Suffering from the flu, Sabrina Ionescu hits another milestone while earning her 26th triple-double in 74-66 win over Stanford
Sabrina Ionescu sets another record
STANFORD, Calif. – Setting basketball records is a way of life for Oregon senior guard Sabrina Ionescu. Her performance at Stanford Monday night in front of a large contingent of Ducks fans and superstar professional athletes followed the familiar narrative.
As No. 3 Oregon (26-2, 15-1 Pac-12) topped Stanford 74-66, Ionescu became the first player in NCAA history, female or male, to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds (2K/1K/1K). Additionally, she finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for the 26th triple-double of her career.
Even more impressive is that she accomplished these feats while suffering from the flu and coming off a whirlwind day that started with her speaking at the nationally televised public memorial for Kobe and Gianna Bryant in Los Angeles. She arrived in Southern California Sunday night with Oregon head coach Kelly Graves’ wife, Mary, as her escort. After the service, she caught an Oregon charter flight back to the Bay Area.
With the flu affecting her health, she had trouble keeping food down on Monday, said Graves.
“She didn’t come out to warm up until about the 10-minute mark,” the coach revealed when talking about her health. He also mentioned that she was probably affected by fatigue as well from all the activity.
During the game, her friend, Golden State Warriors star, Steph Curry sat courtside with his wife Ayesha. Curry and his daughters attended Oregon’s game on Friday at Cal when the Ducks beat the Bears 93-61. Just a few seats down from the Currys, Stanford senior guard Anna Wilson’s older brother, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson sat with his wife, entertainer, Ciara.
The game started on a high note for Stanford as they won the tip and earned an early 8-7 lead with sophomore guard Lexie Hull providing most of the points.
Free throws from senior forward Ruthy Hebard began Oregon’s retaliation and the Ducks closed out the quarter on an 11-0 run for an 18-8 advantage. Oregon’s defense coupled with Stanford’s poor shooting kept the Cardinal in an offensive drought for the last five minutes of the period. The Cardinal shot 17.6% (3-17) from the floor in the first quarter compared to 50% by the Ducks (7-14).
While the teams shot 14 points each in the third quarter, Stanford’s deficit kept them down by 10 heading into halftime. At the break, Oregon had a 32-22 lead. Junior forward Satou Sabally led the Ducks with 10 points and four rebounds while Stanford’s Hull also had 10. With a milestone looming and in ill-health, Ionescu managed to earn six points, four rebounds and eight assists in the first half. At that point, she needed just five rebounds to hit the 2K/1K/1K record.
In the third quarter, Oregon continued to dominate, outscoring the Cardinal 25-15 with Sabally and Ionescu leading the way. Ionescu grabbed the record-breaking rebound with about 1:40 left in the quarter.
HISTORY!! ??
Sabrina Ionescu is the first NCAA player EVER with 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds!!#GoDucks | @sabrina_i20 pic.twitter.com/TrJPrWLUW0
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) February 25, 2020
While Stanford put up a valiant effort in the fourth quarter to catch up to Oregon, it was too late. The Cardinal managed to get within double digits twice in the final period, but the Ducks responded to each spurt with a run of their own.
“We didn’t hold up our end of the bargain in terms of the whole game,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We made a good run, but it was too little too late.”
She mentioned other factors as well commenting that “our team competed in spurts.”
“We turned it over too much, we weren’t rebounding. Sabally had a great game against us. Sabrina turned it up in the second half.”
Oregon’s win sealed a season sweep of the Cardinal. The Ducks are in first place in the Pac-12, two games ahead of Stanford, and will be the No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament that begins March 5 in Las Vegas.
Sabally earned 27 points for the Ducks along with nine rebounds. For Stanford, Hull also had 27 points plus five rebounds and five assists. Junior guard Kiana Williams was also in double figures with 14 points plus four rebounds.
Stanford is back in action on the weekend for a two-game road trip to the Southwest to play Arizona and Arizona State. Oregon heads home to host Washington State and Washington over the weekend.
