2019-20 Pac-12 preview: Oregon atop a deep conference
By Kim Doss
The Oregon Ducks bring back their own and a couple of top transfers
What happened last year?
The Ducks went 33-5 and won the Pac-12 regular season with a 16-2 league record. Their regular-season conference losses came on the floor of rival Oregon State and at home to UCLA. Stanford got them in the title game of the Pac-12 Tournament, meaning that three of Oregon’s five losses came to conference opponents.
They used that as fuel. Once the Ducks got to the NCAA Tournament, they put together their first Final Four run. The final loss of the season? It was a 10-point defeat by eventual national champion Baylor in the national semifinals.
Ultimately, that loss may have been what motivated Sabrina Ionescu to forego the WNBA draft and return for a final shot at the national championship.
Key losses
The biggest loss for the Ducks was guard Maite Cazorla, who was selected by the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream in this spring’s draft. Cazorla was fifth on the team in scoring last season with 9.7 ppg and second in assists with 4.34 per game.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to miss Maite,” Graves said. “She was a rock for us, four-year starter at the hardest position. What she did is she took a lot of pressure off Sabrina as a primary ball-handler so Sabrina could play more off the ball and make more happen in the half-court. We’re going to miss her, there’s no question about it.”
Although it’s not a loss in the traditional sense, Oregon won’t get the services of redshirt freshman Nyara Sabally for the second straight season. The younger sister of Satou Sabally injured her knee again this summer and had surgery last month. It was her second knee surgery since August of 2018.
“Obviously I really want to play with my sister,” Satou said. “I know she’s going to be back, and I’m really proud of her for how she’s handled the situation because it is really tough. I don’t know a lot of people that have handled the situation that mature as she has. But yeah, like obviously I’m sad about it, and I’m definitely playing for her this season.”
Key returners
As everyone knows, Ionescu is back. But no team can rely on a single player, even if she’s widely seen as the top pick in next year’s WNBA draft. Good thing for Oregon that they don’t have to.
The Ducks return their top four scorers from last season to go with their top six rebounders.
Fellow senior Ruthy Hebard joins Ionescu for their final college campaign. Hebard was third on the team with 16.1 points per game last season and led the Ducks with 9.1 rebounds per game.
Junior Satou Sabally and redshirt sophomore Erin Boley bring their scoring back, as well. Sabally was second on the team with 16.6 ppg last season, while Boley was the fourth Duck in double figures with 12.4 ppg.
Key additions
Minyon Moore was USC’s leading scorer last season. Unfortunately for the Women of Troy, she’s now the key addition to the 2019-20 Oregon roster as a graduate transfer. Her new coach thinks she could be key to their success, especially on the defensive end of the court.
“I’ve kind of dissected it and looked at why we made the mistakes that we did, and I think just
the fact that we’re going to be deeper this year is going to help,” Graves said about the Final Four loss last season. “I thought that that just really hurt us last year. Let’s say an injury like Taylor Chavez. Even if she gives Sabrina and Maite two minutes’ rest in each half, maybe we don’t finish 1 for 13, we’ve got a few more legs. Because the shots we got were really good. I think secondly I’ve really turned my attention to the defensive end of the court. And we’re so efficient
offensively, by far the most efficient offense in the country and the best shooting team in the country, but we’re only adequate defensively. So we need to make some better inroads, and I know gaining someone like Minyon Moore really helps in that regard.”
Redshirt freshman Sedona Prince comes over after sitting out last year at Texas with a broken leg. Prince is a former McDonald’s All-American and was the No. 8 recruit in 2018.
Like many teams in women’s college hoops, the Ducks recruit internationally. Their entire freshman class is from overseas this year. Guard Jaz Shelley and forward Lucy Cochrane join Oregon from Australia, while forward Holly Winterburn makes the move from the U.K. to Eugene.
Outlook for 2019-20
There’s no reason to believe that Oregon won’t live up to their top billing this season. They not only have all of their pieces back from last season, but those pieces are some of the best in women’s college basketball. Will they go undefeated? As their coach said, that’s a difficult task in a league like the Pac-12, but it’s certainly not out of the question.
There’s no one more talented than Oregon in the country, although there may be teams with equal talent out there. The most talented team doesn’t always take home the title, but the Ducks lost less than any other contender from last season.
There’s every reason to believe it will be their year when March rolls around. If they are challenged, though, that challenge could very well come from their own conference…