EUGENE, OREGON

DUCKS 102 - BULLS 82

It took until the final seconds of the third quarter for Sabrina Ionescu to score her first and only points from the floor, finishing 1-of-7 in her 38 minutes on the court.

But even in Ionescu’s worst game of the season, and arguably her worst performance as a Duck, she still managed to score her NCAA record 12th career triple-double against the tenacious Buffalo Bulls.

After going up 5-4 in the first quarter, the Oregon Ducks (4-0) never relinquished their lead over the Buffalo Bulls (2-1), though the first half of this game proved to be a tough battle for the Ducks due to Buffalo’s relentless defensive pressure and their star player Cierra Dillard- who seemingly touched the ball on every Bulls possession.

OREGON DUCKS

*Ruthy Hebard (25 min) 25 pts - 8 reb - 1 ast - 1 blk

*Satou Sabally (26 min) 20 pts - 4 reb - 1 blk

*Maite Cazorla (33 min) 15 pts - 2 reb - 8 ast

*Erin Boley (30 min) 15 pts - 3 reb - 1 ast - 1 stl

*Sabrina Ionescu (38 min) 12 pts - 10 reb - 10 ast - 1 stl

Lydia Giomi (9 min) 6 pts - 3 reb - 1 ast

Morgan Yaeger (10 min) 5 pts - 1 ast

Oti Gildon (11 min) 4 pts - 3 reb - 1 ast

Taylor Chavez (19 min)

BUFFALO BULLS STARTERS

Cierra Dillard (40 min) 32 pts - 4 reb - 5 ast - 1 stl

Courtney Wilkins (30 min) 19 pts - 1 reb - 1 ast

Hanna Hall (36 min) 5 pts - 7 ast - 1 stl

Theresa Onwuka (22 min) 3 pts - 2 reb - 2 ast - 3 stl

Brittany Morrison (10 min) 2 pts - 2 reb

In the first half, Ionescu had six turnovers and zero points. Luckily, Oregon’s other starters picked up the slack, and the junior would collect her 10th rebound in the game’s closing minutes to the delight of the home fans.

Ruthy Hebard sat on the bench for much of the second quarter after collecting two early fouls, both of which should be credited with crafty play by Buffalo rather than malicious play by Hebard. Still, the junior hit 8-of-9 field goals and 9 of her 10 free throws.

The aggressive play of the Bulls, headlined by Dillard, proved to be a double-edged sword as it produced a season-high 19 turnovers from the Ducks but also led to a lot of Oregon free throws. In fact, the charity stripe proved to be Oregon’s greatest ally, as the Ducks hit 34 of their 38 free throws.

Satou Sabally, Miate Cazorla, and Erin Boley scored a combined 50 points, and were responsible for 10 of Oregon’s 12 three pointers. Boley especially had a nice game from deep, finishing the game 5-of-8.

Once again, the Ducks’ entire bench (with the exception of Nyara Sabally who is redshirting this season) played in this game, giving the starters some much appreciated rest time. As a unit, the bench played 49 minutes and scored 15 points.

Cheer up, Ionescu, ATQ still loves you! On to the next one.

GO DUCKS!

NEXT UP: UC RIVERSIDE

Friday, 11/23, 12 PM, Moraga, California,