Ducks Release Women's 2014-15 Basketball Schedule
The Ducks will play 17 home games and 10 on the road plus two neutral site games at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.
(EUGENE, Ore. ) — The Pac-12 has announced the 2014-15 Oregon women’s basketball schedule, which features 14 televised games in new head coach Kelly Graves’ first season on the bench.
The Ducks will play 17 home games and 10 on the road plus two neutral site games at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.
"I'm really excited to play a lot of games at home," Graves said. "I know we'll get some great support from our fans and we hope to grow that support more and more."
Graves begins his career with Oregon against Utah State in the season and home opener on Nov. 14. The Ducks and Aggies will tip at a special noon start time.
Oregon’s toughest test of the non-conference slate follows on Nov. 23, when perennial power North Carolina visits Matthew Knight Arena in a Pac-12 Networks televised game.
The Tar Heels advanced to the Elite Eight last season before falling to Stanford.
"This non-conference schedule gives us a chance to play at home in front of our fans against some great competition," Graves said. "Playing high-caliber teams in non-conference is important to get us ready for the Pac-12 schedule."
Another NCAA Tournament team from last season, Fresno State, visits Eugene on Dec. 21. The Bulldogs won the Mountain West Conference tournament a year ago.
The Ducks play eight of their 11 non-conference games at home before beginning Pac-12 play on the road.
Oregon opens conference action with seven straight Pac-12 Networks televised games.
"I can't wait to coach in the Pac-12," Graves added. "The conference is as talented and deep as any year I've seen it. I'm up for the challenge and I know the Ducks are too."
The Ducks start their league slate on Jan. 3 at USC, the defending Pac-12 Tournament champion, before battling UCLA on Jan. 5.
Oregon will then meet rival Oregon State in back-to-back games, with the first meeting in Corvallis on Jan. 9 and the second in Eugene on Jan. 11.
After the home game against the Beavers, the Ducks welcome the Washington schools to Matthew Knight Arena the following weekend.
The three consecutive games at MKA will be the longest homestand of Oregon’s conference schedule.
Oregon next visits Arizona State on Jan. 23 and plays Arizona on Jan. 25.
The Ducks knocked off the No. 20 ranked Sun Devils last season in Eugene. It was their first win over a top-25 team since 2007.
The Bruins and Trojans make their return visits to Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, respectively, before the Ducks head north to meet Washington State on Feb. 6 and Washington on Feb. 8.
Arizona and Arizona State make the trek to Eugene on Valentine’s Day weekend while the following weekend Oregon plays at Utah on Feb. 22 and Colorado on Feb. 22.
Graves closes out his first regular season at home with California on Feb. 27 and Stanford on March 1.
The Sunday game pitting the Ducks and Cardinal will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Pac-12 Tournament, in its third season at Seattle’s KeyArena, begins on March 5 and runs to March 8.
The conference tournament title game will be aired on ESPN with every other game on Pac-12 Networks.
The NCAA Tournament will be announced on March 16 and is set to begin on March 20, with some big changes to this year’s event.
This season the top 16 national seeds will host games in the first and second round, if they are able to host. If a top 16 seed cannot host, then the selection committee will name another school to host.
After the first two rounds, regional play will take place in Oklahoma City, Greensboro, N.C., Albany, N.Y., and Spokane, Wash.
The Final Four and national championship games will be played in Tampa Bay.
The WNIT will announce its bracket on March 16.
Source: goducks.com
