Behind a Ruthy Hebard double-double and near-Sabrina Ionescu-triple-double in the quarterfinal of the Pac-12 Tournament, No. 1 seeded Oregon women’s basketball outscored No. 8 seeded Arizona in every quarter except the third to advance to the semifinal round in a 77-63 win over the Wildcats.
Hebard, who missed two games in the regular season due to an injury, scored a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu with 18 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds was just two rebounds from her 18th career triple-double. Meanwhile, her assists tied the Pac-12 Tournament assist record.
“[Ionescu’s] a great passer,” Hebard said in the post-game press conference. “I know when’s she’s going to pass it; she’s got that look in her eyes.”
Despite a battle with the flu, Maite Cazorla played 30 minutes and scored nine points.
For the Wildcats, Aari McDonald scored a game-high 34 points, five shy of her season-high. Freshman Cate Reese was the only other Wildcat to manage more than 10 points with 12.
The Ducks opened the first quarter off a 7-2 run, and led the rest of the quarter. McDonald earned Arizona’s first 10 points in just seven minutes, but behind just four more from the Wildcats, the Ducks finished up 14-10, despite committing six turnovers. Ionescu led for Oregon with eight points off 4-of-5 shooting; Boley added five more.
In the second quarter, Sabally led the Ducks with eight points to send Oregon on a 14-4 run to earn an 11-point lead at 35-24. Despite a game-high 18-points from Aari McDonald in the first half, the Wildcats trailed 12 points to head into halftime.
Behind a late third-quarter 7-2 run, the Wilcats outscored the Ducks 25-20 in the quarter to get within eight points. McDonald scored 13 of the Wildcats points while Hebard scored eight points for Oregon. In the third, the Ducks went 0-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line.
“We weren’t moving the ball like we normally do, shooting the ball like we normally do,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “You didn’t have the feel of a typical Duck game but in the end it was a convincing win.”
To end the quarter, Ionescu was just four rebounds shy of a triple-double with 16 points, ten assists and six rebounds.
In the fourth, Ionescu got two more rebounds but was unable to earn the triple-double.
Late in the game, Sabally left the game with an arm injury. The extent of it is unknown.
On defense, the Ducks held McDonald to just one shot: a missed 3-pointer by the redshirt-sophomore. McDonald scored just three free throws to put the Ducks up 17-10 in the final quarter for the quarterfinal victory.
After UCLA’s 73-69 win over Arizona State, the Ducks will face the Bruins tomorrow at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the semifinals. UCLA delivered the Ducks their only home loss of the season and second-Pac-12 loss.
“We’re going to have to make sure we pass it to the team in white [tomorrow]. When you turn it over against a team like UCLA, we just can’t take them,” Graves said. “Make no mistake; these guys are different.”
Follow Sierra Webster on Twitter @WebsterSierraE.
Battling injuries and illness, Oregon women’s basketball advances to Pac-12 semifinals
March 8, 2019
Oregon Ducks guard Maite Cazorla (5) drives the ball towards the basket as she searches for an open pass. Oregon Ducks women’s basketball takes on University of Arizona at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. on Jan. 20, 2019. (Maddie Knight/Emerald)
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