Notes: No. 2 Seed Ducks Open NCAA Tournament on Friday in Eugene

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 2 seed Oregon women's basketball team opens up the 2019 NCAA Tournament at 6 PM on Friday in Eugene against No. 15 seed Portland State.

#2 SEED/#7 RANKED OREGON DUCKS (29-4, 16-2 Pac-12)
PPG: 86.1 | PPGA: 62.2 | FG%: 50.7 | 3FG%: 42.0 | FT%: 77.0 | RPG: 37.5 | APG: 19.2
NCAA Tournament Record: Oregon is 11-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 6-2 under Kelly Graves
Last Year: No. 2 seeded UO advanced to a second straight Elite Eight but lost in Spokane to Notre Dame
Series Records vs. Teams in Eugene: 27-10 vs. #15 seed PSU, 0-4 vs. #7 Texas, 1-0 vs. #10 Indiana
Notes: The Ducks boast one of the most efficient offenses in the nation this season. Oregon's 86.1 points per game ranks third in the NCAA. UO leads the nation with a 1.91 assist-to-turnover ratio as the Ducks' 10.0 turnovers per game are the fewest in the NCAA while its 19.2 assists per game ranks sixth. The Ducks are third in the nation in field goal percentage (50.7%), first in three-point percentage (42.0%) and 15th in free throw percentage (77.0%). Oregon is also one of the least penalized teams in the NCAA, ranking fourth at 12.8 fouls per game. The Ducks are fifth in the nation in scoring margin (+23.2 points per game), 26th in the NCAA in rebounding margin (7.1 per game) and 39th in turnover margin (+3.42 per game).

KEY STORYLINES
- The Ducks are making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and second straight as a No. 2 seed.
- UO is 4-2 all-time in NCAA tournament games played in Eugene, including wins in the first and second round last year.
- Oregon won the 2019 Pac-12 regular-season championship but lost to Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament title game.
- Seniors Oti Gildon and Maite Cazorla are the winningest class in UO history, with a four-year record of 109-34.
- Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard are all finalists for Naismith Starting Five postion of the year awards.
- UO boasts three of the top-20 three-point percentages in the NCAA - Boley (5th), Ionescu (17th) and Sabally (20th).
- Ionescu is the all-time NCAA (men's/women's) leader with 17 career triple-doubles (prev: 12, Kyle Collinsworth, BYU)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV - ESPN2 w/ Dave Pasch & LaChina Robinson
Stream - WatchESPN.com & ESPN app
Radio - Terry Jonz on the call at 590 AM (EUG), 1640 AM (PDX) & TuneIn. Search for "Oregon Sports Network" on TuneIn.

OREGON'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- The Ducks are making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the 15th overall in program history in 2018-19.
- Oregon has made two straight Elite Eight trips, as a No. 10 seed in 2017 and a No. 2 seed last year. The Ducks lost to UConn in the Bridgeport Regional final in 2017 and eventual national champion Notre Dame in the Spokane Regional final in 2018.
- Oregon's No. 2 seed last season was the best in program history. UO has matched that this season. The Ducks' previous best was a No. 3 seed in 1984.
- Oregon is 11-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with more than half of the wins (6) coming over the last two seasons - 3 in 2017 and 3 in 2018.
- The Ducks are 4-3 in NCAA Tournament games played in Eugene. UO went 2-0 at home last year, with wins over Seattle U and Minnesota.
- UO made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982, losing 59-53 to Missouri in Eugene.
- The Ducks made a program-best eight straight NCAA appearances from 1994-2001.
- The Ducks went 12 seasons between a 2005 trip and when they qualified as a No. 10 seed in 2017 in Kelly Graves' third season as coach.
- The most points scored by a UO player in a NCAA Tournament game is 29, set by Sabrina Ionescu last year against Minnesota. The previous record was 24 by Alison Lang against Missouri on March 13, 1982.
- The most rebounds by a UO player in a NCAA Tournament game is 20, also by Lang vs. Missouri.
- Ionescu set the program's single-game tournament assists record with 11 last year against Seattle U. She broke Lauri Tennant's record of 10 vs. San Diego State on March 16, 1984.

