Friday, March 6
Las Vegas, NV
2:00 PM
University of Oregon
29-2,17-1Pac-12
79
vs
59
Utah
14-17,6-12Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Utah
19
10
13
17
59
Oregon
16
29
17
17
79
Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Ducks Take Care Of Business
03/06/20 | Women's Basketball
Oregon beat Utah on Friday in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, and will look to improve the level of execution against Arizona in the semifinals Saturday (6 p.m., Pac-12).
LAS VEGAS — Friday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game for the Oregon women's basketball team wasn't a particularly sharp performance, but the top-seeded Ducks overwhelmed Utah with a flurry of three-pointers in the second quarter and advanced to the semifinal round with a 79-59 victory over the Utes before 6,782 fans in the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The Ducks (29-2) shot 8-of-12 from three-point range in the second quarter Friday to overcome an early deficit and take a double-digit lead into halftime. They advanced to play Saturday against fourth-seeded Arizona (6 p.m., Pac-12), which lost twice to Oregon in the regular season but will be looking to secure homecourt advantage for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with an upset of the Ducks.
Oregon shot 50 percent from the floor (29-of-58) against Utah and had a slight edge on the boards, 35-33. But the Ducks had 14 turnovers — including six each by seniors Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard — and the Utes hung with them point for point in the fourth quarter.
"This time of year, you don't always have to play pretty," UO coach Kelly Graves told his team in the postgame locker room. "You just want to win. But we've got to set a higher bar for ourselves."
How It Happened: Oregon's first three-pointer of the game, by Satou Sabally, put the Ducks up 7-5 in the opening minutes. Utah responded with seven straight to take the lead, and stayed in front the rest of the first quarter. A three-pointer for the Utes gave them their biggest lead of the game, 17-11, but Jaz Shelley responded with a three for the Ducks at the other end, and she scored again late in the quarter to cut the deficit to 19-16.
It was 21-18 early in the second when Lydia Giomi blocked a shot, sprinted up the court and took a pass from Ionescu before laying it in to make it a one-point game. A free throw by Sabally tied it, and then Taylor Chavez put the Ducks into the lead for a good with a three-pointer. That was the first of eight straight UO field goals that came from three-point range to end the first half — three by Ionescu, two by Erin Boley and one each by Chavez, Sabally and Boley. Ionescu hit the last one on the final possession of the half, making it 45-29.
By the measure of plus/minus, Chavez and Shelley were Oregon's top two players Friday. The Ducks outscored the Utes by 26 points in the minutes Shelley was on the court, and by 19 during the minutes when Chavez was playing.
"I feel like we have a little duel going on in terms of coming off the bench and trying to provide that spark," Chavez said.
The Ducks went up by 20 for the first time on a bucket by Ionescu late in the third quarter, and took their biggest lead when Chavez opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer that made it 65-42. The Utes scored on six of their next seven possessions to get back within 12, before the Ducks sealed the win in the closing minutes.
"You guys looked like world beaters (in the second quarter)," Graves told the team postgame. "It's one of our character flaws that we come back to earth."
Who Stood Out: Ionescu finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, plus two steals and two blocked shots. Sabally added 17 points, while Boley, Chavez and Shelley combined to score 27 points on 7-of-12 three-point shooting. Hebard had eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, while matching Ionescu with six turnovers.
"Tomorrow we've got to pick it up a lot," Hebard said.
Duck Fans Out In Force: There were times Friday when the conference tournament matchup felt like a home game for the Ducks. Oregon fans have flooded Las Vegas for tournament weekend; vendors sold out of the UO edition of the official tournament T-shirt Thursday during the opening round games, ordered more for Friday and sold out of those as well — in 10 minutes.
When Oregon's team arrived to watch part of Friday's earlier quarterfinal matchup between Arizona and California, the Ducks received a standing ovation from the crowd while walking to their seats. The team also were on hand Thursday, scouting Utah's opening round matchup with Washington, and players were struck by all the green and yellow in the stands.
