Friday, March 29
Portland, OR
8:30 PM
University of Oregon
32-4
63
vs
53
South Dakota State
28-7
1
2
3
4
F
South Dakota St.
12
10
12
19
53
Oregon
18
13
18
14
63
Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Ducks Grind Out Sweet Sixteen Victory
03/30/19 | Women's Basketball
Oregon is moving on to the Elite Eight for the third year in a row, after holding off South Dakota State on Friday in Portland, 63-53.
PORTLAND — If there was any doubting the stage or the stakes, UO assistant coach Mark Campbell put them to rest Friday afternoon.
Campbell, the super recruiter and defensive guru for Oregon head coach Kelly Graves, arrived at the Ducks' pregame shootaround for their Sweet Sixteen matchup against South Dakota State wearing a T-shirt that hadn't seen the light of day in a year. It bore the slogan "Winner Stays," the Nike marketing line from the 2017 postseason that the Ducks adopted as their mantra for an unlikely run to the Elite Eight as a No. 10 seed in that year's NCAA Tournament.
Two years later, the UO women were a No. 2 seed, playing just up the road from Eugene in Portland, against the No. 6-seeded Jackrabbits for the chance to make a third straight Elite Eight. It wasn't quite to the level of trying to win in then-No. 2 seed Duke's home gym, as Oregon did in 2017. But Campbell didn't want the Ducks taking anything for granted.
Winner stays. Loser goes home. Campbell had pulled the T-shirt back out of the closet for the second weekend of the tournament in 2018, and he did so again Friday.
"It's that time of the year," he said during the shootaround.
The sense of urgency he was trying to instill proved prescient hours later. Once Oregon and SDSU took the court, the Ducks led nearly throughout but struggled to put away the game while enduring an off night from the three-point line, before securing a 63-53 win in front of 11,324 fans in the Moda Center.
Oregon earned the right to play for a spot in the Final Four, for the third year in a row. The Ducks will play the Portland Region's No. 1 seed, Mississippi State, in the Elite Eight on Sunday at 11 a.m., in a rematch of a December nonconference game that Oregon won in Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (32-4) were far from perfect Friday night, but they celebrated jubilantly. Campbell spent all day reminding them of the stakes — "Our men's team showed that seeds don't matter, so don't take anything for granted," he said in the pregame locker room, referring to the UO men's run to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 12 seed — and Oregon rightfully celebrated the monumental achievement of making a third straight Elite Eight.
"I was just so excited for our team," said sophomore Satou Sabally, who had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots Friday night, and was the most exuberant of the Ducks afterward. "We've been working so hard through our season, and even before in the offseason and summer. I'm just really proud of our team.
"Being able to close the game like that, we finished it like champions. That's what we want to be."
To win an NCAA title, the Ducks probably will have to be better than they were Friday, at least on the offensive end. The missed their first four field-goal attempts, but recovered to lead 18-12 after the first quarter when national player of the year candidate Sabrina Ionescu scored the last four baskets of the opening period, all on midrange jumpers.
Oregon went cold again in the second, shooting 6-of-17, including 1-of-6 from three-point range. Sophomore sharp shooter Erin Boley ended up going the entire night without a bucket, and Sabally was 1-of-6 from distance as Oregon finished 4-of-20 from three-point range for the game. The Ducks are shooting better than 40 percent from behind the arc for the season, but have shot better than 40 percent in a game just once in their last eight outings.
Still, Oregon led by nine at halftime, 31-22, and was up 49-34 after three quarters. That was thanks to its dogged man-to-man defense, designed to keep the Ducks in the faces of SDSU's own potent three-point shooters; Graves and his staff knew that keeping the Jackrabbits from heating up from long range was the best way to avoid an upset, and the Ducks ended up allowing just 5-of-24 three-point shooting.
"We certainly didn't shoot it well tonight," he acknowledged. "But I thought defensively we were on point, and we played really hard."
The Ducks also got typically sterling efforts from Ionescu, with 17 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds; Ruthy Hebard, with 24 points and 14 rebounds; and from Sabally, a season-long X factor who is averaging 18 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.
"Your three all-Americans are supposed to step up in big games, and they did," Graves said. "When you're not playing your best, your best players gotta step up."
