No. 1 Oregon easily downs Northeastern 89-47 in opener

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Two days after shocking the best team in the world, the top-ranked Oregon Ducks easily won their season opener.

Ruthy Hebard had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Oregon easily downed Northeastern 89-47 on Monday. All-America guard Sabrina Ionescu added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Ducks, who led by as many as 38 points.

Ionescu’s 3-pointer with just over five minutes left in the game stretched Oregon’s lead to 78-45. She went to the bench for good with just under three minutes to go.

Forward Lydia Giomi added a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds for Oregon.

Oregon downed the U.S. women’s national team 93-86 in an exhibition game on Saturday, handing the Americans only their second loss ever to a college program. Ionescu led the way with 30 points, while Satou Sabally had 25.

So it wasn’t surprising that the Ducks remained a solid No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll earlier Monday, receiving 28 of 30 first-place votes from a national media panel.

Junior Stella Clark led Northeastern (0-2) with 12 points.

Sabally was not with the Ducks against the Huskies because of obligations with the German national team. She’s missing Oregon’s first three games.

Ionescu needed 16 points to reach 2,000 for her career. She currently sits at 18 career triple doubles, an NCAA record among men and women. Last season she had an NCAA record eight triple doubles.

The Huskies were simply outmatched by the nation’s top team. The Ducks advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four last season for the first time in school history, but fell 72-67 to top-seeded Baylor. They finished 33-5 overall.

Northeastern also lost its season opener to South Dakota on Tuesday, 80-76. The Huskies went 20-12 overall last season and 9-9 in the Colonial Athletic Association, and earned the team’s first-ever appearance in the WNIT.

The Ducks opened the second quarter with a 16-0 run, capped by Giomi’s layup, to take a 32-9 lead. Oregon scored 31 points in the second quarter alone to lead 47-22 at the half. Hebard led all scorers with 17 points at the break.

The Ducks stretched the lead to 66-28 in the third quarter on Giomi’s fast-break layup.

BIG PICTURE

Northeastern: It was the Huskies’ first ever game against Oregon, and first in the state of Oregon. … Northeastern opened the 2009-10 season against No. 1 Connecticut. That was in the midst of UConn’s 90-game winning streak. Tina Charles and Maya Moore both had double-doubles in the 105-35 win. … Northeastern also played No. 1 Duke in 2006.

Oregon: Oregon’s win against Team USA on Saturday was historic: The only other national team loss to a college program came in 1999 when Tennessee won on a shot in the final moments by Kara Lawson. Saturday’s loss ended a streak of 20 straight U.S. wins over college teams. … It is the first time the Ducks have been ranked No. 1 to start the season.

UP NEXT

Northeastern returns home to host Dayton on Saturday.

Oregon hosts Utah State on Wednesday.