EUGENE, ORE. –

No, the game wasn’t close.  But it was nevertheless an entertaining affair Friday night as the 2-seed Oregon Ducks dispatched 15-seed Portland State 78-40 to advance to the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Oregon will face 10-seed Indiana in the second round Sunday at 6pm from Matthew Knight Arena.  The Hoosiers upset 7-seed Texas in Friday’s early game, 69-65.

We were at MKA Friday to see Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and company embark on their Tourney Journey.  And embark, they did, with Hebard cashing in a double-double (22pts, 11 reb) and forward Satou Sabally going 4-for-8 from downtown for 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Ionescu dazzled with this mind-boggling 3-pointer to beat the shot clock buzzer, but her final stats were a tick below her customary dominance (12 pts, 8 assists, 5 rebounds).

Coach Kelly Graves took an early first-quarter time out to re-set his team’s defensive focus, as Portland State has the game tied at 13-13 late in the opening quarter.  Graves told the media post game that he couldn’t repeat the things he said to the team during that break, but he tried to not get too fired up.

Jokes aside, Graves said he was impressed with his squad, led by Hebard and Sabally.

The Ducks are one win away from coming to the Moda Center on Friday, March 29th for the semifinal of the Portland Regional.  Stay locked to 1029TheGame.com for the latest on their road to the Final Four in Tampa!

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