Graves and his new staff brought in their own impressive group of players from the transfer portal, including Endyia Rogers from USC, Shannon Dufficy from Missouri, Ahlise Hurst from New Mexico, and more.

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