There’s a new standard of excellence in well-rounded play.
It’s hard to summarize all the Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu does on the basketball court, but the mark she reached Thursday might come as close as any single stat can.
Ionescu scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 13 assists in Oregon’s 82-36 win over Air Force.
For those keeping score at home, that was a triple-double—the 13th of Ionescu’s career. If that seems high, your perception is correct: no one else in NCAA history, on the men’s or women’s side, has ever posted so many triple-doubles.
And yes, that’s true even with Ionescu’s junior season less than half over.
More from NCAA
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, April 6: Stanford defeats Arizona in a tightly contested matchup to win the national title
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 30: UConn and Baylor deliver a classic battle of storied programs
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 26: Louisville and Texas A&M survive and advance
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 23: Highlights from the first round of the NCAA Tournament
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 16: Tournament bracket released
“It’s an honor, and I really appreciate all the support that I get from the fans, my coaches, and the community for doing that, but we play tomorrow so that’s what I’m looking forward to,” Ionescu said following the game.
By any measure, the 13 triple-doubles are impressive. She’s done it against all competition, including seven against Power 5 conference teams. She’s never stat-padded at the expense of her team, with Oregon now 13-0 in those triple-double games. She’s done in since the beginning, with four of them coming freshman year, six more sophomore year, and three already in this, her junior year.
It’s the kind of skill set that has WNBA teams salivating, and there’s already been conversation over the choice Ionescu, who can opt into the WNBA Draft following this campaign, will do.
It’s turning into a special season for Oregon, who reached the Elite Eight last year, and is a prime contender to reach the Final Four this season. And Ionescu isn’t doing it alone—Ruthy Hebard scored 20 Thursday on 9-for-9 from the field, and the addition of Notre Dame transfer Erin Boley gives the Duck a floor spacer to help weather the loss from last season’s team of Lexi Bando.
But it is Ionescu whose recruitment by Kelly Graves changed the trajectory of the program, and it is Ionescu’s many talents that have the Ducks in the national title conversation as much as any other reason.
A look at Sabrina Ionescu's NCAA record 13th career triple-double. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/K2zezfZYAB
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) December 20, 2018
Now all she has ahead of her, other than a national title push and major decision regarding her professional future is to go out and keep breaking her own record.