Friday, March 22
Eugene, OR
6:00 PM
University of Oregon
30-4
78
vs
40
Portland State
25-8
1
2
3
4
F
Portland St.
15
8
11
6
40
Oregon
22
21
20
15
78
Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Ducks Defeat Portland State to Open NCAA Tournament
03/22/19 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. - No. 2 seeded Oregon opened up the 2019 NCAA Tournament with a 78-40 win over Portland State on Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (30-4) have started the NCAA Tournament with a win for the third straight season.
UP NEXT: The Ducks host No. 10 seed Indiana in the second round at 6 PM PT on Sunday. The Hoosiers topped No. 7 seed Texas on Friday. The game will air on ESPN2. The winner moves on to the Sweet 16 at the Portland Region.
CAREER DAY: Sophomore Satou Sabally had her fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She was 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three.
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a close game early, as the game was tied, 13-13, with 2:26 left in the first quarter. But the Ducks closed the first on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead into the second quarter.
Oregon used a big 11-0 run in the middle of the second to blow the game wide open. Sabally hit a layup and followed with a three-pointer to put the Ducks up, 33-20, with 6:47 left before halftime. But that was just the start of the run, as Erin Boley hit a pair of free throws and a jumper around a Ruthy Hebard layup to give the Ducks a 39-20 lead with 3:45 remaining in the first half. The Ducks took a 20-point lead into halftime as Sabally and Hebard each had 14 points.
Oregon opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run, capped by a Lydia Giomi layup with 4:35 remianing. Oregon led, 55-23, before Portland State scored its first points of the third quarter on a three-pointer with 4:22 on the clock.
The Ducks led by as much as 40 points in the fourth quarter before winning, 78-40.
"I thought tonight we were on point," said head coach Kelly Graves. "If we want to go far in this tournament, our defense has got to be special or up to par at least. I thought tonight we got after it a little bit, created a lot of turnovers, and started to separate from them with our defense."
NOTES: Improved to 12-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with seven of those wins coming over the last three appearances...Now 5-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Eugene...Improved to 28-10 all-time against Portland State and has won 27 of the last 29 meetings...Collected a season-high 16 steals which led to a 15-5 edge in points off turnovers...Out-rebounded Portland State, 50-23...Owned a 18-0 edge in second chance points thanks 20 offensive rebounds...Fourth time this season Oregon had two players with a double-double in the same game...Junior Sabrina Ionescu reached double figures for the 67th consecutive game with 12 points.
The Ducks (30-4) have started the NCAA Tournament with a win for the third straight season.
UP NEXT: The Ducks host No. 10 seed Indiana in the second round at 6 PM PT on Sunday. The Hoosiers topped No. 7 seed Texas on Friday. The game will air on ESPN2. The winner moves on to the Sweet 16 at the Portland Region.
CAREER DAY: Sophomore Satou Sabally had her fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She was 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three.
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a close game early, as the game was tied, 13-13, with 2:26 left in the first quarter. But the Ducks closed the first on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead into the second quarter.
Oregon used a big 11-0 run in the middle of the second to blow the game wide open. Sabally hit a layup and followed with a three-pointer to put the Ducks up, 33-20, with 6:47 left before halftime. But that was just the start of the run, as Erin Boley hit a pair of free throws and a jumper around a Ruthy Hebard layup to give the Ducks a 39-20 lead with 3:45 remaining in the first half. The Ducks took a 20-point lead into halftime as Sabally and Hebard each had 14 points.
Oregon opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run, capped by a Lydia Giomi layup with 4:35 remianing. Oregon led, 55-23, before Portland State scored its first points of the third quarter on a three-pointer with 4:22 on the clock.
The Ducks led by as much as 40 points in the fourth quarter before winning, 78-40.
"I thought tonight we were on point," said head coach Kelly Graves. "If we want to go far in this tournament, our defense has got to be special or up to par at least. I thought tonight we got after it a little bit, created a lot of turnovers, and started to separate from them with our defense."
NOTES: Improved to 12-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with seven of those wins coming over the last three appearances...Now 5-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Eugene...Improved to 28-10 all-time against Portland State and has won 27 of the last 29 meetings...Collected a season-high 16 steals which led to a 15-5 edge in points off turnovers...Out-rebounded Portland State, 50-23...Owned a 18-0 edge in second chance points thanks 20 offensive rebounds...Fourth time this season Oregon had two players with a double-double in the same game...Junior Sabrina Ionescu reached double figures for the 67th consecutive game with 12 points.
Team Stats
PSU
Oregon
FG%
.245
.460
3FG%
.286
.348
FT%
.727
.800
RB
23
50
TO
17
12
STL
5
16
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballKelly Graves: "Good to be back home."
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