Ionescu leads Oregon to rout of Utah
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) Sabrina Ionescu scored 17 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists to help No. 2 Oregon rout Utah 88-51 on Sunday.
Ruthy Hebard had the 46th double-double of her career with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Minyon Moore added 15 points as the Ducks (12-1, 2-0) never trailed in handing Utah (7-7, 0-3) its worst Pac-12 defeat, in its ninth year in the conference.
Lola Pendande had 12 points to lead the Utes, who were coming off a 29-point defeat at Oregon State and suffered their worst loss by margin since a 42-point loss to Western Kentucky in 1993.
It also tied for the 10th-largest margin of victory for Oregon in a conference game. The Ducks shot 53% from the field despite being only 29% from behind the 3-point line.
Oregon was again dominant from the opening tip. Two days after taking a 15-point lead after the first quarter against previously unbeaten Colorado, the Ducks led the Utes 29-10 after the first 10 minutes by shooting 55 percent from the field with a 13-5 advantage in rebounds.
Utah simply couldn't keep pace, shooting 3 of 12 from the field to go with five turnovers.
The Utes calmed down in the second quarter and Oregon went stagnant offensively at times and had to settle for a 45-24 halftime advantage. Ionescu led the way with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists while Hebard had nine points with seven rebunds.
The Ducks turned it up again in the third quarter, forcing eight more Utah turnovers and using them to outscore the Utes 24-9 in taking a 69-33 lead. Moore tallied nine consecutive points during a 13-2 run by the Ducks. BIG PICTURE
Utah: The Utes have lost all three of their Pac-12 games and four of five games overall to fall to 7-7.
Oregon: In winning its first eight home games, Oregon's closest margin of victory was by 36 points. UP NEXT
Utah is home to play No. 10 UCLA on Friday, its third consecutive top 5 opponent. The Utes have not defeated UCLA in the four previous seasons with Lynne Roberts as the head coach.
Oregon is on the road to play at Arizona State on Friday. It will only be the third true road game for the Ducks, who won earlier away games at Syracuse and Long Beach State.