Ducks win Pac-12 tournament
LAS VEGAS — Sabrina Ionescu said she wanted to cut down three nets with her teammates before closing out her illustrious career. One down, two to go. Ionescu had 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds to lead No. 3 Oregon to an 8956 victory over No. 7 Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament title game Sunday night.
Ruthy Hebard added 24 points, while Minyon Moore had 21 for the Ducks, who finished the game hitting 31 for 55 (56.4%) from the floor. Oregon finished 10 for 19 (52.6%) from three-point range.
The Ducks (31-2) will assuredly receive a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and figure to move up in the AP top 25 poll after No. 2 Baylor lost to Iowa State 5756 earlier Sunday.
The Ducks and Cardinal were playing for the tournament title for a third straight year, and fourth time in five years. Stanford won last year’s championship and Oregon won in 2018.
“We were here last year, and we knew what it was like to lose,” said Ionescu, who was named the tournament’s MVP. “This is one of the nets we wanted to cut down this year.”
The Ducks shook off a sluggish first quarter and used a stifling defense to thwart most of Stanford’s efforts, while fueling their offense at the other end.
Oregon held Stanford to 34.5% (19 for 55) from the floor. Kiana Williams scored 21 points to lead Stanford (27-6).
The top 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament host the first weekend, which means the Ducks will begin their title quest in Eugene, where they went 15-0 this season.
Mandalay Bay Events Center felt like home for the
Ducks’ three-game tournament run, during which much of the announced 6,794 in attendance Sunday were clad in Oregon colors.
Stanford, in the Pac-12 championship for a 17th time, did its best to quiet the crowd early. The Cardinal frustrated the high-powered Ducks while keeping Ionescu scoreless and took a 17-14 lead after the first quarter despite shooting five for 14 (35.7%) from the floor. Williams did most of the damage for Stanford, scoring 11 points on three-for-five shooting — all from threepoint range — plus a couple from the free-throw line. Then the Ducks woke up. The nation’s most efficient offense shot eight for 12, including four for six from three-point range, in the second quarter to outscore the Cardinal 29-9.
While Ionescu came to life, it was the 5-foot-8 Moore who ignited the Ducks with her tenacious play at both ends. Whether she was challenging Williams on defense, battling for rebounds against 6-1 Francesca Belibi and 6-3 Alyssa Jerome, creating offense or making jumpers, she continued to fuel Oregon’s fire.