Sabrina Ionescu stands alone after historic mark Monday night
By Kim Doss
The Oregon Ducks’ guard sets another mark for both women’s and men’s college basketball
Two thousand points and one thousand rebounds is a nice achievement. Even a great one. It’s just one that’s been done before. What Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu did on Monday night was something unique. When she secured career rebound No. 1,000 against No. 4 Stanford, she became the first in college basketball history to meet the mark of 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds.
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The points were no problem. Ionescu surpassed that mark back on Nov 13, 2019 against Utah State. At that time, she still needed 190 assists and 227 rebounds to reach the 1,000 mark in those stats.
No worries, her teammates had her back. She hit 1,000 assists on Feb. 14 in a win over UCLA. That left one leg of the journey to finish.
The added challenge came for Ionescu when she lost friends Kobe and Gianna Bryant on Jan. 26. Her trip into the record book was rerouted through their memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday.
“I tried to do everything I could to hold it together tonight, and my team helped me a lot,” Ionescu told ESPN’s LaChina Robinson after the game.
It’s become expected for the presumed No. 1 pick in this spring’s WNBA draft to do things no one else has. She set the all-time mark for assists in Pac-12 basketball by moving past Oregon State great Gary Payton this season. Her 26 triple-doubles are more than anyone in college basketball history.
But it wasn’t just about the personal mark. It was also a big day for her team. With their win, the No. 3 Ducks secured at least a share of their third straight Pac-12 regular-season title.
“In true Sabrina fashion, she goes out on the biggest day in the biggest moment and shines bright,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said.
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