Notes: Oregon Meets Duke in NCAA Tournament Second Round

DURHAM, N.C. - The No. 10 seed Oregon women's basketball team meets No. 2 seed Duke on Monday with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. The Ducks and Blue Devils tip at 3:30 PM PT on ESPN2.

NO. 10 SEED OREGON DUCKS (21-13, 8-10 Pac-12)
PPG: 71.1 | FG%: 45.0 | 3FG%: 39.2 | FT%: 72.3
Notable: Oregon is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. After a thrilling win over No. 7 seed Temple on Saturday, the Ducks are looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Oregon's three freshmen starters scored 52 of the Ducks' 71 points against Temple. The Ducks rank fourth in the NCAA in three-point percentage (39.2%) and 21st in the nation in field goal percentage (45.0%). Junior guard Lexi Bando leads the nation, shooting 48.9% from deep.

NO. 2 SEED DUKE BLUE DEVILS (28-5, 13-3 ACC)
PPG: 74.0 | FG%: 47.7 | 3FG%: 39.0 | FT%: 75.0
Series Record: UO and Duke have never met
Notable: Duke owns one of the best defenses in the NCAA this season, ranking third in opponent field goal percentage (33.4%), second in opponent three-point percentage (25.9%), 10th in points allowed (54.9 ppg) and 11th in block shots (182). Duke defeated Hampton, 94-31, in the first round on Saturday. The Blue Devils outscored the Pirates 31-2 in the second quarter. Rebecca Greenwell had 26 points and 10 rebounds while Leaonna Odom had 23 points.

TV AND RADIO BROADCAST INFO
Oregon's game on Monday vs. No. 9 ranked Duke in the NCAA Tournament will be aired on ESPN2 at 3:30 PM PT. The game will also be broadcasted live on the radio in Eugene (KUGN 590 AM) and Portland (KBNP 1410 AM) with Terry Jonz on the call, Oregon women's basketball's longtime play-by-play man. Fans can find a free radio stream online via TuneIn.com/Ducks and the TuneIn app.

THRILLER VS. TEMPLE
The Ducks opened the 2017 NCAA Tournament on Saturday with a thrilling 71-70 win against No. 7 seed Temple. Down by six early in the fourth quarter, the Ducks rallied back to tie it, 62-62, with 4:56 remaining. Temple pushed its lead up to three on a pair of Feyonda Fitzgerald free throws with 1:17 left but the Ducks took the lead, 69-68, on a Sabrina Ionescu jumper with 25 seconds left. Fitzgerald scored again to give Temple a 70-69 lead with 16 seconds remaining. But Ruthy Hebard hit a game-winner for the Ducks with seven seconds left and block a Fitzgerald layup with one second left to give the Ducks a 71-70 win. Hebard finished with 23 points, one shy of the program's NCAA Tournament single-game scoring record of 24 points. Mallory McGwire had her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu had 16 points plus seven rebounds and seven assists.

OREGON'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- The Ducks are 6-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- This is Oregon's 13th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
- Oregon's last appearance was in 2005.
- The Ducks have never advanced beyond the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Oregon won first round games in 2005, 1999, 1997, 1994 and 1987 but lost in the second round each time.
- The most points scored by the Ducks in an NCAA Tournament game was 80 in a win over San Diego State in 1997.
- Alison Lang had the most points by UO player in the NCAA Tournament with 24 against Missouri in 1982. - Lang also owns the rebounds record with 20 in that same game against Missouri.
- Missy Croshaw own's UO's NCAA Tournament record for three-pointers with five against Colorado in 1994.

LAST TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The last time the Ducks made the NCAA Tournament was in the 2004-05 season. No. 10 seed Oregon defeated No. 7 seed TCU, 58-55, in Seattle in the first round behind Catherine Kraayeveld's 23 points. The Ducks lost, 69-46, to No. 2 seed Baylor in the second round.

KELLY GRAVES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
In his third season at UO, this is Kelly Graves' first trip to the NCAA Tournament with the Ducks. However, he is hardly a stranger to the tournament.
- This is Graves' ninth trip in the NCAA Tournament.
- He first went to the NCAA Tournament as the head coach of Saint Mary's in 1998-99. Graves then went dancing seven more times at Gonzaga.
- Graves took Gonzaga to the Sweet 16 in three straight seasons - 2010, 2011 and 2012.
- In 2011, Graves and 'Zags advanced to the Elite 8. The No. 11 seed 'Zags were the lowest seed ever to reach the Elite 8. They defeated No. 10 seed Vanderbilt, No. 2 seed Xavier and No. 7 seed Louisville before falling to No. 1 seed Stanford in the regional finals.

