Pac-12 Preview: Will 7 teams make the NCAA tournament again?
By Ben Dull
Oregon Ducks
The Ducks have quite a bit in common with the Bruins. Both are picked to finish atop the Pac-12. Both made it deep into the 2017 tournament last season before being topped by Connecticut. But these Ducks are young, coming off the first Elite 8 appearance in program history under head coach Kelly Graves.
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Numbers & notes
23-14 overall in ’16-’17, 8-10 (6th) in Pac-12, eliminated in Elite 8 by UConn
Last season’s NCAA Tournament bid was the first for the Ducks since 2005.
Oregon tied with Stanford for second in the Pac-12 in the preseason coaches poll.
The Ducks were also second in the media’s Pac-12 preseason poll, receiving four of 21 first-place votes.
The Ducks were ranked 11th in the country in the AP’s preseason Top 25 poll.
Last season’s national freshman of the year Sabrina Ionescu was one of four Pac-12 players to suit up for the USA Basketball U23 Women’s National Team this summer in Japan.
Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard both earned All-Pac-12 honors last season as true freshmen.
The Ducks return all five starters and their top eight scorers.
Departures
Megan Trinder (15.5 MPG, 15 games played, 3 starts) decided to forego her final season of eligibility. She suffered a torn ACL in the same knee for the second time and decided to retire from collegiate basketball. Trinder graduated in the summer with a degree in sociology.
Mar’Shay Moore and Jacinta Vandenberg (14.7 MPG, 13 starts in ’16-’17) both graduated.
Lauren Yearwood (20 games played, 6.5 MPG) transferred to Santa Clara after spending two seasons with the Ducks.
Jayde Woods (10 games played, 11.8 MPG) transferred to TCU midway through last season and will be eligible to play at the midway point of this season.
Returners
Ruthy Hebard, F (So) — 14.9 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 58.8 FG%, ’17-’18 preseason All-Pac-12
Sabrina Ionescu, G (So) — 14.6 PPG, 5.5 APG, 6.6 RPG, 42.0 3PT%, 32.9 MPG (led team), ’17-’18 preseason All-Pac-12
Lexi Bando, G (Sr) — 10.2 PPG, 47.5 3PT% ’16-’17 All-Pac-12 honorable mention
Maite Cazorla, G (Jr) — 8.1 PPG, 3.9 APG, 34.9 3PT%
Mallory McGwire, F (So) — 7.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 53.1 FG%
“When you talk about the expectations and leadership, we still have to remember this is a young team,” Graves said at Pac-12 media day. “So even though we have a lot of game experience in terms of returners back, starters back, that kind of thing, the reality is we’re still very young. So I think the ceiling is very high, and we’re still a work in progress.”
Ionescu spoke on two things she worked on during the offseason at media day, first by speaking openly about her defense. “I worked a lot on my defense in the offseason because I felt like I was a defensive liability last year just being able to keep my player in front. I usually just like roaming around and getting steals here and there.
“So I definitely worked a lot on my defense. I think USA Basketball helped me with that, competing against the top players in the country at trials, and playing internationally I had to step up my game defensively,” Ionescu said. “The other thing that I would say that I worked on would be staying positive.”
Reserves Oti Gildon (F, Jr, 10.1 MPG, appeared in all 37 games), Sierra Campisano (F, So), Justine Hall (G, Sr, 39.1 3PT%), Morgan Yaeger (G, So) and Lydia Giomi (F, RS Fr, suffered broken wrist in ’16-’17) are also back for the Ducks.
“Lydia has been doing great this fall,” Graves said. “It’s not often that you line your team up at the end line and you go down and back and your 6’6″ player beats everybody. She’s a great athlete.”
Fresh faces
Satou Sabally, F (MVP of 2017 FIBA U20 Div. B European Championships for Germany)
Anneli Maley, F (Averaged 10.7 rebounds for Australia in the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championships)
Aina Ayuso, G (Played for Spain in 2017 FIBA U19 Championships)
“Aina is a really crafty freshman from Spain. And I’ll tell you what, she’s got a lot of Maite in her. As far as I’m concerned, Maite is one of the top two or three point guards in this conference and has the potential to be a pro,” Graves said. “I think all three of those [freshmen] are going to impact us in a positive way.”
5 games to watch
November 10-19 Preseason WNIT, times TBD (Oregon Live Stream, CBS Sports Network)
December 13 @ Mississippi State, 4:00 PM PST (SEC Network)
January 19 @ Oregon State, 8:00 PM PST (Pac-12 Networks)
January 21 v. Oregon State, 5:00 PM PST (Pac-12 Networks)
February 4 v. Stanford, 12:00 PM PST (ESPN2)
February 19 v. UCLA, 7:00 PM PST (ESPN)
The Preseason WNIT could eventually lead to matchups with Texas A&M and Louisville in the final two rounds. The young Ducks will travel to take on the national runner-up from last season, then they’ll take on Oregon State twice in three days in January. February 4th is Oregon’s lone regular season matchup with Stanford this season. By February 19, viewers can expect a great showdown between two Pac-12 favorites as both teams approach postseason play.