No. 4 Oregon holds off No. 7 Oregon State 76-64

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had 23 points and nine assists, breaking the Pac-12’s career assist record, and No. 4 Oregon held off a late rally for a 76-64 victory over No. 7 Oregon State on Friday night in the first game of consecutive meetings between the rivals.

Satou Sabally added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Ducks (16-2, 6-1), who have won four straight and improved to 11-0 at home.

Ionescu broke Gary Payton’s conference record of 938 assists on the first basket of the game when she dished to Ruthy Hebard for a layup.

Freshman Taylor Jones had 21 points for Oregon State (16-3, 4-3), which has lost three of its last four games.

The rivalry shifts to Corvallis for a rematch on Sunday.

The Beavers trailed by as many as 21 points, but an 11-0 run got the Beavers within 67-57 with 5:42 left. After Ionescu’s jumper, Destiny Slocum made her fourth 3-pointer and Aleah Goodman added a layup to narrow it to 69-62.

Sabally’s 3-pointer got Oregon back to a double-digit lead with 3:05 left and Oregon State couldn’t catch up.

Ionescu, Oregon’s all-time scoring leader, fell just shy of her fifth straight double-double. She has 22 career triple-doubles, an NCAA record for men and women, including four this season.

Slocum made back-to-back 3-pointers and Oregon State jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but the Ducks were able to climb back before the first quarter was over. Hebard’s basket pulled Oregon to within 14-12 and Sabally’s free throws tied it.

Ionescu drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer that capped an 11-2 run and gave Oregon a 25-18 lead going into the second quarter. Taylor Chavez’s 3 put Oregon up 39-23 as turnovers plagued the Beavers.

The Ducks pushed the lead to as many as 19 points and led 49-25 at the break. Jones made her first eight field goals and led all scorers with 17 points at haftime.

Hebard’s layup stretched Oregon’s lead to 51-31 in the third quarter. The Beavers had an 8-0 run that got them within 53-43, but couldn’t get closer. Ionescu hit another buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to giving the Ducks a 62-46 lead heading into the final period.

Slocum finished with 18 points.

Beavers coach Scott Rueck shook up his starting lineup for the first time this season, starting Kat Tudor and moving Goodman to the bench.

Oregon State had won 15 of the last 17 in the rivalry. The teams split the series last year with home team wins.

It was just the second time the teams met while both ranked in the top 10.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon State: Despite a loss to Stanford last weekend, the Beavers moved up a spot in the AP Top 25 this week. … Oregon State has outrebounded its opponent in every game this season. Mikayla Pivec leads the Pac-12 with an average of 9.6 rebounds. She has scored in double figures in all of the team’s games this season.

Oregon: Going into the game, Oregon was outscoring opponents by a stunning average of 43.2 point a game this season. … Former NFL star and Oregon quarterback Dan Fouts was at the game. … The Ducks’ two losses this season came on the road, to Louisville at the Paradise Jam and at Arizona State.

UP NEXT

The teams meet again on Sunday in Corvallis.