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Women’s NCAA Tournament: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon Ducks Advance Past Indiana

By Justin Phillips

The Oregon Ducks prepare to face Mississippi State at Matthew Knight Arena.Justin Phillips/KPNW Sports
The Oregon Ducks prepare to face Mississippi State at Matthew Knight Arena.Justin Phillips/KPNW Sports /
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Sabrina Ionescu scored a triple-double as the Oregon Ducks topped Indiana 91-68 to advance to the Sweet 16.

The Oregon Ducks hosted the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at Matthew Knight Arena vs Indiana on Sunday night.

Entering the game, Indiana was coming off an upset win over the Texas Longhorns from Friday and forced Texas into 23 turnovers. The same would not happen against the Oregon Ducks. Oregon opened the game with two Offensive fouls against Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard. Sabrina Ionescu and Erin Boley hit back to back shots giving Oregon an 11-8 lead, but Indiana was fighting hard early.

After the first quarter, Oregon had a six-point lead 24-19 over Indiana. Oregon closed out the first quarter hitting four of five shots from the floor.

Indiana tied the game and took the lead with just over nine minutes left in the second half.

Sabrina Ionescu was fouled beyond the three-point line and completed a four-point play leading to a 9-0 Oregon run to again take the lead 33-28. The Ducks started to pull away as the second quarter came to a close forcing Indiana into three turnovers. The Ducks closed on a 19-3 run over the last seven minutes of the half to take a 43-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Both teams came out firing in the second half with both exchanging baskets and the Hoosiers trying to get back into the game. They came within 10 points with 5:10 left in the second half before Maite Cazorla hit a three-pointer pushing the Oregon lead to 13.

At the end of the third quarter Oregon was hitting 54 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three-point range. To open the fourth quarter, Indiana hit back to back shots, but Ionescu fired back with a three-pointer to give the momentum back to Oregon.

The Ducks then went on a 13-4 run to put the game out of reach at 84-63 with 4:15 left in the game.

Sabrina Ionescu finished the game with a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Fans knew it with about three minutes to go giving Ionescu a standing ovation. Oregon now head up I-5 to Portland and the Moda Center next week for the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament.