Ruthy Hebard has made high-percentage shots her trademark. And she did it again on Saturday — on the biggest stage of the season, no less.
Hebard drained a jumper with 5.5 seconds left then got a hand on Temple’s final shot of the game to power the Ducks to a 71-70 win over No. 7-seeded Temple in the NCAA Tournament first round on Saturday at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
“What a win,” head coach Kelly Graves told the team in the locker room. “You guys showed toughness and grit. … Just an awesome team effort. I thought defensively we played against two elite guards that were on fire.”
Hebard finished with 23 points (on 9 of 17 shooting) and pulled down seven rebounds for No. 10 Oregon. Sabrina Ionescu had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while fellow freshman Mallory McGwire tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Ducks advance to face the winner of No. 2 Duke and No. 15 Hampton on Monday. The two teams play later in the afternoon on ESPN2. Duke hasn’t yet lost a game at home this season.
Here were the final minutes of the game:
Ionescu made a jumper to give the Ducks a 69-68 lead with 27 seconds left but Temple’s Feyona Fitzgerald, who had 16 points, made a bucket with 17 seconds left to give the Owls the lead again. Oregon took a timeout and drew up a play that allowed Hebard to lift the Ducks to their third win in four games.
The Ducks were able to win despite allowing Temple guard Alliya Butts to score 28 points. Butts had 13 of her 28 points during the third quarter.
Oregon ended the game shooting 44.8 percent while Temple shot 40.8 percent. Neither team shot well from 3-point range. Both made 25 percent of their tries. And both teams committed 10 turnovers.
Temple led 62-57 with 8:00 left in the game before Ionescu hit a jumper then Lexi Bando drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 62-62 with 4:59 left.
Oregon had seven blocks while Temple had none. The Owls narrowly outrebounded the Ducks, 41-40.
The Ducks trailed 20-18 after the first quarter and 58-52 entering the fourth quarter.
Oregon, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005, will have a chance to reach the Sweet 16 of the Bridgeport region on Monday. Game time has not yet been announced.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
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