Now, the Ducks have another shot at winning an Elite Eight game. They've got another shot at the Final Four. And they've got another shot at Mississippi State.
Winner stays. Campbell spent all day Friday driving home the message. The Ducks won, and now they're staying in Portland for a couple more days.
Campbell, the super recruiter and defensive guru for Oregon head coach Kelly Graves, arrived at the Ducks' pregame shootaround for their Sweet Sixteen matchup against South Dakota State wearing a T-shirt that hadn't seen the light of day in a year. It bore the slogan "Winner Stays," the Nike marketing line from the 2017 postseason that the Ducks adopted as their mantra for an unlikely run to the Elite Eight as a No. 10 seed in that year's NCAA Tournament.
Two years later, the UO women were a No. 2 seed, playing just up the road from Eugene in Portland, against the No. 6-seeded Jackrabbits for the chance to make a third straight Elite Eight. It wasn't quite to the level of trying to win in then-No. 2 seed Duke's home gym, as Oregon did in 2017. But Campbell didn't want the Ducks taking anything for granted.
Winner stays. Loser goes home. Campbell had pulled the T-shirt back out of the closet for the second weekend of the tournament in 2018, and he did so again Friday.
"It's that time of the year," he said during the shootaround.
The sense of urgency he was trying to instill proved prescient hours later. Once Oregon and SDSU took the court, the Ducks led nearly throughout but struggled to put away the game while enduring an off night from the three-point line, before securing a 63-53 win in front of 11,324 fans in the Moda Center.
Oregon earned the right to play for a spot in the Final Four, for the third year in a row. The Ducks will play the Portland Region's No. 1 seed, Mississippi State, in the Elite Eight on Sunday at 11 a.m., in a rematch of a December nonconference game that Oregon won in Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (32-4) were far from perfect Friday night, but they celebrated jubilantly. Campbell spent all day reminding them of the stakes — "Our men's team showed that seeds don't matter, so don't take anything for granted," he said in the pregame locker room, referring to the UO men's run to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 12 seed — and Oregon rightfully celebrated the monumental achievement of making a third straight Elite Eight.
"I was just so excited for our team," said sophomore Satou Sabally, who had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots Friday night, and was the most exuberant of the Ducks afterward. "We've been working so hard through our season, and even before in the offseason and summer. I'm just really proud of our team.
"Being able to close the game like that, we finished it like champions. That's what we want to be."
To win an NCAA title, the Ducks probably will have to be better than they were Friday, at least on the offensive end. The missed their first four field-goal attempts, but recovered to lead 18-12 after the first quarter when national player of the year candidate Sabrina Ionescu scored the last four baskets of the opening period, all on midrange jumpers.
Oregon went cold again in the second, shooting 6-of-17, including 1-of-6 from three-point range. Sophomore sharp shooter Erin Boley ended up going the entire night without a bucket, and Sabally was 1-of-6 from distance as Oregon finished 4-of-20 from three-point range for the game. The Ducks are shooting better than 40 percent from behind the arc for the season, but have shot better than 40 percent in a game just once in their last eight outings.
Still, Oregon led by nine at halftime, 31-22, and was up 49-34 after three quarters. That was thanks to its dogged man-to-man defense, designed to keep the Ducks in the faces of SDSU's own potent three-point shooters; Graves and his staff knew that keeping the Jackrabbits from heating up from long range was the best way to avoid an upset, and the Ducks ended up allowing just 5-of-24 three-point shooting.
"We certainly didn't shoot it well tonight," he acknowledged. "But I thought defensively we were on point, and we played really hard."
The Ducks also got typically sterling efforts from Ionescu, with 17 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds; Ruthy Hebard, with 24 points and 14 rebounds; and from Sabally, a season-long X factor who is averaging 18 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.
"Your three all-Americans are supposed to step up in big games, and they did," Graves said. "When you're not playing your best, your best players gotta step up."
Now, the Ducks have another shot at winning an Elite Eight game. They've got another shot at the Final Four. And they've got another shot at Mississippi State.
Winner stays. Campbell spent all day Friday driving home the message. The Ducks won, and now they're staying in Portland for a couple more days.
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Team Stats
SDSU
Oregon
FG%
.267
.431
3FG%
.208
.200
FT%
.727
.643
RB
47
44
TO
3
6
STL
4
2
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
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