Oregon women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves has stressed the importance of the coming weeks as a crucial stretch of the season.
And he’s not wrong.
“This is an important week for us,” Graves said after Wednesday’s 69-53 home win over Purdue. “We’ve got a chance to move up the standings a little bit and be more relevant in the race. We’ve got to continue to take business at home.”
The Ducks (13-5, 4-3 Big Ten) are 11-1 at home this season, with the loss coming against No. 4 USC back in December. But they face easily their stiffest stretch of the year over the coming weeks with several opportunities against opponents competing for NCAA Tournament berths and seeds.
That starts with this Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the two-time defending national runners-up. It continues Friday with another home game against Big Ten powerhouse Indiana, then a quick two-game road trip against a pair of ranked teams in Michigan State and Michigan, and continues with three more home games against No. 8 Maryland, No. 1 UCLA and Washington.
This stretch could make or break Oregon’s season just a month and a half away from March.
“It’s huge,” guard Deja Kelly said of the stretch. “For us to be back at home in front of our home crowd, every win in this league matters because of how tough it is. We’re going to get to a tougher side of our schedule. So for us to stack these home wins and use our home court advantage, that’s huge.”
A look at the Iowa Hawkeyes
Gone is Caitlin Clark, a transcendent collegiate and now pro basketball star, but the Hawkeyes (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten) are still a strong group led by some new faces.
Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen leads the group, averaging 16.4 points per game along with 4.9 assists, while junior Hannah Stuelke scores 12.8 points and hauls in 7.7 rebounds per game. Senior forward Addison O’Grady scores 12.5 points and grabs five rebounds per game.
Longtime assistant coach Jan Jensen is the new leader of the program after Lisa Bluder retired over the offseason, and the Hawkeyes’ style hasn’t changed too much.
“I’ve seen them play and I know they’re very good,” Graves said. “They still shoot the three and they’ve got a great inside kid and they’ve got Lucy and she’s one of the best players in the conference. They lost Caitlin (Clark), and that’s a big loss, but the transfer from Villanova, Lucy, has stepped in and done a good job. They’re going to be formidable.”
How to watch Oregon women’s basketball vs. Iowa
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TV channel: None
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Streaming: B1G+
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Radio: KUGN (590 AM, 98.1 FM), KPAM (860 AM, Portland), KYKN (1430 AM, Salem)
Oregon women’s basketball vs. Iowa game time
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Date: Sunday, Jan. 19
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Start time: 2 p.m.
Oregon women’s basketball vs. Iowa predictions, picks, odds
The ESPN Analytics matchup predictor gives Oregon a 51.8% chance to beat Iowa.
Oregon women’s basketball 2024-25 schedule
Next five games
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How to watch Oregon women’s basketball vs. Iowa: Time, streaming
