No. 7 Ducks Storm Back to Beat South Dakota State

Wednesday, December 12

Brookings, SD

5:00 PM

University of Oregon

8-1

South Dakota State

6-4

Team	1	2	3	4	F
No. 7 Oregon	18	22	25	22	87
South Dakota State	21	24	13	21	79

The Oregon Ducks take on the University of Buffalo Bulls at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon on November 18, 2018 (Eric Evans Photography)

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

12/12/18 | Women's Basketball

Box Score South Dakota St Box 18-19

By: Joe Waltasti

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Behind 53 combined points from Satou Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu, No. 7 Oregon rallied back from a halftime deficit to defeat South Dakota State, 87-79, in front of a raucous crowd at Frost Arena.

The Ducks (8-1) outscored SDSU, 25-13, in the third quarter after trailing by five at halftime to rally back for the win.

"South Dakota State is a really good team and this was a really tough atmosphere," said head coach Kelly Graves. "This game made us better."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Sabally scored all 10 UO points as the Ducks owned a 10-7 lead with 6:08 left in the quarter. The Jackrabbits used the three ball to battle back and had a 21-18 lead at the end of the first.

Both teams traded buckets in the second quarter but the Jackrabbits outscored the Ducks 24-22 and SDSU had a 45-40 lead at halftime.

The Ducks stormed back in the third quarter, outscoring the Jacks by 12. After South Dakota State went up 49-40 early in the third, the Ducks went on a 16-4 run to take a 56-53 lead with 3:40 on the clock. The Ducks never trailed again, but the Jacks would tie it up twice in the fourth.

The Ducks took a 65-58 lead into the fourth but SDSU battled back to tie it up at both 74-74, with 4:40 left, and 76-76, with 4:01 left. Ruthy Hebard scored in the paint to put the Ducks up two, followed by an Ionescu jumper and a Sabally three-pointer to five the Ducks an 81-76 lead with 2:28 remaining. Oregon held on down the stretch and hit free throws to escape with a win.

We've got Sabrina and you don't. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/20OZ9elpu8
— Oregon Women's Basketball (@OregonWBB) December 13, 2018

LONG BALL: Oregon held South Dakota State to just two three-pointers in the second half after the Jacks went 7-of-13 from deep in the first half.

BOX SCORE: Sabally had 21 points before picking up her fourth foul with 3:21 left in the third quarter. The sophomore had to sit until coming back in late in the fourth quarter before finishing with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting with four three-pointers. Ionescu scored 26 points, including her dagger three with 49 seconds left, on 10-of-24 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and nine assists. Hebard had 12 points to go with eight rebounds.

UP NEXT: Oregon returns home for a big top-10 showdown with No. 5 ranked Mississippi State on Tuesday at 7 PM on ESPN2. Special $2 Tuesday general admission tickets are available.