Miramonte High alum Sabrina Ionescu has Oregon thinking big
The 5-foot-10 guard, a Miramonte-Orinda alum and The Chronicle’s two-time Metro Player of the Year, is a driving force behind the Ducks’ shot at making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
Ionescu, named the Pac-12’s Freshman of the Year on Tuesday, has made a splash in the league with four triple-doubles through her first 26 college games.
Overall, she’s averaging 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists for the Ducks, who are making distinct progress in Kelly Graves’ third season as head coach.
Ionescu is one of three freshmen in Graves’ starting lineup, joining forwards Ruthy Hebard and Mallory McGwire.
Hebard, who hails from Fairbanks, Alaska, leads the Ducks in scoring with an average of 14.7 points and 8.4 rebounds.
At Miramonte, Ionescu was the Gatorade Player of the Year in California after averaging 25.3 points, 8.8 assists, 7.6 rebounds and 4.5 steals as the Matadors went 32-1 in her senior season.
Ionescu and the rest of the Ducks will be challenged this week when the team heads to Seattle for the conference tournament at KeyArena.
Oregon defeated Arizona 79-65 this season in Tucson, but in last year’s tournament, the Wildcats upset the Ducks 74-68.
A win would boost Oregon’s bid for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
With losses in their past three games, the Ducks hurt their chances, but many believe that the strength of schedule in the conference, along with a key upset of UCLA, will push Oregon into the Big Dance for the first time in more than a decade.
Forward Erica McCall (15 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and guards Brittany McPhee (12.9 ppg) and Karlie Samuelson (12.5 ppg) represented the Cardinal.
Washington’s Kelsey Plum (31.6 ppg), who on Saturday became the NCAA career scoring leader with 3,397 points, was named the Player of the Year.