Ionescu surpasses 2,000 points as No. 1 Oregon routs Utah St

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu surpassed 2,000 career points and fell just short of a 19th triple-double as No. 1 Oregon routed Utah State 109-52 on Wednesday night.

Ioenscu became the fourth Oregon player to reach the 2,000-point plateau. She had a scary moment in the third quarter when she was fouled driving to the basket and fell to the court, putting a hand on the back of her right leg.

She was helped to her feet and appeared to be reluctant to go to the bench. She sat out the final few minutes of the period before returning to start the fourth quarter.

The preseason All-American finished with 16 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Ionescu only needed four points in the game to become the fourth Oregon player to reach 2,000 points in her career and two assists for 800, and did so before the first half was over, raising her UO record to 810 assists in her 36th double-double.

Ruthy Hebard’s milestone came by raising her career rebound total to 1,009 as she posted the 41st double-double of her career with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Sophomore Taylor Chavez led the Ducks (2-0) with a career-high 25 points. Steph Gorman led the Aggies (1-2) with 13 points.

Oregon essentially ended the competitive nature of the game in the first quarter, racing out to a 25-10 lead. That was in stark contrast to USU’s first two games, in which the Aggies had outscored their opponents by a cumulative margin of 43-23.

The Ducks had USU doubled up by halftime with a 52-26 lead.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon: The Ducks have won their first two games by an average of 49.5 points.

Utah State: It was the first meeting ever for Utah State against a top-ranked team. Previously, the highest-ranked opponent for Utah State had been Oregon at No. 3 last season, when the Ducks prevailed 88-58. Utah State is 0-16 all-time against ranked foes.

OFF TO EUROPE

Oregon junior Satou Sabally missed her second game due to a commitment to the German national team. Sabally will miss one more Oregon game before returning.

COACHING SUB

Utah State coach Jerry Finkbeiner was absent due to an undisclosed health condition, with associate head coach Ben Finkbeiner filling in on an interim basis.

UP NEXT

Oregon finishes its opening three-game homestand with Texas Southern on Sunday, the last home game for the Ducks until Dec. 8.

Utah State plays at Long Beach State on Monday, the second of four consecutive road games for the Aggies. Utah State plays two games in southern California, meeting Cal State Fullerton next Wednesday.