No. 10 Ducks Meet No. 19 Texas A&M, Hawai'i at Duel in the Desert

LAS VEGAS - The No. 9 ranked Oregon women's basketball team closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule this weekend against No. 19 Texas A&M and Hawai'i in consecutive days at the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas.

The Ducks open the event on Thursday at noon against the Aggies before play the Rainbow Wahine at noon on Friday. Both games will take place at Cox Pavilion, adjacent to UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center.

#10 OREGON DUCKS (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12)
PPG: 89.6 | FG%: 51.3 | 3FG%: 41.5 | FT%: 77.0
Notable: The Ducks open the Duel in the Desert against No. 19 Texas A&M, the second time this season the teams have met and the third straight game for UO against an SEC opponent. Oregon comes into Las Vegas with the No. 3 ranked scoring offense in the NCAA (89.6 ppg). The Ducks also rank No. 6 in both field goal percentage (51.3%) and three-point field goal percentage (41.5%). With all that offense, the Ducks rank No. 6 in the nation in assists per game (22.2).

#19 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (9-2, 0-0 SEC)
PPG: 76.7 | FG%: 43.8 | 3FG%: 35.1 | FT%: 74.2
Series Record: Oregon leads, 2-1
Last Game: UO won, 83-68 (11/16/17, Coll. Sta.)
Notable: On Nov. 16, Sabrina Ionescu had a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (6-4, 0-0 Big West)
PPG: 67.3 | FG%: 43.4 | 3FG%: 33.9 | FT%: 69.5
Series Record: Hawai'i leads, 3-2
Last Game: UO won, 86-49 (11/26/16, Honolulu)
Notable: Last year at Hawai'i, Lexi Bando went 6-of-11 from three and scored a team-high 22 points.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV - None
Stream - FloHoops.com with a subscription
Radio - Terry Jonz on the call at KUGN 590 (Eugene), KUIK 1360 (Portland) & TuneIn. Search for "Oregon IMG" in the TuneIn app or online at TuneIn.com.
Live Stats - oregon.statbroadcast.com

DUCKS IN THE POLLS
The Ducks are ranked No. 10 this week in both the Associated Press top-25 and the USA Today Coaches top-25 polls.

PAC-12 RECORD SEVENTH TRIPLE-DOUBLE
It was clear early in the game that Sabrina Ionescu was feeling it on Dec. 17 against Ole Miss. At halftime, Ionescu already had 12 points and nine assists. She finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists for a Pac-12 record seventh career triple-double. Not only did the sophomore break the Pac-12 mark, held by former UO assistant Nicole Powell, but she tied the NCAA career mark, shared by Suzie McConnell and Louella Tomlinson. Ionescu tallied her seventh career triple-double in just her 44th career game. McConnell needed 128 games and Tomlinson needed 125.

IONESCU NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After helping the Ducks to a split in a pair of games against No. 5 Mississippi State and Ole Miss, Sabrina Ionescu was named the Pac-12 women's basketball player of the week. It is the third time this season Ionescu has won the award. Against Ole Miss, Ionescu broke the league record with her seventh career triple-double after tallying 21 points, 11 rebounds and a UO single-game record matching 14 assists.

HEBARD AGAINST THE SEC
In three games against the SEC this season - at No. 19 Texas A&M, at No. 5 Mississippi State, vs. Ole Miss - sophomore forward Ruthy Hebard has been remarkable. In the three games, Hebard is averaging 21.7 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 73.7 percent (28-of-38) from the floor with five blocks and five steals.

EARLIER THIS YEAR AT TEXAS A&M
Oregon and Texas A&M met on Nov. 16 in College Station in the semifinals of the preseason WNIT with the Ducks coming out on top, 83-68. While Sabrina Ionescu didn't shoot the ball well (3-of-14) she still posted a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Ruthy Hebard was the player who shined offensively, with 24 points on a perfect 10-for-10 shooting with eight rebounds. The 10-for-10 performance is the third-best in UO single-game history, behind Jillian Alleyne's 11-for-11 game against Arizona in 2014 and Lauri Landerholm's 11-for-11 game against Washington State in 1987. Chennedy Carter scored a team-high 23 points for Texas A&M but the Ducks held Danni Williams to 7-of-24 shooting and 17 points. Oregon went just 1-for-8 from three in the first half but went 6-of-11 in the second half.

