Sabrina Ionescu earned her 24th career triple-double Friday night as No. 3 Oregon dominated No. 12 Arizona at Matthew Knight Arena. Ionescu had 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, extending her lead as the all-time triple-double leader in NCAA history in the 85-52 win.
The crowd of 11,962 gave Ionescu a standing ovation as she passed the ball to Ruthy Hebard for a layup with 6:40 left in the game to notch her 10th assist, capping the triple-double. Hebard had 22 points on the night, while Satou Sabally earned her 5th double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Ducks had a slow start with uncharacteristic errant passes, but took the lead on their second score of the game and stayed on top of the Wildcats (18-4) for the remainder. Oregon (21-2) held Arizona's Aari McDonald, the Naismith Award's national player of the week, to 13 points. It was Arizona's worst loss of the season.
During warm-ups, Oregon took the floor in special jerseys printed with the names of the nine people who died in the January 26th helicopter crash that took the life of Kobe Bryant. Bryant was a close friend and mentor to Ionescu and a big supporter of the Ducks.
The names included the Altobelli Family- John, Keri, and Alyssa. John’s son, J.J. Altobelli was a star baseball player for the Ducks from 2010-2013. The Altobellis were announced as being “lifelong members of the Ducks Family, including Alyssa, who one day aspired to play on this court.”
When Oregon alumnus and WNBA player Maite Carzola was shown on the big screen, the crowd got on their feet. Carzola helped lead the Ducks to back-to-back Pac-12 championships in 2018 and 2019. She currently plays for the Atlanta Dream.
Up next:
Oregon hopes to extend their winning streak to 10 on Sunday when they host No. 19 Arizona State, who narrowly lost to No. 9 Oregon State 64-62 on Friday night in Corvallis. The Ducks will be looking for redemption since the Sun Devils are the only team the Ducks have lost to in Pac-12 play this season, falling 72-66 on the road in January.
