Who is Oregon? Take An Early Look At Vanderbilt's First NCAA Tournament Opponent
Oregon is making its first appearance in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament since 2022 and the Ducks are surely feeling the emotions that comes with that reward and motivated to make the most of this opportunity.
If any team can understand those feelings and motivations, it’s Vanderbilt. The Commodores are making their second-straight appearance in the big dance after nine years without an invitation. No. 7-seed Vanderbilt will look to welcome No. 10 seed Oregon to the big dance at 4:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN.
Oregon is a fairly new opponent for the Commodores. The two teams have played just twice, most recently in the 1994-95 season that Vanderbilt won 82-54. So, the Ducks are new opponent to study and learn, a situation Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph said was already in the process of being solved.
“My assistants know more than I do right now, but I know every team in this tournament is really good,” Ralph said in her press conference after Vanderbilt’s selection on Sunday. “They’ve had a good year, their coach is great, and they’ve got talented players.”
Luckily, Ralph, her staff and players have plenty of time to study the Ducks and figure out a game plan. For the rest, here’s a quick glance at the Oregon team Vanderbilt will face in Friday’s first round NCAA Tournament game:
Oregon Ducks At-A-Glance
2024-25 Record: 19-11, 10-8 Big Ten
Coach: Kelly Graves, 10th Season, 221-100, Elite Eight (2018), Final Four (2019); 605-261 career record (27 seasons).
NET: 41st
Quad 1 Record: 4-9
Quad 2 Record: 2-2
Quad 3 Record: 4-0
Quad 4 Record: 9-0
Scoring Offense: 112nd (68.2 ppg)
Scoring Defense: 137th (62.9 opp ppg)
Key Players: Deja Kelly (11.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.4 SPG, Big Ten Honorable Mention), Peyton Scott (10.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.6 APG, 34.9 percent 3PT), Phillipina Kyei (7.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.4 APG, 51 field goal percentage).
Vanderbilt Commodores On SI:
-8b6c726067ba8eb0b5197041f28d1b64.jpeg "Taylor Hodges")
Taylor Hodges is a staff writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI covering all-things Vanderbilt. Taylor brings more than a decade’s worth of award-winning sports writing, photography and video experience covering every level of sports — from Little League baseball to professional sports and other sports like hunting and fishing. Taylor is fueled by his lifelong passion for sports that began the same day Kirk Gibson hit his legendary World Series walk-off home run, Arkansas beat Texas in Austin and No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 1 Miami in the Catholics vs. Convicts game.