Oregon Ducks Face Defensive Challenge From Stanford Cardinal
The Oregon Ducks Women’s Basketball team faces their biggest Conference test of the season against 24th Ranked Stanford on Sunday.
Sabrina Ionescu has put together quite a season for herself already, amassing multiple double-double and triple-double performances. She will have a National Audience on Sunday to show off her love of the game and I expect she will take full advantage of the opportunity against the Ducks’ second Top 25 Opponent of the weekend.
Oregon is coming off a rout of California. It was a 37 point victory and Ionescu, along with Ruthy Hebard both netted double-double performances. The Ducks hit 51.5 percent from the field against the Golden Bears and are averaging over 50 percent for the season, and over 40 percent from three-point range.
Lexi Bando has been missing from the court after suffering a leg injury two weeks ago, but Oregon has found a way to win without their ace sharpshooter from three-point range.
Stanford sits in 2nd Place in the Pac-12 Conference with the UCLA Bruins entering the game on Sunday. An Oregon win gives the Ducks a small padding to work with over the coming weeks. The Stanford Defense has cooled their opponents to just 35 percent shooting this season.
Brittney McPhee and Alanna Smith lead Stanford, both putting up double digits in scoring this season for the Cardinal. Stanford has had Oregon’s number lately, winning the last five contests against the Ducks. For Oregon, one of the big numbers to watch is RPI – the metric looked at for NCAA Tournament placing. Right now, the Ducks are ranked at number 5. An Oregon win will further solidify that number as the team pushes toward March.
Next: Oregon Ducks Three-Game Win Streak Snapped At Stanford
The Oregon Ducks and Stanford Cardinal tipoff at Noon from Matthew Knight Arena on ESPN2.