When Sabrina Ionescu took the court at Matthew Knight Arena on senior night last week, she wrapped up her speech to a packed arena by saying, “We’ve still got some stuff left to achieve, so stay tuned everybody.”

On Saturday night Ionescu dropped 31 points in the semifinal game against Arizona, leading the Ducks to the championship game and breaking the conference tournament scoring record with 223 points in her four tournaments.

Another dominating performance by Oregon’s famed guard

Ionescu was the last one to leave the court after warmups, a scatter of the applause from the early arriving fans raining down on her as she walked to the locker room.

Ionescu led the Ducks to an 88-70 victory with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

The senior’s command of the game and leadership of the team is obvious both on the court and off. Before the game she was high-fiving her teammates and cheering them on as they practiced shots from beyond the arc. 

During the game she was an offensive powerhouse with six 3-pointers.

“Sabrina was just awesome today,” junior forward Satou Sabally said. “She’s really a great player and she just locks in and she makes the shots that she practices every day in practice… She knows that she can make these. It’s great to see that someone like her gets so much attention… People really can’t stop her.”

Ionescu’s baskets came in crucial moments. Back-to-back threes from Ionescu and Taylor Chavez broke Oregon’s 2:30 scoring drought in the second quarter and extended the lead to 10. The Ducks’ relentless offense ensured that the Wildcats hardly came within striking distance of the Ducks again.

Big plays from Oregon’s “Big Three” 

Oregon’s “Big Three” of Satou Sabally, Ruthy Hebard and Ionescu shined on Saturday night. They have been the driving force behind Oregon’s success all season but their chemistry could not be ignored in Saturday night’s victory. 

The trio play together like a well-oiled machine. Ionescu and Hebard have perfected the pick and roll and it was on display on Saturday when Hebard put up 14 points in the paint. 

It looked like Arizona might come back when it came within six points of the Ducks in the third quarter, but that’s when Hebard stepped it up, putting in work down below the basket. The post was relentless, even when her shots weren’t dropping, stretching Oregon’s lead to eight points in the third quarter.

“I think we play really well together and we all bring different things to the table which makes us, in a way, one complete player,” Hebard said. 

“This is a good basketball team offensively,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “We’re an elite team, one of the best of all time, quite frankly. So when we get it rolling and get to that tempo and find shooters and knocking them down, we become really difficult because you have an inside presence who can, you know, command a double-team.”

Oregon’s victory can be attributed to how well it moved the ball around the court, making the Arizona defense work and creating room for the shooters. The Ducks had 26 total assists, 13 more than Arizona.

“I think we played well together,” Ionescu said. “If they were collapsing on me, we made the extra pass, and vice versa. So continuing to learn to play with each other and those around us.”

The Ducks were a threat from beyond the arc

In a record-breaking performance, the Ducks dropped 15 3-pointers, breaking the tournament record for most in a single game. 

“In the end, we had a great shooting night from the three again,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “You know, I thought they had to gamble a little bit, gave up open looks, and we knocked them down tonight. These two [Erin Boley and Ionescu] especially came to play and [I’m] proud of their effort as well.”

Despite shooting only 48.4% from the 3-point line, Oregon’s 3-point shooting made the difference in this game because they just kept shooting. 

A missed shot didn’t deter Oregon’s shooters, as they pulled up to the arc again and again throughout the game. The Ducks shot 31 total threes, making 15, a distinct difference from the Wildcats 21 total shots from outside.

Ionescu led with six threes followed by Boley with four and Chavez who shot 3-3 from the 3-point line. 

With the semifinal victory in hand, the Ducks continue on into the tournament championship game on Sunday against the No. 3 seed Stanford. Oregon is looking for redemption after falling to Stanford in the championship last season. 

“We’re on a mission,” Graves said. “We don’t want to share the regular season title with someone else that wins the tournament championship. Our resume is solid… that’s nice and everything, but we want to cut down the nets. We don’t want to share this. We don’t want it to be tainted.”