Saturday, November 9
Eugene, OR
4:00 PM
University of Oregon
vs
USA
Photo by: Samuel Marshall
No. 1 Topples No. 1! Oregon Knocks Off Team USA
11/09/19 | Women's Basketball
The Oregon women's basketball team handed the U.S. Women's National Team its first loss to a college team in 20 years Saturday night, 93-86.
EUGENE, Ore. — Don't tell the Oregon women's basketball team there's nothing on the line in an exhibition game.
In fact, don't tell the Ducks anything. Because they just might turn around and use it to beat you.
Even if you're the latest iteration of arguably the greatest dynasty in the history of organized team sports.
The top-ranked team in women's college basketball beat the best team in the entire world Saturday evening. Sabrina Ionescu and the UO women's basketball team hosted an exhibition against the United States women's national team before 11,530 fans in Matthew Knight Arena, and won, 93-86.
It had been 20 years since a college team last beat Team USA. The Ducks' fellow Pac-12 preseason favorites, Stanford and Oregon State, had chances earlier this month and couldn't do what the Ducks did. Nor could Texas A&M, earlier this week.
Based on those games, Team USA legend Sue Bird said she knew what to expect Saturday against the Ducks and their raucous home crowd.
"They're gonna come out, they're gonna throw the first punch, it's gonna get loud," Bird said. "I think the difference with Oregon was, they never quit. Some of the other teams, we maybe wore them down a bit. But not this team."
For that, Bird could credit an unlikely source — her own teammate and fellow UConn alum.
The night before Saturday's game, Diana Taurasi spoke to the Ducks for nearly an hour. The essence of her message: "Stay mad."
Don't get complacent after making the 2019 Final Four. Don't get caught up in the hype of preseason expectations. Don't lose your will to do more than the other team.
When the Ducks went into halftime Saturday, their deficit was just four, 42-38. Earlier in the week, UO coach Kelly Graves said it would be delusional to think Oregon had a chance to win the game. At halftime, it didn't seem so delusional.
Before leaving the locker room for the second half, the Ducks huddled up and shouted, in unison: "Stay mad!" Then they went out and played mad.
Led by 20 points from Ionescu in the third quarter alone, Oregon took a one-point lead into the fourth period. Then, they gapped Team USA, with a three-point barrage by Ionescu and Satou Sabally.
"Diana told us to stay mad," Ionescu said. "We didn't want to come out complacent. We didn't want to come out excited we were only down four at half. So we came out in the third quarter, and we stayed mad, just like she told us. So, thank you to her for helping us with that win."
The dynamic between Taurasi and Ionescu was apparent from the start Saturday. Just before tipoff, their pregame handshake and quick hug was a little more extended than the others among the two teams' starters. At one point in the first half, Taurasi tipped a pass that Ionescu turned over, and Taurasi grinned as if to say, "I got ya, kid."
Then, in the postgame handshake line, they shared another hug. If you squinted a little bit, you could almost see it as a passing of the torch, from one generation of do-everything American guard to the next.
Ionescu had just led the Ducks in their upset with 30 points, plus seven assists and four rebounds. Sabally added 25 points, including back-to-back three-pointers that forced Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve to call timeout and stanch the bleeding with Oregon up 79-69 early in the fourth quarter.
Reeve is also coach of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. She can only hope the Lynx has a shot to draft Ionescu or Sabally in the next couple of years.
"They're going to be great players," Reeve said. "Not just hanging on — they're going to be great players in the WNBA."
It was Oregon's other high-level pro prospect who led the Ducks in the early going Saturday. Ruthy Hebard, battled-tested after facing current pros Teaira McCowan of Mississippi State and Kalani Brown of Baylor in last year's tournament, was unfazed by going head-to-head Saturday against Team USA's Sylvia Fowles.
