Written By: Sam Greenville
Oregon capped it’s final regular season game on Senior day at Matthew Knight Arena with a win against bitter rival Washington. The Huskies played energetic defense and were relentless on offense, but the Ducks proved to be too much as Oregon would win in blowout fashion winning by 46 and cruising into the Pac-12 tournament on fire. Today’s win notched a program record 17th victory against a Pac-12 opponent, and an unbeaten record at home going 15-0. Senior Ruthy Hebard would lead all scorers with 24 points, in addition to gathering 7 rebounds. For the Huskies, senior Mai-Loni Henson would be the team leader in points with 11. The first quarter was tightly contested with a 1 point Oregon lead and showed promise to be a competitive rivalry clash, “We were challenged, they just came out and played harder than us that first quarter… we knew this was gonna be a tough game” noted Graves, but thanks to a 27-6 run in the second quarter the game would finish in a landslide. Even though this game would become a full on blowout, each team competed ferociously with neither team showing any quit until the final whistle. Unfortunately for the Huskies like most teams, Washington was just not able to slow down Oregon’s number one scoring offense as five Ducks would have double digit scoring efforts (Hebbard, Chavez, Ionescu, Sabally, and Moore).
Much was said after this game, but notably the love and awe Graves has for his team is what stood out “I tell all four of them I love them every single day, this is the group people wanna see. What they’ve done here is incredible, it hasn’t happened in many places in the country.” Graves continued on in support of the team and noting how special Sabrina Ionescu has been for the sport in general, “It’s the entire team and Sabrina would be the first to admit that… but Sabrina she’s changing the game. There’s no player in women’s basketball that's getting the attention she is. She’s making an impact on our sport that I think will be long lasting.” Amongst all the adulation and praise Oregon has been receiving they still have their focus set on their next goal “most teams would have to say this is their last home game... we still have to take care of business, every game at a time, still have to win the Pac-12 tournament in Vegas, that’s where our eyes are now” stated Senior guard Minyon Moore. The Ducks consider themselves grateful to be in the running to host teams in the NCAA tournament, but still realize they have other hurdles to climb before they get there.
This afternoon’s Senior day was unique, while most teams will not have the luxury of being able to play at home again in the postseason, this Oregon team will come the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament play. However the final regular season game at M.K.A was treated as a celebration. When the game’s final buzzer went off no one left the arena, instead all in attendance were witness to a beautiful ceremony honoring the senior class (in addition to Sabally, who is expected to forgo her senior season for the WNBA draft) that has changed life in Eugene. The cheering never stopped, in fact, it grew louder and louder never wavering in decibel. However, the words that spoke loudest came when Ionescu came to center court and stated “we’re not finished”, this coming two days off being crowned Pac-12 champion for the third year in a row. It is yet to be decided what the conclusion this season has in store, but one thing is guaranteed, the legacy and impact this class has had with Ionescu, Moore, Hebard, and of course Sabally will be forever remembered at the University of Oregon, and possibly even remembered as one of the great women’s teams in history if they are able to finish what they all believe they can accomplish. Oregon’s next game will be in the Pac-12 tournament on March 5th at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas. Oregon will come in as the 1 seed awaiting who their first opponent may be.
Post Game Interviews
Audio Story: Matt Lichens