Devils in Detail
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ASU WBB: Devils in Detail Pac-12 WBB Rankings, 12-9

By Sam Ficarro

Mar 6, 2016; Seattle , WA, USA; General view of Pac-12 100th anniversary logo trophy at KeyArena. Oregon State defeated UCLA 69-57. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Seattle , WA, USA; General view of Pac-12 100th anniversary logo trophy at KeyArena. Oregon State defeated UCLA 69-57. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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9. Oregon Ducks

Dec 20, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks mascot watches the game from the student section against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks mascot watches the game from the student section against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports /

The Oregon Ducks were fighting for a Top-4 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament before everything went terribly wrong when their star senior forward Jillian Alleyne suffered a torn ACL in mid-February ending her illustrious Oregon career. The Ducks would finish the season losing their final three games, including a Pac-12 Tournament loss versus Arizona. Despite a 20-win season, Oregon did not receive a NCAA Tournament bid and went on to play in the WNIT, where the Ducks fell in the semifinals versus South Dakota.

Under head coach Kelly Graves, Oregon is 10-2 this season with wins at Michigan State and Clemson and losses versus then-No. 7 Mississippi State in Hawaii and at Ole Miss. Oregon are led by exciting freshmen players. Guard Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 13.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 5.2 assists per game. Ionescu has a pair of triple-doubles this season versus San Jose State and Clemson. Ionescu finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists versus the Spartans and against the Tigers, she finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Recently named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, forward Ruthy Hebard has become Oregon’s next great post player. Hebard is averaging a team-high 13.8 PPG on 74.7 percent shooting and 8.7 RPG. In a win versus Portland State December 17, she finished with a double-double recording 28 points and 17 rebounds.

Next: ASU WBB: Arizona State Blows Out Holy Cross

Oregon has a lot of exciting young players because Graves’ excellent recruiting. It’s to be seen if they will be able to take a big step forward and return to the top of the Pac-12 this season, but the arrow is definitely point up for the Ducks as a team who will be hard to match up against. Oregon will open up Pac-12 play this weekend at home versus No. 9 Washington and Washington State.