Ionescu, Cazorla Lead Ducks to Win vs. No. 19 Texas A&M

Thursday, December 21

Las Vegas, Nev.

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

10-2

Texas A&M

10-3

Oregon

Texas A&M

Ionescu, Cazorla Lead Ducks to Win vs. No. 19 Texas A&M

12/21/17 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box: Oregon 84, Texas A&M 62

By: Joe Waltasti

LAS VEGAS – Guards Sabrina Ionescu and Maite Cazorla combined for 51 points and the No. 10 ranked Oregon women's basketball team defeated No. 19 Texas A&M, 84-62, on Thursday at the Duel in the Desert.

The Ducks (10-2) defeated the Aggies for the second time this season, also winning 83-68 on Nov. 16 in College Station, Texas, as part of the preseason WNIT.

HOW IT HAPPENED: After Texas A&M tallied the first basket of the game, the Ducks went on a 10-0 run before the Aggies scored again. Oregon shot a blistering 82.4 percent (14-of-17) in the first quarter as they owned a 34-17 lead. Ionescu tallied 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting the first. Oregon scored nine points off Texas A&M's five first quarter turnovers.

As hot as the Ducks were in the first quarter, they struggled in the second. Oregon shot just 2-of-11 in the second quarter and scored only seven points. Still, Oregon owned a 41-31 lead at halftime. Three players were in double-figures scoring at the break, led by Ionescu's 14 points. Cazorla had 13 points in the first half while Satou Sabally had 10.

Oregon bounced back in the third, scoring the first five points of the quarter. The Ducks matched their biggest lead of the game, 18 points, when Oti Gildon knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 55-37 lead with 3:36 left in the third. Texas A&M battled back a bit, as the Ducks had a 61-47 lead going to the fourth. Cazorla had already matched her career-high with 26 points at the end of the third quarter.

Hebard hit a tough layup in traffic to give the Ducks their biggest lead of the game at that point, up 19 points, with 7:34 left in the game. The Aggies cut it down to 12 midway through the fourth, but Ionescu hit a pair of three-pointers as the Ducks owned a 77-59 lead with two minutes remaining to put the game away. The Ducks continued to score down the stretch before winning, 84-62.

BOX SCORE: Maite Cazorla matched her career-high with 26 points and Sabrina Ionescu scored 25 points and tied her career-best with six three-pointers…Satou Sabally scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in her second straight start…Ruthy Hebard tallied 10 points and eight rebounds…The Ducks shot 54 percent overall (27-of-50) and 50 percent from three (12-of-24).

UP NEXT: No. 10 Oregon meets Hawai'i at noon tomorrow for its second and final game at the Duel in the Desert. It will be the Ducks' final non-conference game of the 2017-18 season.