Elaine Thompson/AP

By Andrew Greif, The Oregonian/OregonLive

What a difference a week makes for Oregon women’s basketball.

One week after forward Ruthy Hebard was held scoreless after halftime and sharp-shooting guard Lexi Bando could only watch from the bench during a Feb. 4 loss to Stanford that was UO’s first home defeat this season, Hebard was flawless and Bando back in the lineup in Oregon’s 90-79 win Sunday at Washington State.

It followed Friday’s rout of Washington in Seattle, marked UO’s 12th victory in conference play — the most by the program in 13 years — and kept it in a three-way tie atop the Pac-12 standings with Stanford and UCLA with four regular-season games remaining.

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“I liked the way that we, in both games, executed offensively really well,” Graves said in a phone interview Monday. “I don’t think we shot great from the three-point line in either, but I thought they were methodical, good victories for us.”

Any victory is a good one right now for the Ducks, as they chase a share of their first Pac-12 title in 18 years, but Sunday was especially noteworthy.

In her first game since Jan. 14 Bando, who has dealt with a stress reaction in a leg, came off the bench to score nine points in 12 minutes.

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Brian Davies/Register-Guard

Lexi Bando, seen in December, returned Sunday after missing eight games due to injury.

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By making her first three three-point attempts against WSU, Bando also made an impression. Though Graves expects the senior guard to play a restricted amount on doctors’ orders until the postseason — Graves said he was told Sunday he could play Bando between 10-12 minutes — her accuracy is such that no matter how long she plays, she can alter how UO’s offense works and how opponents plan to defend it.

“Talk about instant offense,” Graves said. “Like I tell people, even if she’s not getting shots she helps us. That opens up a lot of court for the rest of the four. It gives Sabrina (Ionescu) more room to operate, it gives Ruthy more room inside. Just having her there, you’ve got to guard her.”

Bando will visit doctors this week and, to not rush her back too quickly, “won’t practice much this week, if at all,” Graves said, as UO prepares to host USC on Friday and No. 7 UCLA on Monday.

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It remains to be determined, Graves said, whether she will reclaim her starting role against the Trojans and Bruins despite her minutes restriction — a decision that would displace forward Mallory McGwire, who has started the past eight games and shot 54 percent in that stretch while giving UO a “big” lineup playing alongside Hebard.

“That might come down to matchups,” he said. “UCLA for instance, we might want the two big kids because they’re so long and athletic on the front line it might be nice to have a McGwire in there to start.”

Inside the arc, the Cougars struggled to keep Hebard from establishing post position close to the basket and she made all 12 of her field goal attempts to set a single-game school record for shooting accuracy. In the process she became the third sophomore in UO history to score 1,000 career points, joining Ionescu — who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in the fourth quarter — and Jillian Alleyne.

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Elaine Thompson/AP

Oregon's Mallory McGwire, shooting over Washington's Amber Melgoza on Friday, has made 54 percent of her field goal attempts since entering the starting lineup eight games ago.

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Hebard made 25 of her 27 field goal attempts during the Washington road trip and earned Pac-12 player of the week honors Monday. She is now shooting 65.6 percent this season — fourth-best in the country.

“I mean, come on, are you kidding me?” Graves said. “That’s incredible. Credit her, credit her teammates for getting her the ball where she can just finish.

“… She’s just getting better. Balance is her key. If she stays on balance then she’s really a load because she’s so long and strong.”

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Her big weekend offset what Graves called a “quiet” pair of games for Ionescu, who combined for 27 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists while shooting 40 percent.

Nonetheless, the Wooden Award candidate exited the road trip still leading the Pac-12 in scoring (19.4 points) and assists (7.6).

“In a crazy sort of way that’s good for us,” Graves said. “We know we can go up and win a couple double-figure games against Northwest rivals on the road without our best player having really her typical weekend.”

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Graves’ biggest concern from the weekend sweep was UO’s defense, a source of frustration since November. Oregon built a 28-point lead two minutes into the fourth quarter Friday before allowing the Huskies to chip away before winning by 13.

Two days later, UO led the Cougars by as many as 23 points with 6:46 remaining in the third quarter. But with 1:02 left in the quarter, the lead was nine.

"I wish we could finish a little bit better, a little more consistently," Graves said. "UW, I get it, because we kind of played everybody, but we've done that a few times this year — build a nice lead in the second and third quarter and just kind of limp home. We've got to get that out of our DNA."



— Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif