Oregon guard Chance Gray, pictured driving to the basket in a November game against North Carolina, on Jan. 16 was selected the Pac-12 freshman of the week for women's basketball.
Oregon guard Chance Gray, pictured driving to the basket in a November game against North Carolina, on Jan. 16 was selected the Pac-12 freshman of the week for women's basketball.
While we await the 2023 Pac-12 football schedule, expected to drop this week, here are a few items to catch up on:
College men’s basketball — Can the Oregon Ducks, finally healthy, carry momentum from their Saturday win over Arizona to the Bay Area? Find out Wednesday, Jan. 18, when they visit California at 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network).
The rest of this week’s college men’s hoops:
Thursday, Jan. 19: San Diego at Portland, 6 p.m. (WCCsports.com); Portland State at Weber State, 6 p.m. (ESPN+); Oregon State at Stanford, 8 p.m. (Pac-12 Network).
Saturday, Jan. 21: Pepperdine at Portland, 3 p.m. (ROOT); Portland State at Idaho State, 5 p.m. (ESPN+); Oregon at Stanford, 8 p.m. (FS1).
Sunday, Jan. 22: Oregon State at California, noon (Pac-12 Network).
College women’s basketball — Oregon is ranked No. 21 in the coaches poll and No. 23 in the AP poll entering Friday’s rivalry game at Oregon State. After Sunday’s overtime loss at home to Washington State, the Ducks are 13-5, 4-3 in Pac-12 play. Oregon State is 10-8, 2-5 in conference.
Gonzaga, which ended Portland’s seven-game win streak on Saturday, Jan. 14, climbed to 16th in the AP poll and 19th in the coaches poll.
Here is this week’s college women’s basketball slate:
Thursday, Jan. 19: Weber State at Portland State, 6 p.m. (ESPN+); Portland at Saint Mary’s, 6:30 p.m. (wccsports.com)
Saturday, Jan. 21: Idaho State at Portland State, 2 p.m. (ESPN+); Portland at Pacific, 2 p.m. (wccsports.com).
Ducks’ Gray honored — Oregon guard Chance Gray was named the Pac-12 women’s basketball freshman of the week after scoring a career-high 22 points on Jan. 15 in the Ducks’ OT loss to Washington State.
Jade Carey honored — Olympic champion and Oregon State sophomore Jade Carey was named the Pac-12 gymnast of the week after posting perfect 10.0 scores on vault and floor exercise at the Wasatch Classic on Jan. 14.
Indoor track — The college indoor season is under way and Benson High grad Micah Williams is off to a fast start for Oregon. On Saturday, Jan. 14, he won the 60-meter dash at the UW Preview with a time of 6.54 seconds. A third-year sophomore, Williams was the indoor 60-meter champion two years ago. This was his ninth time running 6.55 or faster for the Ducks.Â
Portland Pilots junior Laura Pellicoro set a program record in the women’s indoor 3,000 with her time of 9 minutes, 5.91 seconds at the UW Preview.
College baseball — Oregon is ranked 25th in the D1Baseball.com preseason Top-25. The Ducks were ranked 19th in preseason by Collegiate Baseball. Stanford (No. 3) and UCLA (No. 17) are the Pac-12 teams ranked ahead of Oregon by D1Baseball. The college baseball season starts in one month.
Kraken at home — Seattle has lost two in a row after its record-setting eight-game win streak (seven on the road). After losses at home to Tampa Bay on Monday, Jan. 16, and at Edmonton on Tuesday, Jan. 17, the Kraken hope five consecutive home games can produce another win streak. New Jersey is at Seattle on Thursday, Jan. 19, to open the five-game home stand.
Paul Danzer is a sports reporter based in Portland, Ore.
"As a sports fan, working in sports journalism and telling the stories of athletes and teams from the school level to the elite/professional level is rewarding. Games are fun! So is meeting and introducing readers to driven, uniquely talented and often just plain fun humans. Sports bring together communities. Often, unexpected or unique connections are made through sports. To witness and to recount myriad dramas of human competition is a hoot.”
