No. 10 Oregon dominates Idaho State 91-34 to open season
Nov 9, 2021, 7:26 AM | Updated: 10:03 pm
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Sedona Prince had 18 points before sitting out the fourth quarter of No. 10 Oregon’s season-opening 91-34 rout of Idaho State on Tuesday night.
Ducks forward Nyara Sabally scored 14 points and had four rebounds before an apparent foot or ankle injury in the third quarter. She was helped off the court by coach Kelly Graves and initially went to the locker room, but returned to the bench to watch the fourth quarter.
The injury is a potential blow to the Ducks, as Sabally averaged 12.9 points and 7.3 rebounds last season. Graves said afterward the game he believes Sabally will be OK.
Callie Bourne had seven points for the Bengals, who trailed by as many as 57 points. Idaho State was 2-of-25 from 3-point range and shot 22.6% overall.
Oregon shot 61% overall and at one point went on a 21-0 run.
“We wanted to come out, and not come out slow and not have a rough start to the season. I think this team could go very, very far,” Prince said. “And I hope that we proved that to everyone in the country tonight.”
The victory extended Oregon’s winning streak over nonconference teams at home to 43. It was the first time in 19 months that the Ducks had played in front of fans at Matthew Knight Arena because of coronavirus restrictions.
“Right from the get-go, I thought defensively we were on point. Offensively we wanted to get the ball inside early and often. We did that early in the game and then it just started to snowball a little bit,” Graves said. “But I thought this was a complete game. We played both ends of the floor well tonight.”
Idaho State finished last season 22-4 and were the Big Sky regular season and tournament champions before losing to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Oregon finished last season 15-9 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, falling to Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen.
Oregon jumped out to a 13-0 lead on Tuesday, including eight points from Sabally. The Bengals were clearly outmatched as the Ducks pushed the lead to 39-7.
Oregon led 50-20 at the break and the rout was on.
“We just knew what we wanted to do. We had patience on offense, and just were scrappy on defense. It was pretty it was really fun to play, honestly. I had a blast,” Prince said.
The two teams had met seven previous times, with the Ducks winning all seven.
The Bengals have played five other ranked teams since 2009-10, and the only win — and first victory over an AP Top 25 team — was against No. 25 Washington in 2017.
BIG PICTURE
Idaho State: The Bengals finished 11-0 at home last season, only the second time in school history with a perfect home record. … It was the 125th career game for Estefie Ors, setting a new program record. … None of the Bengals scored in double figures. … It was the third-largest margin of defeat in team history.
Oregon: The Ducks have been ranked in the AP Top 25 in each of the last 77 rankings dating back to 2017-18. … Oregon outscored the Bengals 27-6 in the opening quarter alone. … Maddie Scherr finished with 14 points and five assists.
UP NEXT
Idaho State: Hosts Park University on Saturday.
Oregon: Hosts Dixie State on Sunday.
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