No. 5 Oregon women beat Washington in Pac-12 opener

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Erin Boley scored a career-high 28 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 20 points and 10 assists to help No. 5 Oregon outlast Washington 84-71 on Friday night.

Satou Sabally added 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Ducks (12-1, 1-0) opened defense of their Pac-12 title with their fifth consecutive victory. Ruthy Hebard had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

After the Huskies (7-7, 0-2) pulled within one point in the fourth quarter, Oregon finished on an 18-6 run. Sabally’s corner 3-pointer off Ionescu’s assist put the Ducks up 80-69 with 45 seconds left.

Alexis Griggsby led Washington with a career-high 26 points off the bench, and Amber Melgoza had 23.

The Huskies led by three early in the third quarter before Oregon went on a 17-0 run to go up 55-41. Washington then outscored the Ducks 24-10 over the next 12 minutes to trail 66-65.

Boley had 19 points in the first quarter on 7-for-8 shooting, including five 3-pointers, as Oregon raced to a 23-6 lead after eight minutes. However, the Huskies came right back with an 18-0 run behind Alexis Griggsby to go ahead 24-23 for their first lead.

Griggsby had 17 points in the second quarter for the Huskies and 21 at the half. Her fifth 3-pointer cut the Ducks’ halftime lead to 38-37.

BIG PICTURE

Washington averted what looked to be a road blowout behind Griggsby’s early scoring burst and Melgoza’s strong finish. The Huskies will need a similar gritty performance to hang with second ranked opponent in Oregon State.

Oregon got a good look at what life as the Pac-12 favorite will be like to start the 18-game conference grind. The Ducks came in as the nation’s best shooting team at 53.2 percent but hit just 30 of 71 (42.3 percent), including 14 of a season-high 37 attempts from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

Washington: At No. 11 Oregon State on Sunday.

Oregon: Hosts Washington State on Sunday.

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