Which former Oregon women's basketball players are playing in the NCAA Tournament?
With the NCAA Tournament on the horizon, a whopping eight former Oregon Duck women's basketball players will be on the rosters of NCAA Tournament teams this month, with five on top-4 seeds, and at least seven as core contributors on their new teams.
Here's how former Oregon Ducks fared during the regular season, and where they'll be headed with their new teams in the Big Dance.
Taylor Bigby, USC
In her second season as a Trojan, Bigby is averaging a career-high 5.2 points per game over about 22 minutes per game, mostly off the bench. The former five-star guard that played for Oregon for one season (2021-22) now contributes for No. 1 seed USC in the NCAA Tournament.
Lucy Cochrane, Portland
The Australia native has started all 32 games for the Pilots this season, averaging 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game. Cochrane played for Oregon for one season (2019-20), and has been a steady contributor for the Pilots for the last three seasons. The senior helped Portland to a WCC tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth this season. The No. 13 Pilots play No. 4 Kansas State in the first round.
Angela Dugalic, UCLA
The former five-star recruit has started all but one game for the Bruins this season, averaging a career-best 9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. Dugalic played just one season for Oregon (2020-21) and sat out last season for UCLA with an injury. She helped guide the Bruins to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they'll play No. 15 Cal Baptist in the first round.
Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
Another former five-star recruit in her first year for the Gamecocks, Paopao has started every game and is scoring 11.1 points per game to go along with 3.7 assists while shooting a career-best 47.1% from 3-point range. South Carolina is undefeated this year and the odds-on favorite to win the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Paopao played three season at Oregon (2020-23) before transferring to South Carolina.
Sydney Parrish, Indiana
Yet another former five-star recruit in a different uniform, Parrish has started all but one game for the Hoosiers and is averaging 10.2 points and 6 rebounds per game over 22 contests. The senior has sat out a few games with an injury, but is healthy enough to play for the tournament, where the Hoosiers open as the No. 4 seed taking on No. 13 Fairfield. Parrish played two seasons at Oregon (2020-22) before transferring.
Endyia Rogers, Texas A&M
Two-time transfer Rogers has seen her production dip a bit in her last college season for the Aggies, scoring 12.5 points per game and also hauling in four boards and dishing out 3.9 assists per game. Rogers suffered a knee injury late in the season that forced her to miss games down the stretch that saw A&M lose one of six to close the regular season. She'll make her return to the state of Oregon this weekend when the No. 11 Aggies play No. 6 Nebraska in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Corvallis Friday. Rogers started her career at USC (2019-21) before transferring to Oregon for two seasons (2021-23) and then declaring for the WNBA draft. She later decided to join A&M, instead for her senior season.
Jaz Shelley, Nebraska
An emerging star as a fifth-year player, Shelley started all but one game for the Cornhuskers this season and is averaging 13.7 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game. Shelley helped guide Nebraska to the Big Ten title game and the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where the Cornhuskers will play No. 11 Texas A&M in Corvallis on Friday. Shelley played two seasons at Oregon (2019-21) before transferring to Nebraska.
Kylee Watson, Notre Dame
The forward has started every game for the Fighting Irish over the last two seasons, averaging 6.2 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game this season for the No. 2 seed Notre Dame. Watson tore her ACL in the ACC Tournament just a few weeks ago and will miss the rest of the season for Notre Dame. She played two years at Oregon (2020-22) before moving to South Bend.
Former Ducks that didn't make the NCAA Tournament
Chanaya Pinto, Penn State
Though the Nittany Lions did not make the Big Dance, Pinto averaged a career-high 5.5 points per game and also hauled in 3.5 rebounds as a senior, starting 13 of 31 possible games. Pinto and the Lions take on George Mason in the opening round of the brand-new Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) Thursday as a No. 1 seed.
Sedona Prince, TCU
Prince has had a career-year, though in just 19 games played after suffering an injury, for former Oregon assistant coach Mark Campbell and TCU. She averaged 20.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game for the Horned Frogs, which dealt with a slew of injuries throughout the season, and will also play in the WBIT against North Texas. Prince was a three-year player for Oregon (2019-22) before leaving the program and declaring for the WNBA draft after suffering a season-ending injury before the 2022-23 season. She later decided to join TCU.
Maddie Scherr, transfer portal
Scherr was terrific for a Kentucky team that wasn't very good this season, scoring a career-best 12.5 points per game on a team that won't be competing in the postseason this month. Scherr reportedly entered the transfer portal for the second time in her career Monday after Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy was fired. Scherr played two seasons for Oregon (2020-22) before transferring closer to home in Lexington the last two seasons, and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Former Duck Te-Hina Paopao playing for South Carolina in March Madness