Hebard opened each half with a defensive stop against Fowles on the low block. She ran the pick-and-roll with Ionescu with precision, and even put the ball on the floor a couple of times and drove right to the bucket against Fowles.
Despite that effort from Hebard, Team USA was looking to pull away early in the second quarter, up 29-20. That's when Graves turned to a lineup that included Sabally, backup post Lydia Giomi, and young wings Taylor Chavez, Jaz Shelley and Holly Winterburn. They kept the Ducks in the game, with energy that was contagious. Ionescu and Hebard fed off it, and closed the gap after re-entering the lineup to get Oregon within 42-38 at halftime.
"Ruthy carried us early in the game," Graves said. "And then, when Sabrina kind of got her legs under her a little bit …"
The third quarter was nothing short of basketball brilliance, a player at the top of her game looking to prove herself against the team that has won the last six Olympic gold medals. Ionescu drove to the basket, launched three-pointers from all over the floor, dove on the court for loose balls and at one point even flung herself into a row of photographers to keep a possession alive — then retook the court, got the ball back and drew a foul.
Sure, the game wasn't going to count toward Oregon's record. But that didn't matter to a player whose competitive fire Bird cited postgame as the quality in Ionescu she found most impressive.
"We knew they were the best team in the world, the best players in the world," Ionescu said. "We were just wanting to stay within 20. As the game wore on, we started to forget about who they were and what the expectations were."
It was Sabally who hit the biggest baskets down the stretch. After her back-to-back threes that forced the Team USA timeout, she made another bucket to cap an 11-0 run that put Oregon up 81-69. She scored again after Team USA got within five, putting the Ducks up 85-78, and again for an 87-80 lead, and yet again for an 89-84 advantage with just 35 seconds left in the game.
"She's incredible," Graves said. "She was out here going against some of the world's best, and was able to get her shot, create her shot. She was as aggressive as I've ever seen."
For the game, Oregon shot 50 percent. The Ducks won the rebounding battle. Who saw that coming?
Nobody could have predicted the preseason No. 1 team in the country finding a way to exceed expectations. But they did Saturday. It wasn't part of the "unfinished business" that is fueling Ionescu and company after their Final Four loss last season. But as the opening chapter in the 2019-20 season, it made for an unforgettable night.
In fact, don't tell the Ducks anything. Because they just might turn around and use it to beat you.
Even if you're the latest iteration of arguably the greatest dynasty in the history of organized team sports.
The top-ranked team in women's college basketball beat the best team in the entire world Saturday evening. Sabrina Ionescu and the UO women's basketball team hosted an exhibition against the United States women's national team before 11,530 fans in Matthew Knight Arena, and won, 93-86.
It had been 20 years since a college team last beat Team USA. The Ducks' fellow Pac-12 preseason favorites, Stanford and Oregon State, had chances earlier this month and couldn't do what the Ducks did. Nor could Texas A&M, earlier this week.
Based on those games, Team USA legend Sue Bird said she knew what to expect Saturday against the Ducks and their raucous home crowd.
"They're gonna come out, they're gonna throw the first punch, it's gonna get loud," Bird said. "I think the difference with Oregon was, they never quit. Some of the other teams, we maybe wore them down a bit. But not this team."
For that, Bird could credit an unlikely source — her own teammate and fellow UConn alum.
The night before Saturday's game, Diana Taurasi spoke to the Ducks for nearly an hour. The essence of her message: "Stay mad."
Don't get complacent after making the 2019 Final Four. Don't get caught up in the hype of preseason expectations. Don't lose your will to do more than the other team.
When the Ducks went into halftime Saturday, their deficit was just four, 42-38. Earlier in the week, UO coach Kelly Graves said it would be delusional to think Oregon had a chance to win the game. At halftime, it didn't seem so delusional.
Before leaving the locker room for the second half, the Ducks huddled up and shouted, in unison: "Stay mad!" Then they went out and played mad.
Led by 20 points from Ionescu in the third quarter alone, Oregon took a one-point lead into the fourth period. Then, they gapped Team USA, with a three-point barrage by Ionescu and Satou Sabally.
"Diana told us to stay mad," Ionescu said. "We didn't want to come out complacent. We didn't want to come out excited we were only down four at half. So we came out in the third quarter, and we stayed mad, just like she told us. So, thank you to her for helping us with that win."
The dynamic between Taurasi and Ionescu was apparent from the start Saturday. Just before tipoff, their pregame handshake and quick hug was a little more extended than the others among the two teams' starters. At one point in the first half, Taurasi tipped a pass that Ionescu turned over, and Taurasi grinned as if to say, "I got ya, kid."
Then, in the postgame handshake line, they shared another hug. If you squinted a little bit, you could almost see it as a passing of the torch, from one generation of do-everything American guard to the next.
Ionescu had just led the Ducks in their upset with 30 points, plus seven assists and four rebounds. Sabally added 25 points, including back-to-back three-pointers that forced Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve to call timeout and stanch the bleeding with Oregon up 79-69 early in the fourth quarter.
Reeve is also coach of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. She can only hope the Lynx has a shot to draft Ionescu or Sabally in the next couple of years.
"They're going to be great players," Reeve said. "Not just hanging on — they're going to be great players in the WNBA."
It was Oregon's other high-level pro prospect who led the Ducks in the early going Saturday. Ruthy Hebard, battled-tested after facing current pros Teaira McCowan of Mississippi State and Kalani Brown of Baylor in last year's tournament, was unfazed by going head-to-head Saturday against Team USA's Sylvia Fowles.
Hebard opened each half with a defensive stop against Fowles on the low block. She ran the pick-and-roll with Ionescu with precision, and even put the ball on the floor a couple of times and drove right to the bucket against Fowles.
Despite that effort from Hebard, Team USA was looking to pull away early in the second quarter, up 29-20. That's when Graves turned to a lineup that included Sabally, backup post Lydia Giomi, and young wings Taylor Chavez, Jaz Shelley and Holly Winterburn. They kept the Ducks in the game, with energy that was contagious. Ionescu and Hebard fed off it, and closed the gap after re-entering the lineup to get Oregon within 42-38 at halftime.
"Ruthy carried us early in the game," Graves said. "And then, when Sabrina kind of got her legs under her a little bit …"
The third quarter was nothing short of basketball brilliance, a player at the top of her game looking to prove herself against the team that has won the last six Olympic gold medals. Ionescu drove to the basket, launched three-pointers from all over the floor, dove on the court for loose balls and at one point even flung herself into a row of photographers to keep a possession alive — then retook the court, got the ball back and drew a foul.
Sure, the game wasn't going to count toward Oregon's record. But that didn't matter to a player whose competitive fire Bird cited postgame as the quality in Ionescu she found most impressive.
"We knew they were the best team in the world, the best players in the world," Ionescu said. "We were just wanting to stay within 20. As the game wore on, we started to forget about who they were and what the expectations were."
It was Sabally who hit the biggest baskets down the stretch. After her back-to-back threes that forced the Team USA timeout, she made another bucket to cap an 11-0 run that put Oregon up 81-69. She scored again after Team USA got within five, putting the Ducks up 85-78, and again for an 87-80 lead, and yet again for an 89-84 advantage with just 35 seconds left in the game.
"She's incredible," Graves said. "She was out here going against some of the world's best, and was able to get her shot, create her shot. She was as aggressive as I've ever seen."
For the game, Oregon shot 50 percent. The Ducks won the rebounding battle. Who saw that coming?
Nobody could have predicted the preseason No. 1 team in the country finding a way to exceed expectations. But they did Saturday. It wasn't part of the "unfinished business" that is fueling Ionescu and company after their Final Four loss last season. But as the opening chapter in the 2019-20 season, it made for an unforgettable night.
Players Mentioned
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