Ducks Grind Out Top-25 Road Win

Sunday, January 12

Tucson, AZ

11:00 AM

University of Oregon

13-2,3-1Pac-12

Arizona

13-3,2-3Pac-12

Oregon

Arizona

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

01/12/20 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Oregon 71, Arizona 64

By: Nate Krueger

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Oregon women's basketball team rebounded from a tough loss with a big top-25 road win on Sunday afternoon, grinding out a 71-64 victory over No. 18 Arizona in front of 7,680 Wildcat fans in McKale Memorial Center.

The No. 2 Ducks (13-2, 3-1 Pac-12) were led by their big three of Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and Satou Sabally, who combined for 54 of Oregon's 71 points. Ionescu notched her NCAA-record 22nd career triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while Hebard recorded her 47th career double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Sabally finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Ionescu TD

How it Happened: The Ducks dominated on the boards in the first quarter, 15-4, but six turnovers hurt Oregon as Arizona (13-3, 2-3 Pac-12) took a 20-18 lead through the first 10 minutes. Hebard and Sabally each had seven points in the opening quarter, with Hebard tying the game, 16-16, with a lay-in before back-to-back buckets by the Wildcats. Sabally answered with an inside bucket late in the period to make it a two-point game going to the second quarter.

Oregon opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take the lead, with Jaz Shelley hitting a three and Sabally following with four straight points. Arizona got back within two with a triple, but Taylor Chavez answered with one of her own to push Oregon's lead to five with 5:38 left in the half. Another Wildcat three made it 28-26 at the 4:46 mark, but Hebard powered her way to back-to-back buckets and Sabally hit three free throws as the Ducks finished the half on a 7-0 run and took a nine-point lead into the break.

The Ducks did a great job defensively in the second quarter, forcing the Wildcats into eight turnovers – including three steals by Chavez – and holding Arizona scoreless over the final 4:46.

An inside basket by Hebard and a three-pointer from Erin Boley gave Oregon its biggest lead of the game at 13 with 6:25 left in the third. Ionescu hit a jumper at the 3:53 mark to push the lead back to 11, and Hebard made it a nine-point game with 2:24 left off a Ionescu assist. But the Wildcats scored four straight to close the period and kept it a five-point game entering the final 10 minutes.

Shelley drilled a three from the wing to make it 58-50 with just over eight minutes left in the game. The Ducks still led by eight at the five-minute mark after a pair of Ionescu free throws, but Arizona scored five straight to cut Oregon's lead to just three with 3:51 remaining. Ionescu then drove baseline and finished through contact for a three-point play, and she followed with a jumper to push the lead back to six with 1:39 left on the clock.

Arizona's Aari Mcdonald, the Pac-12's leading scorer who finished with a game-high 25 points, made a three-pointer to get the Wildcats back within three, but senior Minyon Moore drove to the basket and finished through traffic for a huge bucket that pushed Oregon's lead back to five with just over a minute to play. After Arizona made a pair of free throws to once again make it a three-point game, Ionescu went 4-of-4 at the line in the final 20 seconds to ice the game and send the Ducks home with a big top-25 road win.

Who Stood Out: Ionescu didn't have her best night offensively, but she took over in the fourth quarter and did a little bit of everything for her NCAA-leading fourth triple-double of the season. Hebard notched her eighth double-double of the year, and Sabally finished 9-of-10 at the free-throw line for half of her 18 points in a breakout performance. Shelley had six points on a pair of three-pointers, Moore added five points and both Boley and Chavez made a three. Chavez and Shelley each recorded three steals while helping force Arizona into 15 total turnovers.

What it Means: The Ducks bounced back from Friday night's loss at Arizona State and picked up a big road win over a tough opponent in a hostile environment, thus earning back some momentum ahead of a much-anticipated home game against No. 5 Stanford on Thursday in Eugene.

Notable: Ionescu scored in double figures for the 116th time in her career, while Hebard moved one away from No. 2 in UO history with her 107th career double-figure scoring game … Hebard notched double-figure rebounds for the 52nd time, and Ionescu for the 34th time … Ionescu had double-digit assists for the 36th time in her career … Ionescu now has 46 career double-doubles in addition to 22 triple-doubles … Oregon has now won eight straight and 13 of the last 16 against Arizona.

Up Next: The Ducks will return home to host No. 5 Stanford on Thursday night in Matthew Knight Arena (6 p.m. PT, ESPN).