Ducks’ women’s basketball remained dominant on Friday night with a late-season 88-57 victory over Washington State. With the win, the Ducks clinched the regular season Pac-12 title for the third straight season. 

The Ducks’ offensive game plan, led by Ruthy Hebard and Satou Sabally, was explosive, going on a 13-0 run to start the game and shooting 76 percent from the field through the first quarter. Hebard and Sabally both finished the night with double-digit point totals with 28 and 22 points, respectively. 

“I think this team is on a mission,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “We came out in that first quarter and played about as well as a team could play.”

Hebard made her mark in more areas than one, leading the Ducks with 14 rebounds through the affair. 

To nobody’s surprise, Ducks star guard Sabrina Ionescu made her presence known early and often throughout the matchup, spreading the floor with 12 assists on the night, eight of which came in the first half of play. 

“It kind of just happened in the flow of the game,” Ionescu said. “We were getting stops on the defensive end and then pushing the ball well in transition so I was just trying to find open shooters.” 

Ionescu credits Coach Graves for the team’s relentless work ethic. When the Ducks were up 30 points late in the game, the head coach still stood courtside, looking all but content with his team’s performance.

“That goes to show the level of excellence that he [Graves] holds us to,” Ionescu said. “Regardless of if it’s Washington State or Stanford or Oregon State, he expects us to be on our A-game every single game no matter the opponent.” 

After becoming the first collegiate player of all time to hold 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds in their career, Ionescu took a moment to thank her teammates. 

“I really didn’t want to have it be about me at all,” Ionescu said. “An award like that does not get done alone. Every single one of my teammates along this three years and going on four deserves a part of this recognition because I could not have done it without them.”

With the senior day game approaching this Sunday, the Ducks ready themselves for a matchup with a much improved Washington team to close out the regular season. 

“I think they’re going to come in with nothing to lose. They have a good team,” Graves said of the Ducks upcoming tilt with Washington. “We want to finish this thing right.”