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Oregon Women’s Basketball: Ducks Beat Team USA, Ionescu Leads The Way

By Justin Phillips

TAMPA, FLORIDA - APRIL 05: Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the Oregon Ducks drives to the basket against the Baylor Lady Bears during the first half in the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Women's Final Four at Amalie Arena on April 05, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - APRIL 05: Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the Oregon Ducks drives to the basket against the Baylor Lady Bears during the first half in the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Women's Final Four at Amalie Arena on April 05, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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With five minutes left to play,  Oregon Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kelly Graves put his starters back in the game. Oregon won 93-86 over Team USA.

The Oregon Women’s Basketball team faced a unique opportunity and a close to sold-out Matthew Knight Arena was on hand to watch. With Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and the rest of the US Basketball Women’s National Team in the building to face the top-ranked team in the country to start the 2019 season.

The first quarter saw a competitive battle. Ruthy Hebard and Ogwumike led all scorers and out of a timeout, Team USA missed their first field goal of the quarter completing a perfect 8 for 8. Sue Bird added a jump shot pushing the Team USA lead to 22-16. Team USA took a 27-20 lead heading into the second quarter.

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Sabrina Ionescu scored her first points of the game with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter to pull the Ducks within 8. Ruthy Hebard brought Oregon to within six the next time down the floor and found the defensive rebound. Kelsey Plum fouled Ionescu. Her shot was good as was the foul shot as she had 5 points. Oregon was down four, 42-38 at the break.

Less than two minutes into the second half Fowles had her fourth foul and Sabrina Ionescu hit a three-pointer that put the Ducks ahead 44-42. Minyon Moore followed with a basket and free throw completing a three-point play.

Sabrina Ionescu took over the third quarter with drive to the basket shots finishing with a team-leading 25 points along with 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Oregon was hitting 48 percent from the floor with Team USA hitting 60 percent. Both teams were hitting close from three-point range, but Oregon was at 100 percent for their free throws as the Ducks led 68-67 heading into the 4th Quarter.

The opening minutes of the fourth quarter was all Oregon as the Ducks went on a 9-0 run including three-pointers from Satou Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu. Both shots raised the roof of Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks had a 10 point lead 79-69 with 6:49 left in the game.

Team USA started a run of their own scoring 6 points in 30 seconds to pull within five. In the end, Oregon held on for a 93-86 win. Sabrina Ionescu finished with 30 points, 25 of them in the final two quarters. While the game did not count, it was a full effort for the team and fans as over 11,000 showed up to watch. Oregon was just the second team ever to beat Team USA and the first since 1999.

Oregon hosts Northeastern in their official home opener on Monday a 3 pm from Matthew Knight Arena.