It was not a good start for the Ducks, but Sabrina Ionescu again put the team on her back leading to an 87-55 win over Stanford.
The Oregon Women’s Basketball earned a split on the road last weekend against the Arizona schools and faced a big test against a Stanford team that came in ready to face the Ducks. The Cardinal were ranked 3rd, Oregon came in ranked 6th after slipping vs Arizona State.
Oregon scored first, but the Cardinal would start the game on a 7-0 run as Minyon Moore hit a long jump shot to make it 7-4 Stanford. Several Oregon Ducks had early fouls. The Ducks started 0 for 7 from three-point range before Sabrina Ionescu ended the drought with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. After a hot start by the Cardinal, the Ducks started heating up.
Stanford took a four-point lead heading into the second quarter, 17-13.
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Just into the second quarter, Oregon tied the game at 17, then tied the game again at 20. The Ducks would take the lead with just over six minutes left in the first half as Sabrina Ionescu hit a step-back three-pointer. The Ducks pushed their lead to 34-28 after a three-pointer by Satou Sabally.
Oregon went into the locker room with a 36-30 lead. Sabrina Ionescu had 15 points in the first half along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Both teams had 14 points in the paint and had their starters in most of the first half with just two bench points for each team.
The third quarter saw momentum shift for Stanford as the Cardinal had the first seven points. Sabrina Ionescu had the next five points for the Ducks, but Stanford answered with a three-pointer. It was the Ducks up 43-40 with just over six minutes to go in the third quarter.
Ionescu pushed Oregon to an eight-point lead forcing a Stanford timeout. It was a needed 6-0 run bu the Ducks and it took place in less than a minute. The Ducks would follow that up with a 12-2 run powered in part by Sabrina Ionescu to take a 57-44 lead.
Sabrina Ionescu broke the all-time scoring record for an Oregon Women’s Basketball player pushing the lead to 65-48. She pulled up and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer ending the third quarter.
In the end, it was a career-high in points for Ionescu as well with 37. She also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. For a team needing the win to push the pace in the Pac-12 with Oregon State looming next week, Ionescu again stepped up when the team needed her to for an 87-55 win
Oregon returns to Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday to take on California. Tipoff is set for 2 pm on Pac-12 Network.