Sellout Crowd Sees UO Stars Shine

Friday, February 15

Eugene, OR

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

Oregon State

Oregon St.

Oregon

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

02/15/19 | Women's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 77, OSU 68

The No. 3 Oregon women's basketball team put on a show for 12,364 fans Friday in Matthew Knight Arena, beating No. 9 OSU, 77-68.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — A sold-out crowd started congregating outside Matthew Knight Arena well before doors opened for Friday night's Civil War matchup of top-10 teams.

Those fans endured long lines in rainy conditions to secure good seats for what figured to be a heck of a show. Once the stands were filled, Oregon's stars went out and delivered.

Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and Satou Sabally combined for 68 points as the No. 3 Ducks held off No. 9 Oregon State, 77-68 on Friday night before a full house of 12,364 fans in MKA. The trio scored every UO point of the second half until the final two, while senior Maite Cazorla held OSU star Destiny Slocum without a field goal over the final 5:20 of the game.

"That was a heck of a college basketball game," said UO coach Kelly Graves, whose team won a Civil War game at home for the second year in a row, after ending a 14-game losing streak to OSU last season. "Great setting; I think the fans were engaged all night long.

"(The Beavers) never make anything easy. They never beat themselves, and that was a really good basketball team. So we're happy with the outcome, and looking forward to watching some tape — because I think there's some things we can do a bit better."

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Oregon improved to 24-1 overall and remained perfect at 13-0 in the Pac-12. Oregon State dropped to 20-5 and 10-3, and will have a chance to get back within two games of the Ducks when the teams meet again in Corvallis on Monday (6 p.m., ESPN2).

That, too, is expected to be a sold-out crowd, albeit one smaller than the masses who crowded into Matthew Knight Arena on Friday for just the third home sellout in UO women's basketball history, and the second ever in MKA.

"It was great to play in that environment," Hebard said. "… All together it was just really fun. We can't wait for Monday."

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Among the areas Graves will be lookin to clean up in that rematch, he said, will be points in the paint. Oregon was outscored 36-30 by the Beavers in the post, the first time in seven games an opponent outpaced the Ducks in the paint.

But other metrics were firmly on Oregon's side. The Ducks forced 15 turnovers, and committed just six. They converted those OSU turnovers into 15 points. Oregon grabbed 12 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points, while allowing just six second-chance points.

And whenever the Ducks needed a big play, the stars delivered. OSU's last lead came when the Beavers used a 9-0 run to go up 30-27 in the second quarter. After two Ionescu free throws made it a one-point game, Hebard missed a potential go-ahead layup but then hit the floor for a desperation tip of the offensive rebound to Ionescu, who sunk a three-pointer. Moments later, Erin Boley stripped an OSU player and led the fastbreak, kicking out to Sabally for a three-pointer. That capped a 10-0 run by Oregon, and the Ducks never trailed again.

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That run included two free throws by Cazorla, the last UO points scored by someone other than Ionescu, Hebard or Sabally until Boley hit two free throws for the final points of the game. Oregon's trio of stars ended up matching Oregon State's entire team with 68 points.

"That's the way it's supposed to be," Graves said of the stars stepping up in a marquee game.

Slocum, who was averaging nearly 20 points per game in conference play, had just two at halftime. Predictably she looked to get going in the second half, making a three-pointer early in the third quarter to get OSU within three at 43-40. The Ducks clamped down on defense, forcing turnovers on three of the next four possessions, two of them shot-clock violations.

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Again Slocum surged in the fourth, scoring two early baskets to make it 58-52, and scoring with 5:20 to go as OSU closed within 64-60. But the Beavers would get no closer, and Slocum wouldn't make another field goal, finishing with 19 points.

"Maite's defense in the second half basically won us the game," Ionescu said.

Oregon's junior star was being modest. Her 29 points came on 12-of-24 shooting, an array of drives to the basket, midrange jumpers and three-point shots. She also dished out nine assists, many to Hebard, whose defensive help on the perimeter opened up the post for some early OSU baskets, but who helped shut down similar plays later in the game, while scoring 21 and adding 11 rebounds.

"Overall, regardless of how many points I scored, I think everyone contributed and won us that game," Ionescu said.

They gave the fans what they came out to see. All 12,364 of them, who endured long lines, wet weather and some tense moments before celebrating a Civil War victory, and the next step on what's setting up as an historic season for the Oregon women's basketball team.