EUGENE, Ore. — Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for her 18th career triple double and second-seeded Oregon defeated No. 10 Indiana 91-68 on Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 at the NCAA Tournament.
Ionescu is the NCAA’s career triple-double leader among men and women. She’s had eight this season alone. She reached it on Sunday with just over 2 minutes left when she corralled a rebound on her own missed shot.
With speculation that she may turn pro at the end of this season, it may have been Ionescu’s final career game at Matthew Knight Arena. But it certainly won’t be her last game in Oregon: With the win the Ducks (31-4) advanced to face the winner of Monday’s game between South Dakota State and Syracuse next weekend at Portland’s Moda Center.
Satou Sabally added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Ducks, who are headed to the round of 16 for the third straight season. Oregon led by as many as 23 points.
Ali Patberg had 16 points and Jaelynn Penn added 15 for the Hoosiers, who were hurt in the third quarter when Bendu Yeaney was injured and left the game.
Indiana was making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2015-16 season, and sixth trip in school history. The Hoosiers improved their overall record to 3-5 with a win over Texas in the opening round.
The winners of last year’s WNIT Tournament, Indiana was helped in its bid for an NCAA berth this season by a victory over No. 10 Iowa last month.
Penn had had 24 points, including four 3-pointers, in Indiana’s 69-65 victory over seventh-seeded Longhorns on Friday.
Oregon easily dispatched No. 15 seed Portland State 78-40 in Friday’s other first-round game at Matthew Knight Arena. Satou Sabally had 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Ducks.
The Ducks were coming off a 64-57 loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament championship game.
Oregon has been to the NCAA Tournament for the past three seasons, including Elite Eight appearances in the last two.
The Ducks used a 10-0 run to take an early 16-8 lead, and were ahead 24-19 at the end of the first quarter. Ionescu led all scorers with seven points and four assists.
Penn knocked down a 3-pointer that gave the Hoosiers a 28-24 lead. But Ionescu answered with her own 3 and was fouled for the four-point play to tie it at 28.
Ionescu added another 3 and pumped her fists as she ran back down the court.
Sabally’s fast-break layup pushed the Ducks’ lead to 38-28. Ionescu capped the half with a 3-pointer that made it 43-31 at the beat. She led all scorers with 17 points and six assists.
The Pac-12 Player of the Year went into Friday’s game averaging 19.4 points, 8.1 assists and 7.5 rebounds a game. It is her second triple-double in the NCAA Tournament, she also had one in the first round last year. She joins Stanford’s Nicole Powell as the only players with multiple triple-doubles in the tournament.
