Offensive-minded Minnesota, Oregon meet in second round
Second-seeded Oregon faces off with No. 10 seed Minnesota on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Women's Tournament in Eugene, Ore.
"We didn't just want to be happy being on this stage," Minnesota coach Marlene Stollings said. "We really feel like we can advance. Oregon obviously went to the Elite Eight last year as a 10 seed."
The Ducks (31-4) rank ninth in the country in scoring at 82.1 points per game. The Gophers (24-8) are third with an average of 85.3 points.
Both teams like to push the pace in transition and feature players who can score inside and out.
Oregon took advantage of overmatched Seattle in the first round, dominating from start to finish for an 88-45 victory Friday.
"I thought we played really, really well, right from the get-go," Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. "When I saw our team diving for loose balls early in the game, I could tell this wasn't just another game. They weren't going to just go through the motions, they wanted to compete."
Five players scored in double figures as Oti Gildon came off the bench for 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and six rebounds in 15 minutes. Ruthy Hebard finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Lexi Bando added 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Ducks were 5 of 17 from 3-point range, a far cry from their 40.3 percent shooting this season. No Oregon player played more than 30 minutes and 10 of 11 Ducks saw at least 13 minutes of action.
"I think it was real important to come out and play hard and show that we were ready, that we were dialed in," junior guard Maite Cazorla said.
Meanwhile, Minnesota torched the nation's best defense for 89 points in its 89-77 victory over seventh-seeded Green Bay, which entered the game giving up 47.4 points per game. But it had no answer for the speed or 3-point shooting of the Gophers.
"Our defense actually led to our offense there in the second half," Stollings said. "The 30-point fourth quarter, obviously, allowed us to build a little bit of a lead there and be comfortable and end up winning the game, but it was generated solely from our defensive effort."
Minnesota was 10 of 18 from 3-point territory and 25 of 29 from the free throw line. Only five players scored for the Gophers, and those same five all played more than 30 minutes. Destiny Pitts and Carlie Wagner were on the court for the full 40.
"We put our focus on defense and on rebounding, so our defense led to our offense and we were able to drive more and draw more fouls to get to the free throw line," Pitts said.
Oregon is led by triple-double queen Sabrina Ionescu.
Ionescu, who already set the NCAA career triple-double record earlier in the season as a sophomore, had the 10th of her career in the Ducks' opening-round win. She posted 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in 29 minutes.
After being named last year's national freshman of the year, Ionescu was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a finalist for the national player of the year this season. She averages 19.3 points, 7.9 assists and 6.7 rebounds.
Minnesota will counter with redshirt junior guard Kenisha Bell.
Bell, who was named first-team All-Big Ten and all-defense, averages 20.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. She finished with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists in the first round.
While neither team typically digs deep into its bench, the Ducks are more versatile.
Hebard averages 17.4 points and 8.8 rebounds on 65.4 percent shooting, which is fourth-best in the nation. Bando is widely considered one of the best 3-point shooters in NCAA history, knocking down 47.4 percent of her attempts this year.
Freshman Satou Sabally averages 10.8 points per game and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
Bringing it all together for the Ducks is Cazorla, who averages 11 points per game and often takes pressure off Ionescu with her driving ability. She has eight games of at least 15 points.
Helping Minnesota's Bell are Pitts and Wagner.
Wagner was named All-Big Ten first team after averaging 18.7 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Pitts was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds.
In the Gophers' opening-round win, Wagner and Pitts combined for 35 points on 8-of-14 shooting from deep and Gadiva Hubbard added 16 points.
The winner of Sunday's game will advance to the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Wash., where it will face No. 11 seed Central Michigan or No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday.
