LAS VEGAS — Mandalay Bay Arena looked like Matthew Knight Arena on Friday when thousands of Duck fans took their seats for No. 1 seed Oregon’s second round matchup against No. 8 seed Utah.
If the crowd came for Sabrina Ionescu, they got what they paid for.
Despite Utah’s effort to shut down one of the nation’s strongest players, Ionescu led the Ducks to a 79-59 victory. Ionescu helped the Ducks to their 17th straight win and helped advance them to their fourth straight Pac-12 Tournament semifinal.
The Ducks came to Las Vegas looking for redemption after falling to Stanford in the tournament championship last season.
“Obviously it would be awesome to cut down nets here,” Ionescu said. “We weren’t able to do that last year.”
Ionescu put the first points on the board, but struggled as the Ducks fell behind in the first quarter.
The guard described how she tried to get everyone involved in the offense in the first quarter, but didn’t read the defense well.
“I think it is something that I need to continue to work on,” Ionescu said. “Just let the game come to me, not rush getting everyone else involved.”
Points from the bench pulled Oregon back into the game, and Ionescu found her footing in the second quarter by putting nine points on the board as the Ducks reclaimed the lead.
Utah’s Brynna Maxwell was matched up against Ionescu for much of the game.
“She’s definitely an amazing player,” Maxwell said. “She’s very smart. She can make reads that, I mean, are insane. And it is almost impossible to guard her in the pick-and-roll because they’re so good at making those reads.”
The Walnut Creek, California, native finished the game by leading the team in points (19), rebound (11) and assists (8), but attributes the win to the defense.
“We were getting stops on the defensive end and, you know, our bench players that came in helped us tremendously,” Ionescu said. “Defensively really fueled our offense — our offensive shots. And, I mean, we were getting shooters in the right position, and they were shooting it like we normally do. So defense played a huge role in that.”
The Ducks arrived in Las Vegas after securing the Pac-12 regular season title, but the Oregon senior heads into the postseason looking to finish her collegiate career by claiming a victory in the championship.
Ionescu details how the Ducks familiarity with the tournament will be to their advantage having played in the tournament for the last three years.
“Knowing what it is like to win and knowing what it is like to lose as well,” Ionescu said. “Coming in every game, trying to be mentally prepared, getting the team mentally prepared, and really understanding that it is 0-0 when you come in.”
On Saturday the Ducks are scheduled to take on No. 4 seed Arizona in the semifinals.
“I mean, we just won one,” Ionescu said. “Now we have two more we’re trying to win. It is really one game at a time and a one-game winning streak from here on out.
