Oregon guard Maddie Scherr (#23) knocks down a three-pointer as the No. 24 Ducks face the Oregon State Beavers in a women’s college basketball game at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With no common opponents and minimal geographic crossover in recruiting, Oregon and Belmont are each trying to translate applicable experiences from their respective seasons into the game plans for their first round matchup in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The No. 5 seed Ducks (20-11) have more size and depth than almost every team the No. 12 seed Bruins have faced this season with the exception of Louisville. Belmont (22-7) makes more 3-pointers per game than every team Oregon played this year except Utah.

“The more I watch them play, the more I realize how good they are,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “They don’t really have a weakness that I can find right now. They’re just really, really solid at both ends of the floor.

“I know coach (Bart) Brooks does a helluva job and is a really good coach and one of the bright young coaches in our game. He comes from an offensive background, but I think their defense is really what’s set them apart this year. They really defend well.”

Belmont has a top-25 scoring defense, allowing 55.5 points per game entering Saturday’s matchup (2:30 p.m., ESPN2) with Oregon at Thompson-Boling Arena. But it hasn’t faced a team with the size of Oregon’s Sedona Prince and Nyara Sabally, or its depth led by all-Pac-12 guards Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao.

Bruins forward Conley Chinn compared the preparation for the Ducks’ posts to that from facing Ole Miss center Shakira Austin.

“It’s not a one-on-one game against Belmont,” Chinn said. “We work on being there for your teammate. If they’re stuck on the block alone with a 6-foot-8 player, you’re going to go help. Throughout the year there’s always post players we have to prepare for specifically. I think we’re more than capable of doing it. It’s just a matter of not making it a one-on-one game.”

Stylistically, Belmont will look to apply some of what it saw on film from Utah’s approach to facing Oregon. Brooks referenced the three matchups between the Utes and Ducks this season while also acknowledging the size discrepancy that will be obvious.

“Something they do really well is they change things a lot,” Brooks said.

“You’re not going to see the same ball screen coverage for four quarters, the same looks defensively that can change their zone looks. They’re versatile defensively. They’re not going to give us consistent looks.”

Offensively, Belmont will lean on Destinee Wells (16.6 points, 4.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds) to lead the way.

Graves compared Wells, a 45.8% shooter, to Cal’s Jayda Curry, who led the Pac-12 in scoring this season.

“Wells is phenomenal. She’s as good as any guard we’ve played in the Pac-12,” Graves said.

“I think you’ve got to corral her because she sets everything up, to be honest with you.”

With Maddie Scherr practicing with the rest of the team on Friday, Oregon appears to have all of its players available for Saturday’s game. That’s a great development for the Ducks in terms of perimeter defense against Wells.

“When she comes in the paint, we have to be strong and not foul, something we’ve been working on all year,” forward Sedona Prince said.

“She also gets that energy going for the team. Once she gets a couple baskets, it’s hard to come back from that. She inspires the rest of her teammates to get going as well. If we just contain her, she’s going to make shots, but we’ve got to contain her a lot.”