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Ducks Picked To Repeat As Pac-12 Champions
10/07/19 | Women's Basketball
The Oregon women's basketball team was tabbed by conference coaches as favorites for the 2019-20 season.
For the second consecutive season and only the second time in program history, the defending Pac-12 champion Oregon women's basketball team has been picked to win in the preseason Pac-12 coaches poll, the league announced at Pac-12 Media Days on Monday morning.
Head coach Kelly Graves, in his sixth season at the helm of the Ducks after leading the team to the Pac-12 regular-season title and a trip to the Final Four in 2019, returns four starters – seniors Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu and juniors Erin Boley and Satou Sabally.
The Ducks finished 33-5 in 2018-19, winning the Pac-12 regular-season title for the second consecutive season. Ionescu was named the winner of the Naismith Award and Wade Trophy, both of which honor the nation's top player, and she is also a two-time defending Pac-12 Player of the Year. She also won her second consecutive Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation's top point guard. Hebard and Sabally earned All-Pac 12 honors.
UO also returns senior Lydia Giomi, junior Morgan Yaeger and sophomore Taylor Chavez. Sabally's younger sister, Nyara Sabally, will miss the 2019-20 season after suffering an offseason knee injury. The Ducks welcome a trio of incoming freshmen in Lucy Cochrane (Melbourne, Australia), Jaz Shelley (Moe, Australia), and Holly Winterburn (Northhampton, England). Oregon also has two incoming transfers on the roster — former USC player and Pac-12 first-team all-defensive player Minyon Moore and former Texas post Sedona Prince. The playing status for Prince for 2019-20 remains undetermined.
Oregon opens the 2019-20 season at home on Nov. 11 against Northeastern, the first of three consecutive home games.
In the Pac-12 preseason poll, the league's coaches rank teams 1-11 and cannot vote for their own team. The Ducks earned maximums of both 11 first-place votes and 121 points. This year marks only the second time Oregon has been picked to win the league (along with 2018-19) while having been picked to finish second in the preseason coaches poll four times (1986-87, 1999-00, 2000-01 and 2016-17).
Head coach Kelly Graves, in his sixth season at the helm of the Ducks after leading the team to the Pac-12 regular-season title and a trip to the Final Four in 2019, returns four starters – seniors Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu and juniors Erin Boley and Satou Sabally.
The Ducks finished 33-5 in 2018-19, winning the Pac-12 regular-season title for the second consecutive season. Ionescu was named the winner of the Naismith Award and Wade Trophy, both of which honor the nation's top player, and she is also a two-time defending Pac-12 Player of the Year. She also won her second consecutive Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation's top point guard. Hebard and Sabally earned All-Pac 12 honors.
UO also returns senior Lydia Giomi, junior Morgan Yaeger and sophomore Taylor Chavez. Sabally's younger sister, Nyara Sabally, will miss the 2019-20 season after suffering an offseason knee injury. The Ducks welcome a trio of incoming freshmen in Lucy Cochrane (Melbourne, Australia), Jaz Shelley (Moe, Australia), and Holly Winterburn (Northhampton, England). Oregon also has two incoming transfers on the roster — former USC player and Pac-12 first-team all-defensive player Minyon Moore and former Texas post Sedona Prince. The playing status for Prince for 2019-20 remains undetermined.
Oregon opens the 2019-20 season at home on Nov. 11 against Northeastern, the first of three consecutive home games.
In the Pac-12 preseason poll, the league's coaches rank teams 1-11 and cannot vote for their own team. The Ducks earned maximums of both 11 first-place votes and 121 points. This year marks only the second time Oregon has been picked to win the league (along with 2018-19) while having been picked to finish second in the preseason coaches poll four times (1986-87, 1999-00, 2000-01 and 2016-17).
2018-19 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Rank
|
Team
|
Points (1st Votes)
|
|
1
|
Oregon
|
121 (11)
|
|
2
|
Stanford
|
111 (1)
|
|
3
|
Oregon State
|
99
|
|
4
|
UCLA
|
93
|
|
5
|
Arizona State
|
77
|
|
6
|
Arizona
|
73
|
|
7
|
Utah
|
58
|
|
8
|
USC
|
47
|
|
9
|
Washington
|
35
|
|
10
|
Washington State
|
34
|
|
11
|
California
|
28
|
|
12
|
Colorado
|
16
|
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballKatie Fiso: "Stay tuned."
Wednesday, October 15
Ari Long: "Making sure to never be satisfied."
Wednesday, October 15
Kelly Graves: "I really like what I see."
Wednesday, October 15
Kelly Graves | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
