For the second straight year Oregon edged UCLA in the semifinals to advance to the championship game in the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Ruthy Hebard scored 28 points to lift the Ducks to an 88-83 overtime victory over the Bruins on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Junior forward Sabrina Ionescu broke the tournament record for career assists in the second quarter. She now has 54, and a chance to add to that record when Oregon faces Stanford in the PAC-12 tournament championship game at 5:00 Sunday evening.
Coach Kelley Graves tells the Associated Press, "Two years in a row we played a classic against them. This time again we were able to come out on top. I'm excited and happy we get to play again and play tomorrow for another championship. I'm really proud of our team. Tonight we showed our championship mettle and made plays when we really need to. We played a good basketball game. This was women's basketball at its highest."
The Ducks are early number 2 seeds for the NCAA Tournament that begins on March 22nd. Oregon is on track to host the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Eugene and play the second weekend in Portland.