On Thursday night, the No.3 Stanford Cardinal faced off against No. 6 Oregon Ducks. Oregon dominated Stanford in an 87-55 victory.
Stanford got out to a good start and led Oregon 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Ducks fought back in the second quarter to take a 36-30 lead at the half. Sabrina Ionescu led all scorers with 15 points at the half.
Stanford came out firing in the third quarter and had the one-point lead, but the Ducks went on 7-0 run to take the lead. Once Oregon took the lead, they never looked back. The Ducks went into the fourth quarter with 65-48 lead. Stanford never responded and lost the game 87-55.
Sabrina Ionescu Balled Out
Oregon Ducks star player Sabrina Ionescu played great; she finished the game with 37 points on 14-26 shooting from the field. Ionescu also made five three-pointers, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out seven assists. Ionescu showed why she would be the No.1 pick in the WNBA Draft; the Oregon point guard proves she can do it all on the court by scoring, rebounding, and getting her teammates involved. Ionescu passed Alison Lang as Oregon all-time leading scorer; Lang had 2,252 points in four years.
Oregon Outrebounded Stanford
The Ducks outrebounded Stanford 35-26, Ionescu, and Satou Sabally both grabbed 11 rebounds apiece. Oregon also grabbed 10 offensive rebounds, which leads to second-chance points opportunities.
Defense
Oregon’s defense held Stanford to 43% from the field and just 31% from three-point land. The Cardinal only had two players in double figures. Kiana Williams had 15 points, and Lexie Hull added 10 points. The Ducks have been playing excellent defense so far this season, better than expected.
The Ducks help force 18 Cardinal turnovers, and the Ducks had just seven turnovers. Winning the turnover battle is always a key to victory; if you take care of the ball, you will usually win.