LAST YEAR AGAINST HAWAI'I
Oregon tallied a 50/60/90 game against Hawai'i last season in an 86-49 win - shooting 58.2 percent from the floor, 60.0 percent from three and 90.9 percent from the free throw line. Lexi Bando was red hot, with a team-high 22 points and six three-pointers. Ruthy Hebard had 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting plus nine rebounds. Mallory McGwire came of the bench to score eight points and grab eight boards in just 12 minutes. Sierra Campisano had 10 points of the bench in only 10 minutes. Hawai'i shot just 32.7 percent from the floor and 31.8 percent from three.

NAISMITH, WADE TROPHY WATCH LISTS
- Both Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard were been named to the 50-player Naismith Trophy watch list. The award, organized by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, goes to the top player in the NCAA.
- Ionescu was also named to the Wade Trophy watch list. The Wade Trophy is presented by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and is also awarded to the top player in the NCAA.

THE SCOREBOARD, IT'S LIT
Oregon ranks third in the NCAA, averaging 89.6 points per game. UO has outscored their opponents by 27.6 points per game, which ranks ninth.

SHARE THE ROCK
- Oregon ranks third in the NCAA with 244 assists.
- The Ducks are averaging 22.2 assists per game this year, good for sixth in the NCAA.
- UO has 244 assists on 335 made baskets (65.4%).
- Individually, Sabrina Ionescu ranks second in the NCAA in total assists (94) and third in assists per game (8.5). Ionescu is 15th in the NCAA, with a 3.24-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

SHARP SHOOTERS
- Oregon ranks 6th in the NCAA, shooting 51.5 percent from the floor.
- The Ducks are 5th in the country, shooting 43.6 percent from three-point range.
- Individually, Ruthy Hebard ranks 15th in the NCAA, shooting 62.9 percent on field goals. Sabrina Ionescu is No. 7 in the country, shooting 51.7 percent from three-point range.

BANDO ON RECORD PACE
Senior guard Lexi Bando is close to setting multiple three-point percentage records. The guard is a career 45.4 percent three-point shooter (227-for-500), the second-best among active players in the NCAA.
- The NCAA career record is 47.6 percent (262-of-550), set by Notre Dame's Alicia Ratay from 2000-03.
- The Pac-12 career record is 45.2 percent (191-of-423), set by Stanford's Jennifer Azzi from 1988-90.
- The Oregon career record is 44.6 percent (66-of-148), set by Jennifer Bourn from 1987-91.
- Bando's 227 made three-pointers are the second most in UO career history. Taylor Lilley has the record with 270 made from 2007-2010.

THE PAC-12'S YOUNGEST TEAM
Despite being picked second in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll, Oregon is tied with Oregon State with the youngest roster in the conference. Both the Ducks and Beavers each have just four upperclassmen this season.

THE PAC-12'S TALLEST TEAM
With seven players standing 6-foot-2 or taller, Oregon is the tallest team in the Pac-12 for the 2017-18 season. California, Stanford, Colorado and Utah are just behind with six.

NON-CONFERENCE UNDER GRAVES
Oregon is 38-8 in regular season non-conference games in four-plus seasons under head coach Kelly Graves. The Ducks went a perfect 11-0 in non-conference play during the 2015-16 season. If you include postseason games (WNIT in 2015-16 and NCAA in 2016-17), the Ducks are 44-10 against non-Pac-12 opponents.

IONESCU MATCHES UO ASSISTS RECORD
With 14 assists on Dec. 2 against Weber State, Sabrina Ionescu matched the UO single-game assists record, also held by Corrie Mizusawa (at Gonzaga, Nov. 25, 2003) and Vanessa Selden (vs. NMSU, Dec. 7, 1990). Ionescu did it again on Dec. 17 against Ole Miss, with 14 assists as part of her seventh career triple-double.