Oregon Women Split Weekend Series Against L.A Schools

Sabrina Ionescu recorded her NCAA-record 17th triple-double, Erin Boley had a career high 32 points and the second ranked Ducks bounced back after losing two games in a row, beating USC 96-78 Sunday afternoon. The Ducks got All-American forward Ruthy Hebard back from injury, and her return lifted the spirits of the Ducks, as she had 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench in only 16 minutes of action. The Ducks led 40-36 at halftime and then outscored the Trojans, 31-17, in the 3rd quarter and cruised to the victory from there.

On Friday night, playing without Ruthy Hebard, the Ducks jumped out to a 22-point lead and had a 42-27 halftime lead over the UCLA Bruins. It was all down hill from there unfortunately, as UCLA stormed back to shock the 2nd ranked Ducks at home, 74-69. Bruin guard Kennedy Burke had a career high 29 points to help UCLA outscore the Ducks 47-27 in the 2nd half. Erin Boley led the Ducks with 20 points but the loss of Hebard was felt as the Ducks didn’t have an inside presence all game. It was the first back-to-back losses for the Ducks since they dropped three in a row to end the 2016-17 season, a span of 71 games.

Looking ahead, the Ducks will probably fall a couple spots in the AP poll with the back-to-back loses. But the bounce back win on Sunday was a huge for them as they still control their own destiny for the PAC-12 regular season crown and possibly a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.