Ducks Unable to Hold on in Tempe

Friday, January 10

Tempe, AZ

5:00 PM

University of Oregon

12-2,2-1Pac-12

Arizona State

12-4,2-2Pac-12

Oregon

Arizona St.

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

01/10/20 | Women's Basketball

Box Score ASU 72, Oregon 66 Updated Season Stats

By: Nate Krueger

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Oregon women's basketball team took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter on Friday night against Arizona State, but the No. 2 Ducks were unable to hang on as the Sun Devils pulled off the upset, 72-66, in front of 3,958 fans in Desert Financial Arena.

The Ducks (12-2, 2-1) suffered their first Pac-12 loss of the season and will look to bounce back as they travel to Tucson to take on No. 18 Arizona on Sunday.

How it Happened: Leading by seven at halftime, the Ducks pushed their lead to 10 through the first four minutes of the third quarter after a lay-in by Sabrina Ionescu. Arizona State (12-4, 2-2) got within six with two minutes left in the period, but Ionescu made a pair of buckets in a 30-second span to put Oregon up 10 with 10 minutes to play.

Satou Sabally drove and finished at the rim to push Oregon's lead to 12 two minutes into the final quarter, but the Sun Devils answered with a lay-in and then caught fire from deep with four unanswered threes to take a 58-56 lead with 3:57 to play. Ionescu ended the 14-0 ASU run with a pair of free throws and followed with a jumper to put Oregon back in front, but ASU hit again from beyond the arc to lead 61-60 with 2:42 remaining.

Ionescu answered once again with a jumper at the 1:47 mark. With Oregon up one, Arizona State's Jamie Ruden converted a pair of buckets inside to put the Sun Devils up three with just 34 seconds left to play. Ionescu got the Ducks back within one with a pair of free throws, and the Ducks fouled to send ASU to the line. Oregon appeared to have an opportunity when ASU made the first free throw and missed the second, but Ruden came up with an offensive rebound to keep the Sun Devils in control. The Ducks had to foul again, and ASU made its free throws down the stretch to ice the upset. ASU outscored the Ducks 30-14 in the final quarter.

The Ducks jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on three straight baskets by Ruthy Hebard, and led 8-2 at the first quarter media timeout after a lay-in by Sabrina Ionescu. Arizona State cut Oregon's lead to 14-12 with two minutes left in the period before back-to-back three-pointers by Arizona native Taylor Chavez pushed the advantage back to eight. ASU hit a three with 10 seconds left to get the deficit to five, but freshman Jaz Shelley answered with a deep triple at the buzzer to give Oregon a 23-15 lead through the first 10 minutes.

Back-to-back jumpers by Ionescu pushed Oregon's lead to 11 early in the second, and a pair of baskets by Shelley helped give the Ducks their biggest lead of the first half at 32-19 with 4:56 remaining. The Sun Devils went on a 9-1 run to get back within five with 2:34 left in the half, but Ionescu answered with a jumper to give the Ducks a seven-point lead at the break. It was a quiet finish to the half offensively for the Ducks, who made just one field goal over the final five-plus minutes.

Who Stood Out: Ionescu did the bulk of the work offensively, finishing with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season and 45th of her career. Hebard had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Sabally added 10 points. The Ducks struggled to space the floor and move the ball around, finishing with just nine assists on 27 made field goals.

Notable: Ionescu extended her UO all-time record with her 115th career double-figure scoring game, and Hebard notched her 106th, putting her two away from No. 2 all-time … Ionescu moved past 2,200 career points and is now 41 away from the UO all-time scoring record … Ionescu grabbed double-digit rebounds for the fifth time this season and the 32nd time in her career … Arizona State now holds a 35-34 advantage in the all-time series.

Up Next: The Ducks will face their first ranked conference opponent of the season on Sunday when they take on No. 18 Arizona in Tucson (11 a.m. PT, Pac-12 Network).