Is women’s basketball better in Indiana than Oregon?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – This story continues a series that will run through the end of September and much of October. Is Indiana better than any of its Big Ten opponents?

Nine categories were selected, so there can be no confusion about which team is better. There will be no ties in individual categories. Think of it like the Supreme Court.

The categories: point guard play, free throw shooting, interior scoring, perimeter shooting, rebounding, perimeter defense, rim protection, how many proven Power Five talents are on the roster and intangibles.

The daily series includes both the men’s and women’s basketball teams and rotates between teams.

The four new West Coast Big Ten schools will be mixed in with the existing conference members. We’ll start with Oregon.

The Ducks had their worst season since 1993, with a record of 11-21 in 2024. Oregon won just two Pac-12 conference games, its worst finish ever in its former league.

Coach Kelly Graves led Oregon to the Final Four in 2019 and the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2022, so the streak is there.

Given the lack of success in 2024, the squad experienced mass turnover. There are seven transfers – five from Power Five schools. Given that and their new conference digs, Oregon has a lot of unknowns to analyze.

This is how the battle between the Hoosiers and the Ducks goes.

• Point guard play – This has been one of the focuses for Oregon as it rebuilds its roster. Oregon has three proven transfers who can handle the ball.

North Carolina transfer Deja Kelly is a three-time All-ACC star who averaged 15.4 points in four outstanding seasons with Carolina Blue. The 5-foot-8 graduate transfer averaged 3.2 assists in 2024.

Siena transfer Elisa Mevius averaged 12 points and 5.1 assists for the Saints. She had an impressive support rate of 27.8%.

BYU transfer Nani Falatea missed all but three games of the 2024 season. She averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 apg in the 2022-23 season. Her assist percentage was an impressive 44.5%.

All of these Ducks are plus defenders and all have a strength of at least 5-8. How Oregon uses these guards is still unknown.

Indiana has Chloe Moore-McNeil, a rock-solid ballplayer and lockdown defender. Lexus Bargesser should also take the lead at times. They are both very good.

This is a difficult decision. It depends on whether Falatea returns to her pre-injury performance. We’ll say she does, which helps Oregon win that photo finish. Edge: Oregon.

• Free throw shooting – Based on the number of regularly used free throw shooters of over 70%, both teams have three players who qualify.

The Hoosiers get the nod because Penn State transfers Shay Ciezki (90.2%) and Sydney Parrish (79.2%) are both better than the Ducks’ best returning free-throw shooter – guard Sofia Bell (78.5%). . Edge: Indiana.

• Interior rating – Indiana lost Mackenzie Holmes, their all-time leading scorer, who averaged 19.8 points in 2024. However, Lilly Meister (3.7 ppg) is more than capable. With Holmes playing in front of her, she didn’t have the minutes necessary to put up big scoring numbers. But if you look at their production per 40 minutes, Meister would have averaged 13.9 points.

Tennessee transfer Karoline Striplin (7.2 ppg) provides the Hoosiers’ inside score.

Oregon returns giant 6-foot-8 center Phillipina Kyei (12.6 ppg), added 6-2 forward Alexis Whitfield (15.1 ppg) from UC-Santa Barbara and 6-4 forward Amina Muhammad (6.1 ppg) from Texas added. Kyei has been a starter for two years and Whitfield is an intriguing addition. They help give Oregon the nod. Edge: Oregon.

• Perimeter shooting – None of the new or returning Ducks have a 3-point percentage above 36.7%. For Indiana, Yarden Garzon (42.2%), Moore-McNeil (40.9%) and Parrish (40%) all rank in the top 40%. Edge: Indiana.

• Rebounding – Kyei is ahead in this category, just like in the inside ranking. The Canadian averaged 11.9 rebounds in 2024. Whitfield also averaged 9.8 boards at UCSB.

While Meister was a better rebounder per 40 minutes than Holmes (10.3 for Meister, 9.6 for Holmes), the truth is that no Indiana player with regular minutes has proven he can rebound like Oregon’s front line. Edge: Oregon.

• Perimeter defense – Indiana excels in this category. We will use the defensive box plus-minus to demonstrate why. Anything above four is excellent, and Indiana has three players — Parrish (4.4), Bargesser (4.4) and Moore-McNeil (4.2) — who exceed that standard. The Ducks don’t have a single player who meets that standard, let alone three of them Edge: Indiana.

• Defense at the rim – Even though she is 6-8, Kyei is not a dominant shot blocker as she averaged 1.2 shots per game in 2024. Even though they only played limited minutes, Meister (0.6 bpg) and Striplin (0.4 bpg) have nearly the same performance. However, Oregon’s addition of Muhammad (0.8 bpg) gives the Ducks the advantage. Edge: Oregon.

• Proven Power 5 ability on the roster – The standard here is whether a player averaged 25 minutes or more at the Power Five level at his current or previous school.

Garzon, Parrish, Moore-McNeil and Ciezki all make it for Indiana. Bell, Kelly and Kyei are the only qualifiers for Oregon. It should be noted that Falatea played 35 minutes per game for BYU in 2023, but the Cougars played in the West Coast Conference at the time. Edge: Indiana.

• Intangible assets — While the women play an 18-game schedule as opposed to the men’s 20-game schedule, Oregon’s arrival in the Big Ten race will still be a major disadvantage.

The bigger issue for the Ducks is whether their pieces fit together. If everything works out, the Ducks could be very dangerous. However, it is difficult to bring together so many new players at once.

They also have to learn to win together. This is not a problem Indiana faces. The Hoosiers collectively won at high rates. Edge: Indiana.

• Verdict – Indiana is a close 5-4 heading into this game. This will be an intriguing matchup when Indiana takes on Eugene, Oregon on January 24th. Normally, a team should win when it has an advantage at point guard and inside play, like we expect from the Ducks.

The Ducks may well triumph, but Indiana has fundamental advantages that can also contribute to victory – great defense, free throws and long-range shooting can compensate for disadvantages elsewhere.