SEATTLE — Kelly Graves and the Ducks finally can lay claim to a Pac-12 Tournament win.
The No. 6 Ducks rallied and gritted out a 70-63 win over No. 11 Arizona on Thursday night for the program’s first Pac-12 Tournament win since 2008. Oregon’s talented corps of freshmen, playing in their first game at KeyArena, scored 61 of the team’s 70 points.
That led Graves in awe.
“That’s incredible in any setting, let alone this setting — on this stage,” Graves said.
The Ducks (19-12) outscored Arizona 29-19 in the final quarter to control the game.
“It’s all the more remarkable that they played so well under pressure and down the stretch,” Graves said. “We needed this — just for our own psyches. This was a really big win, the way we did it.”
Hebard recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds. She hit consecutive buckets, one of which was by second-chance effort, to give the Ducks a 62-56 lead with 1:20 left.
Sabrina Ionescu led the Ducks in scoring with 22 points and five assists. Mallory McGwire scored 14 points in the win.
“Close games are always fun. It’s like your blood is running a little more and stuff like that,” McGwire said. “Once you get to the [NCAA] Tournament, all the games will likely be close.”
The Ducks advance to the second round and will play No. 3 Washington on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Huskies, led by Pac-12 player of the year Kelsey Plum, will undoubtedly draw a large crowd in their home city. Plum scored 57 points in her last game of the regular season.
Oregon was without Ionescu and Maite Cazorla in lone matchup — a Washington win — earlier this season.
“I think it can be an advantage for us because they haven’t played us with our whole squad,” Graves said. “We can go out loose. … We’ve already been under the lights, so to speak, in the tournament.
“We have some advantages, but we realize it’s going to be a real challenge.”
Added Ionescu: “I think we’ll come out and show them something they haven’t seen before.”
McGwire hit a bucket, recorded a block, then scored another bucket to give the Ducks a 54-50 lead with 6:02 left. Arizona, which had its largest lead of the game, 40-33, with 5:16 remaining in the third, owned a 44-41 lead after three quarters.
“I think in the end, our post play was crucial,” Graves said.
The Ducks and Wildcats each had 7-0 runs during the first quarter, but Oregon took a 15-12 lead to the second quarter. Ionescu had eight of her nine first-half points during the opening quarter.
The Wildcats outscored Oregon 17-12 during the second quarter to take a 29-27 lead into intermission. Oregon shot 36 percent from the field and had nine turnovers.
“At halftime, it was, ‘We don’t want to go home. We want to continue playing.’ That always motivates us and it motivates me,” Ionescu said.
The Ducks finished shooting 48.1 percent while Arizona shot 39.7 percent.
Arizona’s LaBrittney Jones finished with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Malena Washington and Lucia Alonso each scored 14 points for the Wildcats, who finished the season 14-16.
Graves said the Ducks will have to stop Plum by committee for a win on Friday night.
“The reality is that we have to lace ‘em up and be ballers,” he said. “Isn’t that we always talk about? Be ballers and play.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
