University of Oregon
USC
Ionescu Sets Tone From The Jump
01/05/18 | Women's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
The UO women have consistently set the tone in games this season, led by their sophomore point guard Sabrina Ionescu, who leads them against USC on the road Friday (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
From the opening tip so far this season, the Oregon women's basketball team is leaving no doubt.
Ranked ninth in the nation, the Ducks are off to a 13-2 start as they head to Los Angeles for a road weekend that begins at Southern California on Friday (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network). The Ducks are outscoring opponents by an average of 27.4 points per game, their lowest margin of victory in any of their 13 wins has been 11 points – against Washington, this past Sunday – and they've had a double-digit lead at the end of the first quarter eight times in 15 games.
That includes both games last weekend, when the Ducks got off to a 2-0 start in Pac-12 play for the first time in nearly a decade. The UO women outscored Washington State and UW a combined 47-17. The win over the Huskies began with two three-pointers by Sabrina Ionescu, no coincidence as Oregon's star point guard has set the tone in the Ducks' blistering starts this season.
"Most coaches will back me up – sometimes you worry, 'I hope we're ready,'" UO coach Kelly Graves said. "With her, we're gonna be ready. Because I know she will be."
Ionescu, who completed her NCAA record eighth triple-double against UW, is imposing her will on opponents from the very outset this season. She had 16 points in the first quarter of a win over Southern Utah, and 14 in the first quarter against Texas A&M. She had two steals in the first five minutes as Oregon got out to a 14-3 lead over Hawaii, and then most recently Ionescu opened the UW game by giving the Ducks a quick 6-0 lead.
With a year of experience under her belt, Ionescu isn't requiring any time to get comfortable in games. When the whistle blows and the opening tip is in the air, her ferocious competitiveness is unleashed.
"Last year I kind of let the game come to me more, which led to some slow starts," Ionescu said. "This year I'm definitely coming out shooting the ball confidently, getting into passing lanes – definitely trying to make an impact right when the game starts, to give us good momentum."
The hot starts suggest a player whose competitive spirit is just waiting to be set free, and Ionescu said that's about right. She hardly sleeps the night before games, she said. In the long hours before a night game, she's constantly watching the clock.
"I just can't wait for the buzzer to sound and for us to be able to play," she said.
When the Ducks have a pregame shootaround, Ionescu likes to stay late and get up shots on her own. For the bus ride to the arena, she quietly listens to music as the anxiety grows. In pregame warmups, she also prefers isolation, her intensity building as the countdown clock expires.
Finally, the game begins, and she can channel that focus on the court. Whatever it takes to set the tone – scoring in double digits, or making a couple steals as she did against Hawaii – Ionescu gets the Ducks going.
"She can come out and get 16 points in the first quarter, and then not shoot again the rest of the night," Graves said. "She'll do whatever it takes. She has zero ego. For her, it's the winning that matters."
Ionescu is the stereotypical competitor who hates to lose even more than she enjoys winning. But she's finding some balance as a sophomore, too, thanks to her friendship with fellow sophomore all-America candidate Ruthy Hebard.
The two were roommates as freshmen, and occasionally for road trips as sophomores. Hebard exudes positive energy, even when she makes a mistake, and she's tried to coax a little of the same from Ionescu.
"She definitely has helped me with that," Ionescu said, "because I'm the complete opposite."
"Sabrina is all about basketball," Graves said. "Ruthy has other interests, and I think has maybe shown Sabrina that you can have some fun and still be an intense competitor. I think they're a great match."
Against Washington State in the Pac-12 opener, it was Ionescu and Hebard in tandem getting the Ducks a win in their conference opener for the first time since 2009-10. Each scored 25 points, which for Ionescu included a pair of three-pointers late in the third quarter that quashed WSU's comeback hopes.
"We're older, we're better – we need to have the mentality that no one can stop us," Hebard said. "That's the way we came out especially at the start of the Pac-12 games."
They'll look to keep it rolling this week in Los Angeles. The Trojans are off to a 10-3 start and scoring 71.8 points per game; on Sunday looms No. 14 UCLA, one of the Ducks' fellow favorites to contend for the Pac-12 title.
Based on the season so far, the Ducks will be ready to play as they hit the road in the Pac-12. Their sophomore point guard Ionescu will make sure of it.
"I'm honored to be her coach, I'm telling you," Graves said. "She's this way in practice, too, every day. She never has a day off in terms of attitude, and intensity, and hard work. …
"Any time your best player is your hardest worker and also your most intense player, you've got a good culture."