GRAVES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- Over his first five years, Graves has taken the Ducks to the tournament in 2017, 2018 and now 2019.
- Graves has made 11 total trips to the tournament and nine trips in the last 11 seasons.
- Oregon's No. 2 seed last year was the highest in program history and the best in Graves' career. The Ducks have matched that seed this season.
- Graves was a double-digit seed seven times.
- Graves is the only coach in NCAA women's basketball history to take two double-digit seeds to the Elite Eight (No. 10 Oregon in 2017, No. 11 Gonzaga in 2011)
- Graves is 14-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Graves has made three trips to the Elite Eight.
- Graves has been in the Sweet 16 five times.
- Graves first went to the NCAA Tournament as the head coach of Saint Mary's as a No. 12 seed in 1999, where his Gaels lost, 61-57, to Notre Dame in the first round. Graves then went dancing seven more times at Gonzaga, going as a No. 12 seed three times, No. 11 seed twice, No. 7 seed once and No. 6 seed once. He's taken the Ducks to the dance as a No. 10 seed and a No. 2 seed.
- Graves took Gonzaga to the Sweet 16 in three straight seasons - 2010, 2011 and 2012.
- In 2011, Graves and Gonzaga advanced to the Elite Eight. The No. 11 seed 'Zags were the lowest seed ever to reach the Elite Eight. They beat No. 6 seed Iowa, No. 3 seed UCLA and No. 7 seed Louisville before falling to No. 1 seed Stanford in the regional final.
- Graves' teams have upset No. 2 seeds twice and No. 3 seeds three times in the NCAA Tournament. - Graves is 0-2 against No. 1 seeds, falling to Stanford, 83-60, in Spokane in 2011, and to Notre Dame, 84-74, last season, also in Spokane.

OREGON ALL-TIME VS. PORTLAND STATE
- The Ducks are 27-10 all-time vs. Portland State.
- Oregon has won 26 of the last 28 meetings, between Jan. 28, 1978 and a 122-59 win at the Moda Center in Portland on Dec. 17, 2016.
- Portland State won eight straight games between 1975 and 1977.
- The Ducks and Vikings have gone to overtime five times with Portland State winning all five games, most recently a double overtime win in 2012.

OREGON ALL-TIME VS. TEXAS
- The Ducks are 0-4 all-time against Texas.
- The last time the teams played was on Dec. 9, 2000, with the Longhorns winning 82-58 in Austin.
- The Ducks and Longhorns have never played in Eugene. They've twice met in Portland, both in 1979 and 1982.

OREGON ALL-TIME VS. INDIANA
- The Ducks are 1-0 all-time vs. Indiana, with the only meeting a 77-56 win in 1984 in Portland.

NATIONAL AWARD WATCH LISTS
- Sabrina Ionescu is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy for women's national player of the year. Four finalists will be announced on March 22 and a winner on April 6.
- Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard were both named to the preseason Wooden Award watch list on Nov. 6. They both made the cut for the late season watch list on Feb. 4, which is 20 players.
- Both Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard were named to the preseason WBCA Wade Trophy watch list on Nov. 20. Satou Sabally was one of six players added to the midseason list on Feb. 5, which is 41 players.
- The Phoenix Club of Philadelphia presents the Dawn Staley Award each season to the nation's best overall guard. Sabrina Ionescu was named one of four finalists on March 12.

NAISMITH STARTING FIVE AWARDS
- After winning the award a season ago as a sophomore, Sabrina Ionescu is again up for the Nancy Lieberman Award for her junior season. The award is annually presented to the top point guard in the country. She made the cut to the final five last week.
- A year after being named the Pac-12 freshman of the year, sophomore Satou Sabally is in the running for the Cheryl Miller Award, given annually to the nation's top small forward. She made the cut for the final five last week.
- A year after winning the inaugural Katrina McClain Award for the nation's top power forward last year, Ruthy Hebard is looking to defend her title this season. She's made the cut to the final five.

