Pac-12 Tournament: Sabrina Ionescu, Ducks Fall To Stanford

The Oregon Ducks looked tired at times falling behind early and losing against Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship game on Sunday.

Sabrina Ionescu did her best to keep the Oregon Ducks in the game. She finished with 27 points off 10 for 26 shooting. At times, it felt like she was trying too hard to be a one-woman team. There were a handful of shots that could have been made by others, but Ionescu made the shot. Ruthy Hebard showed some wear after three straight games scoring just 13 points in the loss.

Stanford held one of the top scoring teams in the country to just 34 percent from the floor while outscoring Oregon hitting 41 percent of their shots. The Cardinal also pulled down 41 rebounds to the Ducks 35. Oregon kept turnovers to a minimum as both teams had under 10 for the game. Turnovers were not the storyline of the game, but Stanford’s hot start certainly helped push the Cardinal to victory.

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With a limited bench. the Oregon Starters saw most of the action. The Ducks bench scored zero points for the first time this season. Satou Sabally played but is nursing a shoulder injury after a hard fall against Arizona earlier in the Pac-12 Tournament. Sabally finished with five points.

So what does it mean for the Oregon Ducks?

Oregon fell to 7th in the AP poll and had all but solidified a likely number 2 seed next week when the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced on Monday. Oregon will host the first two rounds at Matthew Knight Arena and will likely still fall into the Portland, Oregon Regional the following week.

The rest this week is needed after a tougher than usual Pac-12 Tournament. After winning the regular season title, Oregon went to Las Vegas with hopes of the Championship. Oregon beat Arizona, beat UCLA in Overtime and fell against Stanford. The Cardinal got their revenge after losing at home by 40 points to the Ducks this season.

Sabrina Ionescu and the Oregon Ducks now await the NCAA Tournament selection on Monday at 3:30 pm Pacific Time.