IONESCU NAMED ESPNW'S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
After posting more triple-doubles than any freshman in NCAA history, guard Sabrina Ionescu has been named the ESPNW national freshman of the year, the outlet announced on March 9. Ionescu tallied four triple-double this year, tied for the third-most in NCAA single-season history and the most of any freshman. Only Stanford's Nicole Powell (5, 2020) and Youngstown State's Danielle Carson (6, 1986) have had more. Ionescu hit game-winning shots for the Ducks against both No. 20 California and No. 11 Washington this season as she averaged 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Ionescu ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring, 11th in rebounding and fourth in assists. She's also sixth in free throw percentage (81.9%), seventh in three-point percentage (41.3%), sixth in three-pointers made (2.2 per game), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98), sixth in defensive rebounds (5.2 per game) and 10th in minutes played (32.4). In addition to her four triple-doubles, Ionescu posted seven double-doubles and was national player of the week after helping the Ducks defeat No. 15 UCLA and USC at home in the same weekend.

THE NATION'S TALLEST TEAM
With six players standing 6-foot-3 or taller, the Ducks are tied with Kansas State and Texas for the tallest roster in Div. I women's basketball this season. Oregon's tallest player is 6-foot-6 freshman forward Lydia Giomi from West Seattle. She is the tallest player on the Oregon roster in 10 years (Jessie Shetters, 6-foot-6, 2003-07).

FRESHMEN STARTING IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oregon starts three freshmen - G Sabrina Ionescu, F Ruthy Hebard and F Mallory McGwire - more than any other team in the NCAA tournament this year. Only Maryland, which starts both Destiny Slocum and Kaila Charles, has more than one freshman in the lineup. (Starter defined as having 20-or-more starts this season.)

FRESHMEN SCORING
In Oregon's Pac-12 Tournament opening win over Arizona, freshmen scored 61 of Oregon's 70 points. Iin Saturday's win over Temple to open the NCAA Tournament, Oregon's three freshmen starters - Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and Mallory McGwire - combined to score 52 of the Ducks' 71 points. This season the Ducks are averaging 71.1 points per game overall and freshmen are scoring 45.7 points, 64.3% of the team's total.

NCAA STAT RANKINGS
Oregon is one of the best shooting teams in the nation.
- The Ducks rank 21st in the NCAA and third in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage at 45.0 percent.
- Oregon is better from three, shooting 39.2 percent which is fourth in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12.
- With all those made shots come assists. The Ducks rank 14th in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12 with 565 assists this season. Oregon is averaging 16.6 assists per game as a team, first in the Pac-12 and 18th in the NCAA.

TOP-25 TESTED
Oregon has played a whopping 13 games against top-25 teams this season. The Ducks are 4-9 in those contests with wins against then-No. 24 Michigan State, then-No. 20 California, then-No. 15 UCLA and then-No. 11 Washington.

BANDO REACHES 1,000 CAREER POINTS
With a jumper as part of a big 13-point fourth quarter in Oregon's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal win over No. 11 Washington, junior Lexi Bando became the 28th player in Oregon women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. She now has 1,017 career points.

PAC-12 AWARDS
- Freshman guard Sabrina Ionescu was named Pac-12 freshman of the year by both the league's coaches and the league's media. She was also selected to the all-Pac-12 and Pac-12 all-freshman teams.
- Freshman forward Ruthy Hebard was selected to both the all-Pac-12 and Pac-12 all-freshman teams.
- Junior guard Lexi Bando was named all-Pac-12 honorable mention. This is the first postseason honor in Bando's collegiate career.

FRESHMEN ON ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS
Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard became just the 17th and 18th freshmen in Pac-12 history to be named to the all-Pac-12 team. When looking around the nation, just two other freshmen were named to all-conference teams. In the Big Ten, Maryland's Destiny Slocum and Michigan's Kysre Gondrezick were both named all-freshman and second team all-conference. However, in the other power 5 conference - the SEC, ACC and Big 12 - no freshmen were selected to the all-league team.