Ducks Defeat Utes on the Road

Friday, February 17

Salt Lake City, UT

5:00 PM

University of Oregon

18-9, 8-7

Utah

15-11, 4-11

Oregon

Utah

Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu vs. Portland State 2016-17

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

02/17/17 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Erin Kunesh

SALT LAKE CITY - The Oregon women's basketball team defeated the Utah Utes on Friday afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Freshman Ruthy Hebard paced the Ducks with 16 points and three assists, while fellow freshman Sabrina Ionescu picked up 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists, just one shy of a double-double.

How it Happened: The Ducks (18-9, 8-7 Pac-12) came out hot early, with freshman Mallory McGwire scoring 10 points before the first timeout. While every shot seemed to go in the Ducks' favor, they also held the Utes (15-11, 4-11 Pac-12) to 3-for-10 shooting from the field.

Junior Lexi Bando, no stranger to hitting from three-point land, sank one from behind the arc to give the Ducks a 19-13 early lead. After the first quarter, the Ducks were 9-of-17 (53%) from the field, while the Utes were 6-of-17.

The Ducks' dominance didn't cease in the second quarter, though the Utes fought diligently to shave into the score deficit. With 4:44 to go before half, Oregon had notched 17 rebounds — Bando leading the charge with four — and forced three Ute turnovers.

With under two minutes remaining in the second quarter, Ionescu drained a three to cap a 7-0 Duck run. Sophomore Maite Cazorla was charged up herself, hitting a three and giving the Ducks a 37-30 lead heading into the locker room.

In the third, Ionescu added her sixth assist as senior Jacinta Vandenberg brought the Ducks up by eight, 48-40. Late in the quarter, Oregon extended its lead into double-digits.

In the fourth quarter, junior Justine Hall hit from beyond the arc to give Oregon its largest lead of the night, 66-49. Hebard and Hall solidified the Ducks' victory, 73-61 with Hebard accounting for the most points of the night at 16. McGwire who was in foul trouble at three, followed in points with 14.

On the night, the Ducks had 17 bench points, and 32 points in the paint on 66 possessions.

What it Means: Throughout the night, the Ducks never trailed. With the win, the Ducks are on a three-game win streak, having only trailed for a total of 21 seconds combined.

The Ducks, searching for the coveted 20-win season, continue to make strides in punching their ticket to the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Quotable:
Head coach Kelly Graves
"That was just a great win for us from start to finish. We really started to flex our muscles there in the fourth. I'm really proud of the team and impressed with our lift from the bench. Our second-chance points were something we wanted to pay attention to tonight too, so we'll take the 19 we had here for sure."

Up Next: The Ducks will continue their Pac-12 Mountain trip as they face the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday. Action is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. PT at the Coors Event Center with all the action shown live on the Pac-12 Network.