Women’s NCAA Tournament: Youth Will Need To Be Served For Oregon Ducks vs Temple

The Oregon Ducks meet the Temple Owls in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

The matchup is good enough to warrant ‘Primetime’ attention. Both programs come in with something to prove. The Oregon Ducks(20-13, 8-10 Pac-12) youth movement meets Temple’s Experience in a matchup that ESPNW has among the best games in the first round.

The Temple Owls finished second in the American Athletic Conference behind a team we all know in Connecticut. The Owls have won three of their last four games bowing out early in their Conference Tournament to South Florida. The team finished 13-3 in Conference play and if not for the Huskies, may have landed with a better seed.

Temple(24-7, 13-3) is led by experience, and there is plenty to go around. Feyonda Fitzgerald is the Player To Watch for the Owls. She had 30 points and 7 assists in the Conference Tournament. She set a new Tournament record for points in the win against Houston. Alliya Butts is their three point threat. She posted 19 points vs Houston. Fitzgerald posted 17 points and over 7 assists per game during the regular season.

In breaking down the statistics, the Oregon Ducks are slightly better across the board according to GoDucks.com. Oregon is averaging 71 points per game to the Owls 69 points. Lexi Bando leads the country in three-pointers at 50 percent helping the Oregon Ducks to a 7 percent advantage in that category.

For the Oregon Ducks, the pace and keeping down turnovers could be the difference in an NCAA Tournament game win. Of course, keeping reality in check, the bracket is led by UConn and a primed and ready Duke team could be the Ducks next opponent Monday.

Next: Oregon Track and Field Racks Up Indoor Season Awards

The Ducks and Owls tipoff on Saturday at 3:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.