The Ducks show why they’re the favorite to win the NCAA Tournament in 2020
The best team in the world made three earlier stops on their exhibition tour of college campuses. In each city, the college opponent they faced kept up for a little while, but eventually succumbed to the superior skill and size of the USA Basketball women’s national team. Then, the best in the international game faced this year’s best in the college game…and lost.
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It was only the second time in history that the American women had lost to a college team. The last? Almost exactly 20 years ago.
To be precise, it was Nov. 7, 1999. The Tennessee Lady Vols took down the national team by a slim one-point margin that day, winning 65-64.
It wasn’t that close on Nov. 9, 2019. Oregon built a lead of 11 points in the second half. USA Basketball cut into it, tying it up at one point. The Ducks didn’t flinch, going on to win by a score of 93-86.
After scoring just five points in the first half, Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu put up 30 points in the win. Twenty of those came in the third quarter.
The first half of the game looked like the previous three that USA Basketball played against college opponents. It was close at half-time, but the women’s national team was obviously the superior side. In the other three contests, the professionals had gone on to assert themselves in the second half and win by double digits.
“I’ve watched every minute, so obviously I’m super invested in the national team right now even though I can’t be there with them,” said USA Basketball assistant coach Jen Rizzotti, who is currently coaching at George Washington. “I want to know what they’re doing and I want to always be ready to know what I need to do to help them when I get back with the team in April. It’s hard. I know it’s hard for Dawn (Staley), it’s hard for me to not be able to be there. But, I mean, what an incredible week it’s been for USA Basketball, and for the teams that they played. I think every program had an amazing crowd. Every single college player that had a chance to experience that environment and also, you know, interacting with the USA players is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some of them. And for those that are going to be good enough to play at that level one day, it was a great opportunity for them to see what it takes.”
The Ducks weren’t interested in just having a great experience, though. They didn’t flag as the other three college teams had done. This time, it was the college team that asserted their power in the final 20 minutes.
“I know that it’s not the full squad,” Rizzotti said. “I mean, there’s quite a few Olympians not there in Oregon last night, but it’s still unbelievable what Oregon was able to do. And I think that they, if they had any doubters, they certainly shouldn’t have anymore. I mean, they’re a special group and I think it’s great for women’s basketball to see that they can raise their level of play to beat a team that the US had on the floor.”
As Rizzotti mentioned, several players who are likely to be in Tokyo next year for the Olympics aren’t playing with USA Basketball this fall. Players like Brittney Griner, who will almost certainly be on the team, are plying their trades in Europe.
Still, the women’s national team had two of the all-time greats in Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. Sylvia Fowles, one of the top post players in the world, was there. Nneka Ogwumike was on hand. Chelsea Gray was there following another strong WNBA season. The WNBA’s 2019 Rookie of the Year Napheesa Collier added her talents.
It has been enough to beat every other college team they’ve met over the past week. On a Saturday night in Eugene, it wasn’t enough to beat the team that has staked its claim to the title of the best in women’s college basketball.
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