5 top home games to watch for Oregon women’s basketball in the 2023-24 season

Each game for the Oregon women’s basketball team will have its own intrigue, but out of every home matchup the Ducks play this season, we whittled down the most interesting to watch.

Here are five of the Ducks’ most intriguing games to watch at Matthew Knight Arena this season.

Northern Arizona – Nov. 6

We’ll start with none other than Game 1 for the Ducks, who open their 2023-24 campaign against Northern Arizona Monday in Eugene.

With a home nonconference schedule that lacks some punch in terms of big names, the Lumberjacks are no slouch. Picked to win the Big Sky conference by media, NAU finished as runners-up in the Big Sky tournament last season and were knocked out in the first round of the WNIT.

The Lumberjacks return seven players from last season, including starters Nyah Moran and Emily Rodabaugh, and received two transfers from Montana State in Leia Beattie and Grace Beasley that should factor in as well.

Monday will be a good litmus test for an Oregon roster that experienced a lot of turnover on the outside and is debuting a new-look perimeter, featuring newcomers like Miami (OH) transfer Peyton Scott and true freshman Sofia Bell.

Chance Gray, Grace VanSlooten, and Phillipina Kyei will continue to anchor the Ducks’ lineup, but this game will serve as a first real look at the Ducks this season.

Arizona – Jan. 14

Once the Ducks get through nonconference play, they’ll open their Pac-12 season with three straight road games, including a matchup against rival Oregon State Dec. 31.

After that, the Ducks will host Arizona State and then Arizona in their conference home-opening weekend, with the latter matchup against the Wildcats the more intriguing game.

Like Oregon, Arizona will be showing off a new-look roster for the nonconference season and are widely considered a tournament-level team in 2023.

Esmery Martinez is a return standout at forward, but the Wildcats also hauled in a top recruiting class and feature Breya Cunningham and Jada Williams. The Ducks will have an idea where they sit in the conference pecking order by this game – they do play four Pac-12 games before the Wildcats, with the first three on the road – but against another likely tournament contender and bubble team, Arizona’s trip to Eugene will be a big one.

Utah – Jan. 26

The next home weekend for the Ducks features the Pac-12 favorites and reigning conference co-champion Utes.

Utah has two preseason all-conference players in Gianna Kneepkens and Alissa Pili, and had its season cut short last season to eventual champion LSU in the Sweet 16. The Utes have one of the most experienced lineups in college basketball, and the reigning conference player of the year in Pili down low.

If the Arizona game is a test to see how well the Ducks can matchup with teams perceived to be at their level, the Utah game will test how well Oregon stacks up against the country’s elite.

Oregon State – Feb. 4

Oregon coach Kelly Graves has made it clear he would like to have the Beavers on his schedule every season, despite the Ducks’ move to the Big Ten complicating the decadeslong rivalry.

As it stands, the Beavers’ February trip to Eugene is the last scheduled matchup between the state rivals.

And it comes with plenty of intrigue, as well.

Oregon State is also hoping to be on the bubble come Selection Sunday and split its matchups with the Ducks a year ago. Oregon won in Eugene, 75-67, while the Beavers got the last laugh with a 68-65 win in Corvallis.

The Ducks open conference play against the Beavers in Corvallis in 2023 and play in Eugene in February with big conference and tournament implications.

Stanford – March 2

The Ducks’ final regular season game will be a dandy at home against the other reigning conference co-champions: the Stanford Cardinal.

The Cardinal return All-American shot blocker extraordinaire Cameron Brink, and preseason all-conference guard Hannah Jump, but are otherwise debuting a relatively young lineup as well.

Where will the Ducks stand come season’s end? The early March matchup will be the very start of what Oregon hopes is a deep postseason run, whether that starts on the bubble or as a tournament lock, the Ducks’ last game against a likely ranked Cardinal team will be a big sendoff into the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas the following weekend – and the last look at the Ducks in Matthew Knight Arena.

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 Twitter @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Top home games for Oregon Ducks women's basketball in 2023-24 season