EUGENE, OREGON

DUCKS 77 - BEAVERS 68

The #3 Oregon Ducks (24-1, 13-0) won a hard-fought contest against the #9 Oregon State Beavers (20-5, 10-3) in front of a crowd of 12,364 raucous fans.

Sabrina Ionescu finished with 29 points, Ruthy Hebard tallied her 10th double-double of the season, and Satou Sabally hit five triples to put away the Beavers. The trio scored 68 of Oregon’s 77 points.

Oregon State held the home team within striking distance for the entirety of the game. Aleah Goodman and Katie McWilliams helped the Beavers keep pace with the Ducks by scoring a combined 18 points in the first half. After Sabally hit the opening score, a triple, the rival teams traded runs. The first quarter resulted in an 18-13 lead for the Ducks.

Oregon built a seven-point lead early in the second, their largest lead in the half, off of a Hebard layup, but Oregon State went on a 12-2 run to go up by three. Ionescu made a pair of free throws followed by a triple to take back the lead, and the Ducks finished on top at the half, 39-35.

OREGON DUCKS

*Sabrina Ionescu (39 min) 29 PTS - 5 REB - 9 AST - 12/24 FG - 3/5 3PT - 2/2 FT

*Ruthy Hebard (38 min) 21 PTS - 11 REB - 4 AST - 2 STL - 9/17 FG - 3/3 FT

*Satou Sabally (35 min) 18 PTS - 4 REB - 2 AST - 1 STL - 6/12 FG - 5/7 3PT - 1/4 FT

*Erin Boley (37 min) 5 PTS - 4 REB - 1 AST - 1 STL - 1/2 FG - 1/2 3PT - 2/2 FT

*Maite Cazorla (37 min) 2 PTS - 1 REB - 3 AST - 2 STL - 0/7 FG - 0/3 3PT - 2/2 FT

Oti Gildon (9 min) 2 PTS - 3 REB - 2 AST - 1/1 FG

Taylor Chavez (5 min) 1 REB - 0/1 FG

OREGON STATE STARTERS

Destiny Slocum (25 min) 19 PTS - 3 REB - 3 AST - 1 STL - 6/15 FG - 1/5 3PT - 6/6 FT

Katie McWilliams (40 min) 14 PTS - 2 REB - 2 AST - 6/10 FG - 2/5 3PT

Mikayla Pivec (32 min) 6 PTS - 7 REB - 1 STL - 2/8 FG - 0/2 3PT - 2/2 FT

Taya Corosdale (40 min) 3 PTS - 3 REB - 5 AST - 1/3 FG - 1/3 3PT

Maddie Washington (4 min) 2 PTS - 1/1 FG

The Duck defense came out strong in the third, forcing a couple of shot clock violations and four turnovers. The Beavers were held to just eleven points in the quarter, and the crowd was worked into a frenzy when Ionescu nailed a triple to give the Ducks their first double-digit lead of the game.

Destiny Slocum, the Maryland transfer who leads the Beavers in scoring, was held to just two points in the first half, but came alive in the fourth. Slocum hit the Beaver’s only second-half triple, and scored 12 points in the game’s final quarter.

With 1:55 left in the game, a pair of Slocum free throws cut the Ducks’ lead to just five. Luckily, the Ducks were able to once again rely on the nation’s best player - Sabrina Ionescu - to seal the win. Ionescu hit two jumpers in the final minutes, Erin Boley drained a couple of free throws, and then Duck fans erupted with joy as the clock struck zero.

It seemed like the entire city of Eugene came to support these Ducks - including Mario Cristobal (who at one point took control of the broadcast camera) and a handful of Duck football players. Lexi Bando was also in attendance, and was given a huge round of applause when she was shown on the big screen. Coach Kelly Graves took a moment at the game’s conclusion to thank the fans of both teams.

Monday should be another entertaining game as the Civil War concludes in Corvallis.

GO DUCKS!

NEXT UP: THE CIVIL WAR!!! (PART 2)

2/18, Monday, 6 PM, ESPN2, Corvallis