In a decisive win in the second game of conference play, No. 5 Oregon (13-1, 2-0 Pac-12) led by 20 points at halftime and did not let up in the 98-58 victory over Washington State (6-8, 1-2 Pac-12). In the fourth quarter, Oregon piled on to its 30-point lead, and put Washington State in an eight-minute scoring drought while going on a 7-0 run.
Sabrina Ionescu recorded her 15th career triple-double while Ruthy Hebard scored a career-high 34 points in the win.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Sabally brings a bit of everything
While Oregon’s bench doesn’t score a lot, the offensive impact of the starters is some of the best in the NCAA. With Ionescu’s 15th career triple-double and Hebard’s career-high in points, Satou Sabally still found a way to impact the game in a multitude of ways. She scored 25 points, just two shy of her career-high.
In the first half alone, she hit a 3-pointer and blocked a shot on the the next possession, then floated a tough pass into the paint for Hebard layup. This season, Sabally is averaging 16.2 points per game. She also contributed three assists and seven rebounds, three of which were on the offensive glass.
On multiple possessions she either stole the ball and ran the floor, or got the outlet pass and finished the fast break with an easy layup.
“She’s become a matchup headache for some people,“ head coach Kelly Graves said. “Her ability to take people off the dribble, I mean, she’s a unicorn.”
Hebard bounces back
One game removed from one of the lowest scoring games of her career, Ruthy Hebard returned to form and finished with a career-high 34 points on 16-of-21 shooting.
“After my game on Friday, I definitely wanted to come out and be a better force on the court,” Hebard said. “So I’m really happy I got it. I have great teammates to pick me up.”
She was aggressive from the start, drawing fouls in the post and cutting to the lane. Her matchup, Maria Kostourkova, had no answer all game.
At the start of the the second quarter, she immediately made an and-1 layup, secured an offensive rebound, and made a putback layup all in one possession.
Owning the paint, running the floor
The Ducks’ offense ranks among the best in the nation all offensive categories. They are second in points per game at 91.9 and have the best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.98. Oregon used its offensive prowess to completely outrun Washington State, with 21 points off turnovers compared to just 3 points by the cougars.
In the Pac-12 opener against Washington, Oregon squandered its lead with poor play in the second quarter, but that was not the case this game.
Much of that was due to the defensive execution and outrebounding the Cougars. The Ducks held Washington State to 39 percent shooting and had a 45-26 rebounding advantage.
After attempting 37 3s against Washington, Graves was pleased the team did not rely on the 3s tonight, as it only shot 16.
“Tonight we worked harder to get better shots, and it showed.”
Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august
