Sunday, November 12
Eugene, Ore.
2:00 PM
University of Oregon
2-0
110
vs
77
Drake
1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Drake
19
20
20
18
77
Oregon
30
20
32
28
110
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ionescu's Triple-Double Leads Balanced Effort In WNIT Win
11/12/17 | Women's Basketball
Sabrina Ionescu had a triple-double and two teammates had double-doubles in No. 11 Oregon's 110-77 win over Drake on Sunday.
EUGENE, Ore. — Playing a team that went undefeated in its conference last season, the No. 11 Oregon women's basketball team led from wire-to-wire in a 110-77 defeat of Drake on Sunday in the second round of the Preseason WNIT before 2,311 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
"Especially that second half, we played well," said UO coach Kelly Graves, whose team led 50-39 after two quarters. "Couple areas we needed to shore up, we did; the turnovers were a little ugly, but our rebounding was much better this game. It was just a good team effort. Everybody contributed."
How It Happened: The Ducks (2-0) went ahead for good when Lexi Bando opened the game with a three-pointer. Late in the first quarter, the UO women forced turnovers on five straight possessions, capped by a Maite Cazorla steal and layup for a 27-14 lead. Drake (1-1) fought gamely in the second, when the teams played evenly, but Bando hit three-pointers on three of the first five possessions after halftime as part of a 15-2 Oregon run.
That put the Ducks up 65-43, and the Bulldogs got the deficit back under 20 at 71-52. That's when freshman Satou Sabally took over, scoring Oregon's final four field goals of the third quarter and then another to open the fourth. Sabrina Ionescu followed that with her fifth of a career-high six three-pointers in the game for an 87-59 lead. At that point the only drama concerned Ionescu's shot at a triple-double, which she completed minutes later by following her own miss of a three-point attempt and grabbing it for her 10th rebound.
Who Stood Out: Ionescu completed her fifth career triple-double, with a career-high 29 points plus 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Two other Ducks had double-doubles — Ruthy Hebard finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Cazorla had 12 points with 11 rebounds. Sabally scored 20 points, 15 in the second half, and Bando added 16 on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. The Ducks had 31 assists - one shy of the program record of 32 assists set in 1983 against Santa Clara - on 40 field goals, and had a 49-20 edge on the boards.
What It Means: The Ducks opened the season with two wins over mid-major teams by a combined total of 81 points. They'll face a much tougher test next time out, on the road at Texas A&M of the SEC.
Quotable:
Head coach Kelly Graves
On the Ducks' impressive start to the season
"Drake was the same seed we were in last year's NCAA Tournament (10th), they're more than likely gonna win their conference, and they're a team I think is gonna win a lot of games this year. We just have so many good players, we're gonna be able to wear some teams down. I think that could be part of our M.O. for the season; once we got rolling fullcourt, got some offense off our defense, that got us going."
Sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu
On completing the triple-double
"The coaches were yelling at me, 'Rebound, rebound!' So I was like, 'OK!' They didn't tell me exactly why. So I was just running to get every rebound, and right when I got the rebound (the crowd) was like, 'tri-ple-dou-ble!' I was like, 'Oh!'"
On playing Thursday at Texas A&M
"It'll definitely test us. We'll see where we are, playing this good Texas A&M team. I'm excited to be able to play on the road. We haven't had a tough game on the road yet, so it'll test how we battle."
Freshman wing Satou Sabally
On adjusting to the U.S. game
"We play more free than I'm used to. It's a lot of fun, but it's hard though."
On getting tougher defensively to complement her offensive skills
"I like being challenged, and that's a great challenge — getting stronger, getting more muscle in the weight room. I'll get there."
Notable: Ionescu is one triple-double shy of the Pac-12 career record of six, held by former UO assistant Nicole Powell. The NCAA career record is seven. … The Ducks went 16-of-29 from three-point range, four shy of the school single-game record. … Freshman guard Aina Ayuso left the game with an apparent ankle injury in the second half and did not return.
Up Next: The Ducks move on to play at Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT on Thursday in College Station, Texas.
NCAA Career Triple-Double Leaders
Suzie McConnell, Penn State (1985-88) - 7
Louella Tomlinson, St. Mary's (2008-11) - 7
Nicole Powell, Stanford (2001-04) - 6*
Danielle Carson, Youngstown St. (1982-86) - 6
Alyssa Thomas, Maryland (2011-14) - 6
Samantha Logic, Iowa (2012-15) - 6
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (2016-pres.) - 5
Joskeen Garner, Northwestern St. (1993-96) - 5
Shalee Lehning, Kansas St. (2006-09) - 5
Brittney Griner, Baylor (2010-13) - 5
* Pac-12 Career Record
"Especially that second half, we played well," said UO coach Kelly Graves, whose team led 50-39 after two quarters. "Couple areas we needed to shore up, we did; the turnovers were a little ugly, but our rebounding was much better this game. It was just a good team effort. Everybody contributed."
