Saturday, March 18
Durham, NC
3:30 PM
University of Oregon
21-13
71
vs
70
Temple
24-8
1
2
3
4
F
Oregon
18
17
17
19
71
Temple
20
14
24
12
70
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ducks Top Temple in NCAA Tournament Thriller
03/18/17 | Women's Basketball
Ruthy Hebard hit the game-winning basket with six seconds left to help Oregon to a 71-70 win.
DURHAM, N.C. – Ruthy Hebard hit a game-winning basket with six seconds left and blocked a shot with one second left as the Ducks defeated Temple, 71-70, on Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The No. 10 seed Ducks will now face No. 2 seed Duke on the Blue Devils' home court Monday (3:30 p.m. PT, ESPN2).
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a back-and-forth game in the early going as the Ducks and Owls were tied, 8-8, at the media timeout in the first quarter. Oregon trailed Temple, 20-18, at the end of the first quarter. The Ducks went 0-for-3 from deep in the opening 10 minutes but Oregon's posts did some damage as forwards Mallory McGwire, Ruthy Hebard and Oti Gildon combined for all of the Ducks' points.
Maite Cazorla knocked down the Ducks' first three in the game to five them a 23-22 lead. Sabrina Ionescu followed with another three to open up a 26-22 lead. Hebard scored back-to-back buckets for the Ducks to make it a 30-24 lead with 4:36 left in the second. The Ducks led by eight, 35-28, with 3:14 left in the second quarter before the trimmed the lead down to just one, 35-34, at the break.
Temple scored the first basket of the third quarter to take a 36-35 lead. The Ducks retook the lead, 42-40, on a three-point from Ionescu but the Owls responded with an 8-0 run to take a 48-42 advantage with 4:30 left in the third. Temple maintained a six-point edge, 58-52, at the end of the third quarter.
Oregon slowly battled back in the fourth before Lexi Bando hit a corner three to tie it up, 62-62, with 4:56 remaining. Temple pulled away again, leading by three, 68-65, with 1:17 left. Ionescu hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Ducks a 69-68 lead with 25 seconds left. The Owls weren't finished, however, as Feyonda Fitzgerald scored with 16 seconds left to put Temple back up by one. The Ducks ran the same play Ionescu scored her back-to-back jumpers on, but this time, as the defense rolled, McGwire found Hebard cutting into the lane and she hit a floater to put Oregon ahead, 71-70, with seven seconds left. Hebard sprinted down the floor to the other end and blocked a potential game-winning layup by Fitzgerald with one second left to secure the win.
KELLY GRAVES: "We ran that pin-down screen four or five times late in the game. Each time for Sabrina [Ionescu]. We just felt they were going to give her some added attention and that Ruthy [Hebard] might be able to slip to the basket. Both defenders went with Sabrina and what I am really impressed with was Mallory [McGwire] at the top of the key. She didn't just try to make a pass up and over the top of those long arms. She actually took a dribble to better her position to get it to Ruthy. That's a big time play. You mention that three starting freshman scored 52 points tonight. Those last two were obviously important, but it was the setup that really made that play. I give a lot of credit to Mallory on that."
BOX SCORE: Hebard finished with a team-high 23 points, one shy of UO's single-game NCAA Tournament record of 24 set by Alison Lang in 1982 against Missouri. Ionescu stuffed the stat sheet like usual, finishing with 16 points plus seven rebounds and seven assists.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS: Oregon's three starting freshmen – McGwire, Ionescu and Hebard – finished with 52 of the Ducks' 71 points against the Owls.
DEJA VU: Oregon's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2005, when the No. 10 seed Ducks defeated No. 7 seed TCU in the first round.
The No. 10 seed Ducks will now face No. 2 seed Duke on the Blue Devils' home court Monday (3:30 p.m. PT, ESPN2).
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a back-and-forth game in the early going as the Ducks and Owls were tied, 8-8, at the media timeout in the first quarter. Oregon trailed Temple, 20-18, at the end of the first quarter. The Ducks went 0-for-3 from deep in the opening 10 minutes but Oregon's posts did some damage as forwards Mallory McGwire, Ruthy Hebard and Oti Gildon combined for all of the Ducks' points.
Maite Cazorla knocked down the Ducks' first three in the game to five them a 23-22 lead. Sabrina Ionescu followed with another three to open up a 26-22 lead. Hebard scored back-to-back buckets for the Ducks to make it a 30-24 lead with 4:36 left in the second. The Ducks led by eight, 35-28, with 3:14 left in the second quarter before the trimmed the lead down to just one, 35-34, at the break.
Temple scored the first basket of the third quarter to take a 36-35 lead. The Ducks retook the lead, 42-40, on a three-point from Ionescu but the Owls responded with an 8-0 run to take a 48-42 advantage with 4:30 left in the third. Temple maintained a six-point edge, 58-52, at the end of the third quarter.
Oregon slowly battled back in the fourth before Lexi Bando hit a corner three to tie it up, 62-62, with 4:56 remaining. Temple pulled away again, leading by three, 68-65, with 1:17 left. Ionescu hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Ducks a 69-68 lead with 25 seconds left. The Owls weren't finished, however, as Feyonda Fitzgerald scored with 16 seconds left to put Temple back up by one. The Ducks ran the same play Ionescu scored her back-to-back jumpers on, but this time, as the defense rolled, McGwire found Hebard cutting into the lane and she hit a floater to put Oregon ahead, 71-70, with seven seconds left. Hebard sprinted down the floor to the other end and blocked a potential game-winning layup by Fitzgerald with one second left to secure the win.
KELLY GRAVES: "We ran that pin-down screen four or five times late in the game. Each time for Sabrina [Ionescu]. We just felt they were going to give her some added attention and that Ruthy [Hebard] might be able to slip to the basket. Both defenders went with Sabrina and what I am really impressed with was Mallory [McGwire] at the top of the key. She didn't just try to make a pass up and over the top of those long arms. She actually took a dribble to better her position to get it to Ruthy. That's a big time play. You mention that three starting freshman scored 52 points tonight. Those last two were obviously important, but it was the setup that really made that play. I give a lot of credit to Mallory on that."
BOX SCORE: Hebard finished with a team-high 23 points, one shy of UO's single-game NCAA Tournament record of 24 set by Alison Lang in 1982 against Missouri. Ionescu stuffed the stat sheet like usual, finishing with 16 points plus seven rebounds and seven assists.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS: Oregon's three starting freshmen – McGwire, Ionescu and Hebard – finished with 52 of the Ducks' 71 points against the Owls.
DEJA VU: Oregon's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2005, when the No. 10 seed Ducks defeated No. 7 seed TCU in the first round.
Team Stats
ORE
TEMPLE
FG%
.448
.408
3FG%
.250
.250
FT%
.538
.727
RB
40
41
TO
10
10
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
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