LAS VEGAS — A crowd clad in yellow and green roared as the Ducks lined up to cut down the nets at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Sabrina Ionescu was the last player to climb the ladder and the raucous cheers of “GOAT” that emanated from the arena were deafening as the Oregon senior cut down a piece of the net.
The Ducks came to Las Vegas with some unfinished business after losing the title to Stanford last season. Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer had never lost three games in a season to a Pac-12 opponent until the Ducks claimed a landslide victory on Sunday, 89-56, to secure the Pac-12 crown.
Head coach Kelly Graves finished the net-cutting ceremony by cutting the rest of the net down. After he descended from the ladder, his team smeared a cupcake all over his face. In the postgame interviews, Ruthy Hebard joked with her coach that she didn’t touch him.
“Yeah, sure,” Graves joked back. “I’m sure there is a lot of video that may suggest otherwise. However, I think it’s great. I welcome that any time, because we’re celebrating. We’re celebrating something special — Pac-12 Tournament championship.”
After a close first quarter, the Ducks ran away with the game, claiming their redemption and securing what will almost certainly be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In the first quarter, the teams were neck and neck — neither team led by more than three points. Stanford led at the end of the first quarter, 17-14. The Cardinal were successful in shutting down Ionescu in the first as she finished the quarter with zero points.
Stanford shut down Oregon’s perimeter shooters in the first quarter. After breaking the tournament record for 3-pointers in a single game in the semifinals on Saturday with 15, the Ducks failed to hit a single shot from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes.
Minyon Moore found that the pressure on Oregon’s main shooters left her open, and she took advantage of the opportunity.
Moore hit the first three of the game two minutes into the second quarter and finished the game with four threes, shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. The guard finished the game with a season-high 21 points in her first-ever Pac-12 title game.
“Once I see the ball go in once, it is kind of I have more confidence going from there,” Moore said. “It is just a matter of seeing the ball go to the basket.”
Ionescu came out in the second quarter with a new fire. She found her footing, stepped up to the plate and, after a cold first quarter, scored Oregon’s first eight points of the second quarter on the first three possessions. Ionescu scored 15 of Oregon’s 29 points in the second.
The second quarter decided the game. The score was tied 22-22 one minute into the second when Oregon rallied, outscoring Stanford 29-9 in the second quarter. The Ducks led into the half, 43-26.
The arena was electric as the teams walked off the court at halftime.
Stanford said goodbye to the title as Oregon dominated in the second half. Hebard stepped up, fighting below the basket. She erupted, leading the team with 24 points and seven rebounds.
“Of course we remember last year’s game,” Hebard said. “We wanted to get them back, and I’m just happy with how I played and how my teammates were able to put confidence in me and get me the ball.”
Ionescu, winner of the Most Outstanding Player of the 2020 Pac-12 Tournament, finished the game with her 20th double-double of the season with 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.
The win, along with securing the title, caps off Oregon’s 19th-straight victory.
“I’m really proud of them for their effort, and we validated a very hard-fought two-month grind — Pac-12 regular-season championship now with the tournament championship,” Graves said. “We don’t have to share it with anybody.”
