STANFORD, Calif. — Sabrina Ionescu returned to the court on Friday. So did Oregon’s intensity.
Playing before a contingent of friends and family, Ionescu played a team-high 34 minutes. She scored 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field. She also had eight assists and seven rebounds.
“I think mentally it’s hard knowing that my finger is broken and diving for every loose ball or rebound,” Ionescu said. “It’s like, ‘Do I want to stick my finger in that passing lane?’ “
Despite Ionescu’s energy, the Ducks couldn’t knock off No. 10 Stanford, falling 81-60. The Ducks remain winless in Pac-12 play at 0-3.
Mallory McGwire notched a career-high 16 points for the Ducks, who shot 33.8 percent from the field. Stanford, meanwhile, shot 49.2 percent.
“We tried to be as positive in the locker room after,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “We did better. I thought we did better. We played with more intensity than we did last week.”
From the beginning, Stanford (13-2, 3-0) shut down Oregon forward Ruthy Hebard. The freshman finished with four points after getting into early foul trouble. McGwire recorded a double-double, pulling down 11 rebounds. McGwire said she “got the nerves out” in her first start against Washington State last weekend.
“This game I knew we had our scout,” McGwire said. “I just followed our scout and I did what I could offensively.”
Oregon trailed 35-27 at halftime after Stanford’s Alanna Smith drained a 3-pointer. Smith finished with a game-high 24 points for the Cardinal.
In the third quarter, Stanford tallied a 10-0 run to take a 49-34 lead. Oregon promptly responded with a 9-1 run to make it 50-43.
“We had opportunities,” Ionescu said. “We really did. … We just didn’t do the little things to push us over the top. That’s alright. We’re still growing and are a young team.”
Stanford quickly took over the game again, holding a 57-45 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Cardinal pieced together a 11-2 run to make it a 18-point lead.
“We battled for the most part,” Graves said. “Kind of got away from us at the end, but there were times when they separated and we brought it back a little bit.”
Stanford also did its best to limit Oregon’s 3-point shooting. The Cardinal held the Ducks to 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Oregon narrowly lost the rebounding battle (41-36), but forced 14 Stanford turnovers compared to 11 of its own.
Ionescu said it’s been difficult watching from the bench as she nursed a broken thumb. She missed four consecutive games for the first time in her basketball career.
“It’s all mental,” she said. “I think I’m just thinking about it too much. But it’s normal and I take fault for not making my shots down the stretch (tonight).”
Graves was proud of his standout freshman.
“She plays on guts and is just a tough nut,” Graves said. “It’s really her first game in nearly a month. It’s going to be off a little bit — her timing and her shot. She still continued to play hard tonight.”
Graves added that Maite Cazorla also isn’t 100 percent healthy. She didn’t score in 20 minutes of play on Friday.
Up next: Oregon rounds out its Bay Area road trip on Sunday when the Ducks visit No. 20 California (1 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
“[I] haven’t thought about them,” Graves said of Cal. “[We] wanted to win tonight.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
