After Oregon women’s basketball blew out Washington State at home earlier in January, the Ducks had a rude awakening in the first half on Friday night in Pullman.
The No. 5 Ducks (18-1, 7-0 Pac-12) trailed the Cougars 34-30 at halftime but a second-half fight back lifted Oregon to a 79-64 win to stay perfect in Pac-12 play. Satou Sabally continued her impressive form with a career-high 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including eight 3-pointers.
At the start of the second half, head coach Kelly Graves told the Pac-12 Network that he was disappointed with the team’s first-half effort.
It was a back-and-forth first half and Oregon struggled to maintain a lead. Washington State didn’t capitalize on Oregon’s 40 percent shooting first half with the Cougars shooting 38 percent from the field.
The Ducks roared out of the gates in the second half, jumping out to a 50-38 lead in the third quarter. Oregon went 10-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half.
Junior guard Sabrina Ionescu had just four points on 2-of-9 shooting in the first half while Sabally (12) and Ruthy Hebard (10) led the charge for the Ducks. In the second half, Ionescu turned it around and scored 10 second-half points while Sabally scored another 21 and Hebard knocked down 10 more points.
Eight of Oregon’s nine healthy players saw minutes — Morgan Yaeger was the exception. Freshman Taylor Chavez scored a pair of 3s for six points on the night as the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year continues to adjust to collegiate play.
The Ducks’ 11th straight win and seventh Pac-12 win to stay flawless is the team’s best start since joining the league.
Sunday’s matchup in Seattle with Washington tips off at 2 p.m.
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow
