No. 3 Oregon women's basketball pulled away late to beat No. 9 Oregon State 77-68 on Friday night in Eugene as a sold-out crowd watched. Sabrina Ionescu led the way with 29 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds in another dominant performance from one of the best players in the nation.
Hanging out with 12,364 friends tonight. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/mnGXsqzEph
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) February 16, 2019
Ruthy Hebard added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Ducks, and Satou Sabally poured in 18 points in a star-driven performance for Oregon. Ionescu's counterpart, Oregon State point guard Destiny Slocum, shook off a slow start to finish with 19 points after scoring only 3 in the first half.
The game remained close through three quarters, even as Oregon's defense excelled. The Ducks forced back-to-back shot clock violations in the third quarter, and though Oregon State's defense temporarily put the clamps on the Ducks, Ionescu always had an answer when her team needed one. She hit a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in the third quarter to make it a 10-point game, and OSU never seriously threatened after that.
🐐 #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/LzmpouBsay
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) February 16, 2019
Oregon State shot better than the Ducks did from the field for the entirety of the game, but Oregon rubbed that advantage away with rebounding and ball security. The Ducks finished with only 3 turnovers and had 12 offensive rebounds, compared to 10 and 7 on Oregon State's end.
Oregon is now 24-1 on the season and 13-0 in Pac-12 play, with a loss to Michigan State the only blemish on its record. Oregon State falls to 20-5 and 10-3 in conference play, with other league losses to Arizona State and Stanford. These teams don't have to wait long to see each other again. They'll play Monday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2
Below, find our running diary from the game:
Oregon-Oregon State women's basketball: Score, live updates
How to watch or stream Oregon-Oregon State
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV channel: Pac-12 Network
Online live stream: pac-12.com/live
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3 things to watch for in Oregon vs. Oregon State
Offense. A lot of it. The are two of the best scoring units in college basketball. Oregon ranks No. 1 in offensive efficiency, per Her Hoop Stats, while Oregon State is not far behind at No. 10.
An awesome point guard matchup. Sabrina Ionescu's legend keeps growing. She's the NCAA's triple-double record holder, and provides an impossible task for opposing defenses. Ionescu notches assists on 37 percent of her teammates' baskets when she's on the floor, per Her Hoop Stats. And she's one of the best scorers in the country. She's shooting even better on 3-pointers (46.2 percent) than from the field (45.9 percent), and can score inside:
Sabrina has the defense on skates. #GoDucks
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) February 10, 2019
ESPN2 - https://t.co/9DqXRH3hBK pic.twitter.com/cb0jupY18K
Ionescu is coming into this game having scored 54 points in her previous two contests. What will she do next?
LEAVING A LEGACY: Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu has had a stellar career
Ionescu will be matched up against Oregon State sophomore Destiny Slocum. In her first season after transferring from Maryland, Slocum has excelled both as a scorer and a distributor. She creates a ton of offense for the Beavers, registering assists on 39 percent of her team's baskets when she's on the floor, per Her Hoop Stats.
“Destiny gives them a whole new dimension,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said this week, per OregonLive. "She’s so good off the dribble and she’s so quick and is always putting pressure on your defense. You have to pick your poison – if you help on her then that’s when they get kickouts and they get open threes. A lot of what they get is predicated on her."
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A slow pace. Oregon State loves to slow it down. The Beavers' pace ranks 270th out of the 351 teams in college basketball, per Her Hoop Stats (Oregon ranks 165th). As a road underdog, chances are they won't stray from that strategy.