"It felt like everybody here was an Oregon fan," Boley said.
Up Next: The Ducks face the Wildcats on Saturday (6 p.m., Pac-12) for a spot in the tournament final.
The Ducks (29-2) shot 8-of-12 from three-point range in the second quarter Friday to overcome an early deficit and take a double-digit lead into halftime. They advanced to play Saturday against fourth-seeded Arizona (6 p.m., Pac-12), which lost twice to Oregon in the regular season but will be looking to secure homecourt advantage for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with an upset of the Ducks.
Oregon shot 50 percent from the floor (29-of-58) against Utah and had a slight edge on the boards, 35-33. But the Ducks had 14 turnovers — including six each by seniors Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard — and the Utes hung with them point for point in the fourth quarter.
"This time of year, you don't always have to play pretty," UO coach Kelly Graves told his team in the postgame locker room. "You just want to win. But we've got to set a higher bar for ourselves."
How It Happened: Oregon's first three-pointer of the game, by Satou Sabally, put the Ducks up 7-5 in the opening minutes. Utah responded with seven straight to take the lead, and stayed in front the rest of the first quarter. A three-pointer for the Utes gave them their biggest lead of the game, 17-11, but Jaz Shelley responded with a three for the Ducks at the other end, and she scored again late in the quarter to cut the deficit to 19-16.
It was 21-18 early in the second when Lydia Giomi blocked a shot, sprinted up the court and took a pass from Ionescu before laying it in to make it a one-point game. A free throw by Sabally tied it, and then Taylor Chavez put the Ducks into the lead for a good with a three-pointer. That was the first of eight straight UO field goals that came from three-point range to end the first half — three by Ionescu, two by Erin Boley and one each by Chavez, Sabally and Boley. Ionescu hit the last one on the final possession of the half, making it 45-29.
By the measure of plus/minus, Chavez and Shelley were Oregon's top two players Friday. The Ducks outscored the Utes by 26 points in the minutes Shelley was on the court, and by 19 during the minutes when Chavez was playing.
"I feel like we have a little duel going on in terms of coming off the bench and trying to provide that spark," Chavez said.
The Ducks went up by 20 for the first time on a bucket by Ionescu late in the third quarter, and took their biggest lead when Chavez opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer that made it 65-42. The Utes scored on six of their next seven possessions to get back within 12, before the Ducks sealed the win in the closing minutes.
"You guys looked like world beaters (in the second quarter)," Graves told the team postgame. "It's one of our character flaws that we come back to earth."
Who Stood Out: Ionescu finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, plus two steals and two blocked shots. Sabally added 17 points, while Boley, Chavez and Shelley combined to score 27 points on 7-of-12 three-point shooting. Hebard had eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, while matching Ionescu with six turnovers.
"Tomorrow we've got to pick it up a lot," Hebard said.
Duck Fans Out In Force: There were times Friday when the conference tournament matchup felt like a home game for the Ducks. Oregon fans have flooded Las Vegas for tournament weekend; vendors sold out of the UO edition of the official tournament T-shirt Thursday during the opening round games, ordered more for Friday and sold out of those as well — in 10 minutes.
When Oregon's team arrived to watch part of Friday's earlier quarterfinal matchup between Arizona and California, the Ducks received a standing ovation from the crowd while walking to their seats. The team also were on hand Thursday, scouting Utah's opening round matchup with Washington, and players were struck by all the green and yellow in the stands.
"It felt like everybody here was an Oregon fan," Boley said.
Up Next: The Ducks face the Wildcats on Saturday (6 p.m., Pac-12) for a spot in the tournament final.
Team Stats
Utah
Oregon
FG%
.400
.500
3FG%
.278
.522
FT%
.625
.692
RB
33
35
TO
16
14
STL
7
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballKelly Graves | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Deja Kelly, Peyton Scott & Phillipina Kyei | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Peyton Scott & Ari Long: "A good, competitive basketball game."
Thursday, February 27
Kelly Graves: "We've played really well."
Thursday, February 27
