USC Up Next for First-Place Ducks

LOS ANGELES - Winners of 11 straight after a 16-point win at No. 7 UCLA on Friday, the No. 3 ranked Oregon women's basketball team will face off with USC at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon in the Galen Center.

Oregon has beaten eight ranked teams and five top-10 foes during its 11-game win streak, outscoring opponents by an average of 25.5 points per game during that stretch. The Ducks enter Sunday's game with a one-game lead in the Pac-12 standings over No. 8 Stanford with five regular-season games remaining, and a two-game advantage over the Bruins following Friday's win.

Sunday's game will be a homecoming for senior Minyon Moore, who racked up 1,173 career points, 450 assists and 221 steals in 89 games over three seasons with the Trojans before coming to Oregon.

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Game Details
Matchup: #3 Oregon (23-2, 12-1) at USC (13-11, 5-8)
Date: Sunday, February 16, 2020
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue: Galen Center
Opening Tip: 1:06 p.m. PT

Broadcast Information
TV: Pac-12 Network
PxP: Anne Marie Anderson | Analyst: Tammy Blackburn
Radio: Oregon Sports Network
Eugene: KUGN 590 AM | Portland: KDZR 1640 AM
PxP: Terry Jonz

Numbers to Know
24 - Sabrina Ionescu's 24 career triple-doubles are an NCAA all-time record for both men and women; NCAA-leading 6 this season.
85.6 - The Ducks have scored 100-plus points four times and lead the nation in scoring offense at 85.6 points per game.
1.82 - Oregon is No. 1 in the nation with a 1.82 assist-to-turnover ratio; Minyon Moore ranks No. 2 individually at 3.64.
1 - Oregon is No. 1 in the NCAA RPI rankings with eight wins over ranked opponents during its current 11-game win streak.
27 - Sabrina Ionescu is 27 rebounds away from becoming the first player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 assists & 1,000 rebounds.

Ionescu Joins Exclusive Club
Sabrina Ionescu surpassed 1,000 career assists with eight in Friday's win at UCLA, making her only the fifth player in NCAA women's basketball history to reach 1K. Ionescu joins Courtney Vandersloot - who also played under Kelly Graves at Gonzaga - as the only players in NCAA history to record 2,000 points (2,417) and 1,000 assists (1,005). Ionescu is the UO and Pac-12 all-time assists leader for both men and women, and she leads the nation this season with 8.5 APG and 213 total dimes, already good for No. 3 in UO single-season history. With 973 career rebounds, Ionescu now needs just 27 more boards to become the first player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds.

Hebard Dominates at No. 7 UCLA
Ruthy Hebard was unstoppable in Friday's 80-66 win at No. 7 UCLA, erupting for 30 points on 14-of-19 shooting while pulling down 17 rebounds for her 51st career double-double and 12th of the season. Hebard scored 30-plus points for the team-leading third time this season and the fifth in her career, and she notched 20-plus points for the ninth time this year and the fourth time in the last six games. Hebard has four double-doubles in the last seven games entering Sunday. and she is No. 3 in the nation in field goal percentage at 67.5.

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Series History Vs. USC
USC holds a 45-25 lead in the all-time series with the Ducks, but Oregon has won seven straight and eight of the last nine meetings with the Trojans entering Sunday's contest. The Ducks swept last season's series, winning 93-53 in Los Angeles behind a 26-point performance from Satou Sabally before taking down the Trojans 96-78 in Eugene, fueled by 32 points on 8-of-11 three-point shooting by Erin Boley and a 13-point, 12-rebound, 13-assist triple-double by Sabrina Ionescu. Minyon Moore, playing opposite the Ducks in her final season with USC, did not play in the first meeting in L.A. but had 11 points and six assists in the Trojans' loss in Eugene.

Ramping Up The Resume
The Ducks' surge since their last loss on Jan. 10 in Tempe, Ariz., has bolstered their resume in a big way as they aim to win the Pac-12 for a third straight year and secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament regional to be played in Portland. Oregon has beaten eight AP top-25 teams by an average margin of 19.5 points per game during its 11-game win streak, including wins over six top-15 foes and five teams ranked in the top 10. The Ducks were the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Committee's first top-16 reveal on Feb. 3, and they enter Sunday at No. 1 in the NCAA RPI rankings.

The "Big Three"
The Ducks' power trio of Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and Satou Sabally is arguably the best "Big Three" in the nation. Ionescu leads the team this season with 17.3 points per game while averaging 8.7 rebounds and an NCAA-leading 8.5 assists per game, Hebard is averaging 17.0 points and a team-best 9.6 rebounds per game, and Sabally's strong play during the 11-game win streak has her up to 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Oregon enters Sunday's game as the only team in the nation with three regulars averaging at least 16.0 PPG, and the three Ducks rank fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Pac-12 in scoring.

Triple-Double Queen Doubles Up On History
Sabrina Ionescu enters Sunday's game with 24 career triple-doubles, twice as many as any other man or woman in NCAA history. The all-time triple-double queen notched her NCAA-leading sixth of the season last week against No. 12 Arizona, finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Oregon's blowout victory. Ionescu owns three triple-doubles in Pac-12 this season - including two against the Wildcats - and 10 in her career during conference play. Six of Ionescu's 24 triple-doubles have come on the road, and she has done it four times against ranked opponents. Oregon is 24-0 all-time when Ionescu has a triple-double.

Sabrina Ionescu UConn

Sabally Becoming a Double-Double Machine
Satou Sabally has been a major factor in the Ducks winning 11 straight games as the junior is averaging 17.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game during the streak, headlined by a season-high 31 points on 1/19/20 against California. Sabally posted three straight double-doubles entering this weekend's action in Los Angeles, and five of her career-high six double-doubles this season have come during the last 11 games. All six of Sabally's double-doubles this year have been against ranked teams, including four against top-10 opponents. The Berlin, Germany, native scored at least 16 points in each of the first nine games of the streak before finishing with 11 against No. 19 Arizona last Sunday and nine at No. 7 UCLA on Friday. Sabally is 55-of-66 (83.3%) from the free-throw line during the streak, including a career-high 10-of-11 showing on 1/24/20 vs. No. 7 Oregon State.

Moore Leading Defensive Surge
The Ducks have been one of the nation's premiere offensive teams since Kelly Graves arrived in Eugene, but the addition of graduate transfer Minyon Moore has helped Oregon become a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end as well. UO is up more than 100 spots from last season in the NCAA rankings to No. 32 in scoring defense (56.8 PPG), good for No. 3 in the Pac-12. The Ducks have held 16 of their last 18 opponents to less than 65 points entering Sunday's game, and five times this season they have held a team to less than 50 points. Moore, a two-time Pac-12 all-defensive selection with USC, has been a huge part of that improvement with a team-leading 44 steals - including a pair of six-steal games - while applying constant pressure at the top of the defense.

Shooting The Lights Out
Oregon leads the nation in scoring offense with 85.6 points per game entering Sunday's contest, and the Ducks are No. 2 in the NCAA with a 50.4 field-goal percentage as a team, just 0.2 percent behind Baylor. One of the biggest factor's in Oregon's efficiency has been its dominance in the paint, where the Ducks own a 426-point advantage and have outscored their opponents in all but one game so far. Ruthy Hebard has elevated Oregon's field goal percentage a great deal as the senior post ranks No. 3 in the nation individually with a 67.5 shooting percentage. The Ducks rank eighth in the nation in three-point shooting percentage at 37.8, including a 40.5 percent mark in Pac-12 play, and are also No. 8 in three-pointers per game (9.1).

Sixth Player of the Year?
The Ducks boast one of the most established starting lineups in the nation, but one of the most vital contributors on the roster this season has been sophomore Taylor Chavez. Chavez was huge in last week's win over No. 12 Arizona with 17 points and two steals in 26 minutes of action, and she has scored in double figures five times while providing excellent defense and strong three-point shooting off the bench. The Surprise, Ariz., native is No. 2 in the Pac-12 in three-point shooting percentage at 45.3 (34-of-75) - including a 52.9 percent mark (18-of-34) in Pac-12 play - and she lit up Utah State for a career-high 25 points on 11/13/19 in the lone start of her career. Chavez also ranks third on the team in steals (26) while coming off the bench.

Automatic at the Stripe
Oregon has been terrific at the free-throw line this season behind the duo of Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally, shooting 76.5 percent from the stripe to rank third in the Pac-12 and 17th in the nation. Ionescu has been nearly flawless at the line, shooting 92.6 percent (63-of-68) on the season to lead the Pac-12 and rank second nationally while going an astounding 42-of-43 (97.7%) in conference play. The senior made 34 straight free throws from 12/21/19 vs. Kansas State to 2/3/20 at No. 4 UConn, breaking the previous UO record for consecutive made free throws of 31 (Shaquala Williams, 2001-02). Sabally has been by far the most frequent visitor to the line for the Ducks, and the junior is shooting 78.2 percent (86-of-110) on the year with a 55-of-66 (83.3%) mark during Oregon's 11-game win streak.

Up Next
The Ducks will be back in California next weekend to take on California on Friday night before facing off with No. 8 Stanford on Monday night in a crucial Pac-12 matchup.