The Oregon women’s basketball team will roll into the holiday break feeling festive as they pulled out a win against Kansas State on Saturday afternoon, 89-51.
Sabrina Ionescu recorded her 21st career triple-double after securing a defensive rebound late in the third quarter and exited the game to a roaring Oregon crowd. Ionescu notched the triple-double in less than three quarters and finished with 21 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
After a sluggish start last game against UC Riverside, the Ducks continued their slow start woes in Saturday’s game when they turned the ball over five times, missed all of their 3-point attempts and went 6-15 from the field.
However, their defense kept Kansas State from capitalizing on their slow offensive start, forcing Kansas State to 2-9 shooting early in the first.
Kansas State kept it close through the first half of play — only down by 11 at halftime — but thanks to Erin Boley’s hot shooting in the second quarter, the Ducks slowly started gaining separation.
The Ducks responded to the sluggish start with an 18-2 run led by Boley.
Boley previously shot 0-7 in the past two games, but let the ball fly in this game with 18 points and 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Satou Sabally and Ionescu continued to lead the Ducks in quarter No. 3, where after a sluggish start for Sabally, the rust was starting to chip away after missing her last game due to an unspecified injury. Sabally finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds in under twenty minutes.
Oregon’s gritty defense by diving for loose balls and getting multiple tipped passes turned into offense. The Ducks continued to share the ball in the second half by finding numerous ways to score.
With turnovers looming over the Ducks the past few games, Oregon committed just a single turnover in the entire second half and shot a hot 68 percent from the floor and held Kansas State to a 31-percent field goal finish.
This was the team’s last nonconference game of the season, but it will play an exhibition game against NAIA Corban next Saturday in Eugene before starting Pac-12 play against Colorado after the new year.
Follow Carly on Twitter @carlyebisuya.