How It Happened: The Ducks (2-0) went ahead for good when Lexi Bando opened the game with a three-pointer. Late in the first quarter, the UO women forced turnovers on five straight possessions, capped by a Maite Cazorla steal and layup for a 27-14 lead. Drake (1-1) fought gamely in the second, when the teams played evenly, but Bando hit three-pointers on three of the first five possessions after halftime as part of a 15-2 Oregon run.
That put the Ducks up 65-43, and the Bulldogs got the deficit back under 20 at 71-52. That's when freshman Satou Sabally took over, scoring Oregon's final four field goals of the third quarter and then another to open the fourth. Sabrina Ionescu followed that with her fifth of a career-high six three-pointers in the game for an 87-59 lead. At that point the only drama concerned Ionescu's shot at a triple-double, which she completed minutes later by following her own miss of a three-point attempt and grabbing it for her 10th rebound.
Who Stood Out: Ionescu completed her fifth career triple-double, with a career-high 29 points plus 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Two other Ducks had double-doubles — Ruthy Hebard finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Cazorla had 12 points with 11 rebounds. Sabally scored 20 points, 15 in the second half, and Bando added 16 on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. The Ducks had 31 assists - one shy of the program record of 32 assists set in 1983 against Santa Clara - on 40 field goals, and had a 49-20 edge on the boards.
What It Means: The Ducks opened the season with two wins over mid-major teams by a combined total of 81 points. They'll face a much tougher test next time out, on the road at Texas A&M of the SEC.
Quotable:
Head coach Kelly Graves
On the Ducks' impressive start to the season
"Drake was the same seed we were in last year's NCAA Tournament (10th), they're more than likely gonna win their conference, and they're a team I think is gonna win a lot of games this year. We just have so many good players, we're gonna be able to wear some teams down. I think that could be part of our M.O. for the season; once we got rolling fullcourt, got some offense off our defense, that got us going."
Sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu
On completing the triple-double
"The coaches were yelling at me, 'Rebound, rebound!' So I was like, 'OK!' They didn't tell me exactly why. So I was just running to get every rebound, and right when I got the rebound (the crowd) was like, 'tri-ple-dou-ble!' I was like, 'Oh!'"
On playing Thursday at Texas A&M
"It'll definitely test us. We'll see where we are, playing this good Texas A&M team. I'm excited to be able to play on the road. We haven't had a tough game on the road yet, so it'll test how we battle."
Freshman wing Satou Sabally
On adjusting to the U.S. game
"We play more free than I'm used to. It's a lot of fun, but it's hard though."
On getting tougher defensively to complement her offensive skills
"I like being challenged, and that's a great challenge — getting stronger, getting more muscle in the weight room. I'll get there."
Notable: Ionescu is one triple-double shy of the Pac-12 career record of six, held by former UO assistant Nicole Powell. The NCAA career record is seven. … The Ducks went 16-of-29 from three-point range, four shy of the school single-game record. … Freshman guard Aina Ayuso left the game with an apparent ankle injury in the second half and did not return.
Up Next: The Ducks move on to play at Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT on Thursday in College Station, Texas.
NCAA Career Triple-Double Leaders
Suzie McConnell, Penn State (1985-88) - 7
Louella Tomlinson, St. Mary's (2008-11) - 7
Nicole Powell, Stanford (2001-04) - 6*
Danielle Carson, Youngstown St. (1982-86) - 6
Alyssa Thomas, Maryland (2011-14) - 6
Samantha Logic, Iowa (2012-15) - 6
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (2016-pres.) - 5
Joskeen Garner, Northwestern St. (1993-96) - 5
Shalee Lehning, Kansas St. (2006-09) - 5
Brittney Griner, Baylor (2010-13) - 5
* Pac-12 Career Record
Team Stats
DU
ORE
FG%
.429
.556
3FG%
.261
.552
FT%
.739
.636
RB
20
49
TO
16
17
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
10
3FGM
6
FTM
3
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballKelly Graves | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Deja Kelly, Peyton Scott & Phillipina Kyei | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Peyton Scott & Ari Long: "A good, competitive basketball game."
Thursday, February 27
Kelly Graves: "We've played really well."
Thursday, February 27
