WBB Preview: Aggies Return To Oregon For Bout With Ducks

After a dominant, record-setting win over Stanislaus State that gave Utah State a 3-2 record and its best start since 2016-17, the Aggies are back on the road and back in survival mode against the Oregon Ducks.

The Ducks are a top-tier team in college basketball, sitting currently at 5-0 overall and 4-0 at home. The two teams don’t share any common opponents, though the Ducks defeated their first Mountain West foe of the year, Grand Canyon, by a score of 84-66.

Radio voice of the Aggies, Ajay Salvesen, said of the matchup, "Not only is this the best team Wes Brooks has faced (at Utah State), but this is most likely the best team that any of this Aggie roster has ever played against. And for sure the best team by far and away I’ll have seen as the broadcaster."

It’s a bold claim, but it has merit. Already in his second season at the helm, Brooks has coached against some exceptional teams. Last season, he took the Aggies on the road to face Colorado and Grand Canyon, and met 11th-ranked Ohio State at a neutral site. This year, he’s led the Aggies to a road game against Oregon State and played Utah in a home-and-home series that started in Salt Lake last year and came to Logan this season.

Still, this Oregon team presents a major challenge for Utah State, and very well could be the best opponent Brooks has faced in his time as a head coach. The Ducks are coming off a 20-12 campaign with a 10-8 debut in the Big Ten that saw them ranked as high as 21st in the AP Poll and earned them their sixth NCAA tournament in nine years (eight seasons, excluding the 2020 tournament that was cancelled when the Ducks ended the season ranked second in the nation).

The Ducks have been ranked in eight of the past nine years, losing in the Elite Eight twice and the Final Four once in that span. Their 11-21 season in 2023-24 was their worst, and the only one without any time spent in the top 25 in that stretch. It was also the only season since 2014-15 that the Ducks didn’t play any postseason basketball, as they were invited to the WNIT in each of the years that they missed the NCAA tournament during that run (again excluding 2020).

But the Ducks bounced back nicely last year and are back on track under head coach Kelly Graves, who has a 248-123 record at Oregon. They are led by a very familiar face in Mia Jacobs, the former Fresno State standout, and a host of long, cerebral athletes. Oregon is effectively a factory packed to the brim with double-double machines. The players on this roster are particularly versatile on their own, and combined, they make an Oregon Ducks team that can win in many different ways.

The Ducks have 10 six-footers and their smallest players, Astera Tuhina and Janiyah Williams, are 5-9 and both contribute nicely in limited minutes. They have three players averaging double digits in scoring, four players averaging three or more rebounds, three players averaging three or more assists and eight averaging at least one, and eight players averaging at least a steal per game.

Players To Know

Mia Jacobs: Mia Jacobs, a 6-2 senior who joined the Oregon program this offseason by way of Fresno State, met the Aggies twice last year and was victorious both times, first in a 20-point rout at home, then in an eight-point overtime win in Logan.

Keeping Jacobs’ scoring at bay was a big part of Utah State’s improvement from game one to game two. She played all 40 minutes and had 13 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, two turnovers and two steals. A 13-point double-double sounds like a good day at the office, and in all reality it is, but Jacobs was on a heater, averaging 23.5 points in her past four games. In her first meeting with Utah State, she played 27 minutes and had 26 points, seven rebounds, an assist and two steals. 

Across her two years as a Bulldog, she started in each of the 66 games she played. In her first year, she averaged 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Last season, she improved her already stellar numbers and averaged a double-double with 18.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Her performance earned her a spot on the all-Mountain West first-team list, and a bit later, a spot on the Oregon Ducks team.

She had made the most of that spot on the Ducks’ roster, starting in all five games amid Oregon’s 5-0 start. She is averaging 17.2 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Jacobs is one of three Ducks averaging double digits, leading the team in scoring and ranking second in rebounding.

She hasn’t notched a double-double yet, something she did 19 times last year, but it is only a matter of time. Her closest attempt was her most recent, when she had 20 points and seven rebounds against Washington State. Her season high in scoring was a 26-point game against GCU, when she added a rebound, an assist and a block. This came one game after the worst of her year, as in an 18-minute stint against Montana, she recorded seven points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Not much else was needed of her, as evidenced by her time on the bench, and the Ducks cruised to a 90-47 victory.

"Mia is a proven winner that continues to get better each and every season," Graves says of Jacobs. "She had a breakout season as a junior at Fresno State, and she’s only scratching the surface of what she can become. Mia is a long forward that is skilled and versatile. She has the ability to step out and knock down the three and she has great instincts as a rebounder. We love her competitive nature and expect her to contribute in a meaningful way immediately."

Katie Fiso: Katie Fiso is another familiar face for the Aggies, but unlike Jacobs, she’s never taken the court again at Utah State. Fiso’s face is familiar because of the family resemblance between her and her sister, Meghan Fiso, who spent the past four years at San Diego State.

Katie, the younger of the Fiso sisters, is an inch taller at 5-11 and is entering her second year of college basketball while Meghan starts her sixth, now at Pepperdine.
Katie has been with Oregon for her whole career and came off the bench in all 25 of her games as a freshman. She posted solid numbers and helped contribute to the 20-12 season. This year, however, Fiso has been a full-time starter. She's averaging 14.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and a ridiculous 8.6 assists per game, plus 1.6 steals.

She is first on the team and second in the Big Ten in assists, and has dished 10 assists on three occasions this season. Her season low is five, which she did in just 21 minutes of work against Montana. Her final line in that game was 10 points, one rebound, an assist, three steals and a block.

All three of her 10-assist games have resulted in a double-double as she has reached double digits scoring in each of her five games. Her season high is 22, which came in the most recent outing against Wazzu, when she had 22 points, two rebounds, eight assists and a steal.

Ehis Etute: Another in a long list of multi-faceted ducks is Ehis Etute. She is leading the team in rebounds and is doing it while adding scoring contributions, showing an ability to dish the ball, playing solid defense, and staying out of foul trouble.

Etute is a sophomore for the Ducks and in her second year with the program. She started in one of her 22 games with the team last year and has been coming off the bench so far this year. She is posting 5.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Her season highs show glimpses of potential that could be scary if she puts it all together. She had 12 points against Montana, 13 rebounds and four assists against WSU and three steals and a block against West Georgia. She picked up three fouls against Montana, but has had two or fewer in each of her other games. She had a rough night protecting the ball against Army, committing four turnovers, but only had two on the season in her other four games combined.

She hasn’t put it together yet this year, but Graves called her a "double-double machine."

"She is an exceptionally skilled rebounder and has the ability to finish strong around the rim," Graves continued. "She has been playing against pros over in Europe, so I think her adjustment to the college game will be pretty smooth."