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Oregon Ducks Return Home To Face USC Trojans

By Justin Phillips

the Oregon Ducks prepare for a game at Matthew Knight Arena.Justin Phillips/KPNW Sports
the Oregon Ducks prepare for a game at Matthew Knight Arena.Justin Phillips/KPNW Sports /
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The Oregon Ducks(23-4, 12-2 Pac-12) return home with a two-game winning streak to take on the USC Trojans(17-8, 7-7 Pac-12) Friday night.

The Oregon Ducks returned to full strength against Washington State with the return of Lexi Bando off the bench. Even though she played limited minutes, the Senior added an important 9 points in the second quarter in the eventual win by Oregon last weekend. The last time Oregon was home they did not play well.

Oregon lost to Stanford in their worst loss at home to that point in the season. The Ducks rebounded well on the road against Washington and Washington State and return home on a two-game winning streak to meet USC and UCLA on Monday night.

The USC Trojans are up first and have been impressive over the last two weeks. If there is one thing that USC has done well it is take care of business on the road. The Trojans are 12-3 on the road this season including neutral site games.

USC has won four of their last six games. The losses were to UCLA. The Trojans have recently picked up home wins over Arizona and Arizona State.

The Trojans have four players averaging in double figures. Kristen Simon leads the team hitting 47 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three-point range putting up 18 points per game. She also leads the team in Defensive Rebounds this season and is the Player to Watch vs Oregon.

For the Oregon Ducks, Sabrina Ionescu is the go-to player and has been all season. Ionescu has keyed Oregon at home in nearly every game. While she struggled somewhat on the road against the Washington Schools, Ruthy Hebard was there to rack up an average of 39.5 points per game on the road last weekend.

Ionescu is primed for a double-double or better performance and could have one this weekend in the Ducks biggest homestand remaining in the Regular season. Oregon cannot get caught looking ahead to their Top Ten matchup with the UCLA Bruins on Monday night.

Next: Oregon Ducks Drop Key Contest At USC

The Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans tip off at 6 pm Pacific Time on Pac-12 Networks.