Scouting report: No. 18 Oregon Ducks at No. 15 Arizona Wildcats

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Shaina Pellington (5-8 senior)

G/F Jade Loville (5-11 senior)

F Esmery Martinez (6-2 senior)

F Lauren Fields (5-9 senior)

F Cate Reese (6-2 senior)

OREGON

G Endyia Rogers (5-7 senior)

G Te-Hina Paopao (5-9 junior)

F Grace VanSlooten (6-3 freshman)

C Phillipina Kyei (6-8 sophomore)

G Chance Gray (5-9 freshman)

Key players

Oregon: Grace VanSlooten

The freshman, who was ranked the No. 4 forward in her class, is having an all-star rookie season. She’s collected three Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards and one Player of the Week honor (a rare feat for a freshman). VanSlooten has started every game, and it’s easy to see why. She is averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She has 19 blocks and 20 steals. VanSlooten is coming off a 16-point performance in only 19 minutes (her fewest of the season) in Friday’s 82-62 drubbing of ASU. After not scoring in the first half and getting into foul trouble, VanSlooten scored 11 of the Ducks’ 17 points in the first five minutes of the second half.

Arizona: Lauren Fields

After Friday night’s performance — eight points in around 40 seconds — that led the Wildcats to their come-from-behind victory over Oregon State, Lauren Fields is now the go-to Wildcat when the game is on the line. In the last week, it is the second time that the 5-9 senior guard has taken over. Against Cal she hit the dagger 3. Arizona coach Adia Barnes said going forward she will be looking for creative ways to get Fields more opportunities earlier in the game.

History of matchup

Arizona is 31-45 against Oregon. The Wildcats have won three out of the last four in the series. In the last win at McKale Center — a 63-48 thumping — the defense held Oregon to 36% shooting and 2 of 15 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Wildcats turned 21 Ducks turnovers into 22 points.

Some might have called it an emotional revenge game after UA lost the previous game, 68-66, in overtime. The Wildcats were up 54-41 heading into the fourth quarter and were outscored 18-5 in the last frame. There was also some extra competitiveness between Barnes and Oregon coach Kelly Graves, which added to the mix.

He said it

“Oregon is another very good offensive team. They score 82 points per game. They are 46% from the field. They’re 38% from 3. I don’t know exactly how many assists per game, but I feel like looking at the box score in the past, very often they have 20 assists per game. This means that they’re sharing the ball very well. The objective is to try to disrupt their offense. This is the first objective that we have. Everybody knows that we are good when we are able to run. For us to be able to run, we have to disrupt the offensive opponents.

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“The disadvantage we have (is) in terms of rebounding, in terms of size. Phillipina Kyei is 6-8, and she’s doing a very good job. She’s surrounded by great shooters. They play often with three shooters and Taya Hanson coming off the bench. Sometimes they play small with four shooters.

“They mix up their defense, playing zone on a make and man on a miss. We have to be able to run offense. And again, (a thing) that I would like to see that we are not doing a good job yet is taking good shots. Don’t take the shots that the defense gives you. Create the shot that you want and take a good shot — that’s fundamental for us. Don’t force shots.

“For me these are the keys offensively and defensively. We have to be great at defending shooters. We have to be great defending pick-and-roll and we have to be able to box out — don’t allow offensive rebounds.”

— UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa, who scouted Oregon

Sidelines

A special place

Jackie Nared Hairston spent two years on the UA staff as an assistant before joining the Oregon staff in the same role. For her, Tucson will always hold a special place in her heart.

She worked closely with Barnes, whom she has always considered a close friend and mentor. She was part of a staff that helped the Wildcats go on that magical run to the national championship game in 2021. She got engaged to Josh Hairston at Charro Steak & Del Rey. She said that is one of their favorite places she expects to hit when she’s in town.

This will be Nared Hairston’s first visit to Tucson in two seasons – she had COVID-19 when the Ducks were in town last year – and she is bringing along a special guest, her 10-month-old son, J.J.

She had a good role model in watching Barnes up close juggling coaching and raising two young children — Matteo and Capri — while coaching UA to the title game. Still, she is adjusting to A lack of sleep and “running on fumes sometimes.”

Her son is watching a lot of basketball, and his latest skill is clapping — for everybody, not just his mom’s team.

“He doesn’t know any better just yet,” Nared Hairston said, laughing. “That’s kind of cute.”

Double duty

Analyst Stephanie White was on Fox’s broadcast of No. 16 Iowa at No. 14 Michigan on Saturday afternoon, starting at 2:30 p.m. Tucson time. She then hopped on a plane to cover the Oregon-Arizona matchup Sunday on ESPN2. White, who is a former WNBAer, signed on recently to coach the Connecticut Sun, after Curt Miller left to coach the L.A. Sparks.

Fun facts

Arizona: The entire team won the “Energizer Bunny Go Beyond” award after Friday night’s effort in the comeback win.

Oregon: Paopao played high school ball at La Jolla Country Day — the same high school that UA Class of 2023 members Breya Cunningham and Jada Williams attend. … Kyei is the tallest player ever in Oregon’s program at 6-8.

Numbers game

200 – Helena Pueyo dished career assist No. 200 against Oregon State. The milestone came on Fields’ second 3-pointer during UA’s rally to win the game. Pueyo has 45 assists this season and is averaging three per game.

1 – Pellington made her first 3-pointer of the season against Oregon State. She has attempted only seven all season. Her last attempt was a month ago against Kansas.

4 – Four Oregon and Arizona players are Canadians: Pellington, Lemyah Hylton, Kyei and Hanson.

-PJ Brown