IONESCU REPEATS AS PLAYER OF YEAR
- Sabrina Ionescu was named the Pac-12 player of the year for a second straight season.
- The junior is the seventh player in league history to win player of the year honors back-to-back, with the most recent being Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike in 2013 and 2014.
- Ionescu is the first player in UO history to be named player of the year more than once. She is the third player to earn the honor at Oregon.

SABRINA FILLS THE STAT SHEET
- Sabrina Ionescu is currently averaging 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game, the only player in the NCAA averaging 14+ points, 7+ rebounds and 7+ assists.
- The last time anyone in the NCAA posted a balanced stat line even close to that was in 2014-15, when Cal's Brittany Boyd averaged 13.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.8 assists.

GRAVES NAMED P12 COACH OF THE YEAR
- For the first time in his Oregon career, head coach Kelly Graves was named the Pac-12 coach of the year. Graves has led the Ducks to back-to-back Pac-12 regular season titles.
- Graves was named the WCC coach of the year eight times while at Gonzaga.
- Graves joins Jody Runge (1994, 1999) as UO head coach to earn the award.
- Graves is also one of 15 coaches in the running for the Naismith Women's Coach of the Year award.

FOUR DUCKS NAMED ALL-PAC-12
- Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard, Satou Sabally and Maite Cazorla were each named all-Pac-12 in the coaches vote on March 5.
- The four selections is the most in UO history.
- Ionescu and Hebard join Jillian Alleyne, Shaquala Williams and Stefanie Kasperski as three-time all-Pac-12 selections from Oregon.
- This is Cazorla's second straight all-league selection and the first for Sabally.

IONESCU'S TRIPLE-DOUBLE BREAKDOWN
- All 17 have come in wins
- Her seven this season broke the NCAA single-season record of six, she previously shared with Youngstown State's Danielle Carson (1986).
- 12 at home, 4 on the road, 1 at a neutral site
- Two vs. top-25 teams (#19 TAMU, #15 UCLA)
- One in postseason (Seattle U, 1st round NCAA)
- 10 against Power 5 teams
- Seven in Pac-12 play
- She's had back-to-back games with triple-doubles twice (Drake & TAMU, Air Force & UC Irvine)
- The triple-doubles vs. Air Force and UC Irvine came on back-to-back days.
- Most points scored 29 (vs. Drake)
- Most rebounds 14 (vs. Washington)
- Most assists 14 (vs. Ole Miss & UC Irvine)

OREGON'S CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Oregon clinched its fourth outright Pac-12 title with a win in the regular season finale at Arizona State on March 3. UO clinched a share with a win at Arizona on March 1 and then sealed the outright title with a win against the No. 21 Sun Devils. Oregon finished a game ahead of Stanford in the standings for the second-straight season.
- Last year, with a win over Arizona in the final game of the regular season, the Ducks clinched their first Pac-12 title since the 1999-2000 season. The Ducks won the title outright, ahead of Stanford.
- UO had only won two Pac-10/12 titles in program history prior to last season. The Ducks shared the title in 1998-99 with UCLA when they went 15-3 in conference play. UO won an outright title a year later in 1999-2000 when the Ducks went 14-4 in league games.
- Prior to the Pac-10 adopting women's sports for the 1986-87 season, the Ducks won six league titles in the Northwest Basketball League and the NorPac Conference, including four straight from 1978-79 to 1981-82. The Ducks were 23-2 (the fewest losses in program history) in 1978-79 and went a perfect 11-0 in the NWBL.

GRAVES' CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Graves has won 12 regular-season league titles in his career, 10 at Gonzaga and two at Oregon.
- Graves won 10 straight WCC regular-season titles while at Gonzaga, stretching from 2005-2014.
- Graves won his first league title at Gonzaga in his
fifth season. He won his first conference title at Oregon in 2018, his fourth season with the Ducks.
- Graves and the Ducks won the first Pac-12 Tournament title in program history in 2018. It was the seventh conference tournament title in Graves' career after also winning six WCC tournament titles in his 14 seasons as head coach at Gonzaga.

ATTENDANCE LEADERS
Oregon leads the Pac-12, averaging 7,217 fans per home game. The Ducks are averaging over 1,700 more fans per game than second-place Oregon State. Oregon is one of just eight teams in the NCAA averaging 7,000+ fans per game.