Jillian Alleyne had three double-doubles through her first eight games at Oregon.
After freshman Ruthy Hebard’s 19-point, 11-rebound performance in Oregon’s 81-41 rout of Portland (2-7) on Friday, she too has three double-doubles in eight games.
Head coach Kelly Graves sees the parallels between Oregon’s freshman forward and the Pac-12’s all-time leading rebounder.
“She has so much growth potential,” Graves said of Hebard, who was 8 of 9 from the field. “She’s not getting Jill-type numbers yet, but if she was getting Jill-type minutes, it would probably be about the same.”
Hebard said she’s picked up confidence on the floor since she earned the starting role in the third game of the season. Graves praised Hebard’s nose for the ball, as he often said about Alleyne after games.
“I feel like I’m getting my rhythm down,” Hebard said. “I’m getting calmer each game and not as nervous.”
Hebard led the charge for the Ducks (7-1), who bounced back from a lackluster first quarter to outscore the visitors 65-23 in the final three quarters. Oregon shot 51.7 percent from the field compared to Portland’s 29.6 percent.
The 40-point win was the largest of the young season for Oregon.
“I thought we played a heck of a basketball game,” Graves said. “I thought defensively we were terrific, especially in the second half. We had a couple lulls early, but I thought overall we played well.”
Sabrina Ionescu scored 14 points, added six assists and five rebounds in the win. Last month, she became the first Oregon player since 1989 to record a triple-double.
Three other Ducks scored in double digits: Mallory McGwire (11 points), Lexi Bando (10 points) and Oti Gildon (10 points).
The Ducks outscored the Pilots 38-19 in bench points and outrebounded the visitors 44-27.
With Oregon leading 23-18 in the second quarter, Hebard took off. She scored nine of the Ducks’ next 12 points to help the home team build a 42-28 halftime lead.
“The defense was terrific,” Graves said. “Again, a great third quarter. Plus 16 in the third quarter has kind of been our M.O. I think our ability to play so many players wears teams down.”
Hebard also scored nine consecutive points in the early portion of the third quarter.
Graves and the Ducks played all available players for the eighth game of the season. He said Oregon’s depth will likely pay dividends later in the season.
“I think our ability to not have some down games is better than most,” Graves said. “Maybe you have a couple players with off nights. It doesn’t matter. We have able players coming in off the bench.”
With four games left before Pac-12 conference play begins on Dec. 30, the Ducks are focusing on ways to improve.
“[Working on] dialing in on defense each game,” Lexi Bando said. “When it comes Pac-12 play, it’s no joke. We can’t make the little mistakes that we’ve been making in these games.”
Up next: The Ducks will catch an early morning flight on Saturday for consecutive road games against Clemson on Monday and Ole Miss on Wednesday.
“This is I think a good momentum builder for us if we can go on the road and win against an ACC and SEC team,” Graves said.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne