SPOKANE -- If you've followed the NCAA Tournament on social media at all this month, then you've surely seen a celebration like this: A victorious coach walks into a locker room ambush, where players wait to unleash screams of joy and cups of water. The coach is doused, and the team dances another day longer, knowing joy in the bracket can be fleeting.

Oregon was that team last year. The 10th-seeded Ducks celebrated every step of the way as they advanced to the women's basketball program's first Elite Eight.

"Last year," senior guard Lexi Bando said, "when we won the first round, we were screaming and jumping around."

As Bando spoke in Oregon's locker room Saturday in Spokane Arena, the mood was tranquil as players munched on the postgame spread of tacos. Twenty minutes after dispatching Central Michigan, 83-69, to reach a second consecutive Elite Eight, the Ducks carried on like it was business as usual. UO coach Kelly Graves called the change in attitude, which mirrors the change in expectations surrounding Oregon, a sign of the program's maturation.

Elite Eight? UO expected to be here.

"Now it's like, OK we're here and we want more and we're hungry and we don't want to just make it to the Elite Eight," Bando said. "We want to make it to the Final Four."

Oregon will get that chance Monday.

The second-seeded Ducks (33-4) will face top-seeded Notre Dame at 6 p.m. for a chance to advance to UO's first Final Four. Earlier Friday, the Irish (32-3) rallied from 13 points down midway through the second quarter to wear down Texas A&M, 90-84.

Oregon's win created history. For the first time, both Oregon and Oregon State are among the final eight teams remaining in the tournament. The Beavers play Louisville in Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday for a chance to advance to their second Final Four in three seasons.

Central Michigan reached the Sweet 16 by winning the first two tournament games in its history, but its 29 percent shooting in the first quarter doomed any chance at a third. What got the Chippewas here -- a four-guard offensive attack in which even the post was a danger from three-point range -- became a liability when it couldn't guard UO post Ruthy Hebard with Tinara Moore alone.

Graves made a point of yelling to his team early to get Hebard the ball and they complied. The sophomore scored eight points in the first quarter as Oregon staked a 12-point lead, and she finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high six blocks for her 13th double-double this season.

"Sabrina (Ionescu) didn't have her best night. Maite (Cazorla) wasn't at her best that we've seen. And even Bando," he said. "Don't get me wrong. Tonight was Ruthy's night."

Her dependability propped up Oregon on a day with otherwise inconsistent efficiency. The nation's top-shooting three-point team, UO made just 35 percent of its 26 attempts from behind the arc Saturday.

But with Hebard getting free seemingly every time she went to the right against Moore, and with 10 points off the bench by hometown favorite Oti Gildon, the Ducks outscored Central Michigan 42-24 in the paint and shot 58 percent inside the arc.

"Going into this game I was really excited," Hebard said. "Coach was talking about post play and how that's going to be important this game. I was trying to stay focused and get myself hyped."

Ionescu finished one rebound shy of her 12th career triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and nine boards in 39 minutes, the first time this tournament she has played more than 30 minutes. But the game was not her best, by own her admission.

Oregon led by 15 at halftime and 16 three minutes into the third quarter after Bando sandwiched three-pointers around a jumper for eight consecutive points. The Chippewas (30-5) kept pace by scoring on eight of their first nine possessions to start the second half, and after a three-pointer by Cassie Breen, the lead was down to nine.

"We just lost a little focus defensively," Graves said. "That happens."

Said Breen: "I think the feeling on the team was that we weren't going to give up."

Neither was Oregon. Four minutes later, the quarter was over and UO led by 18 after an up-and-under layup by Gildon and a corner three-pointer by Justine Hall. Gildon, who won a state title at Gonzaga Prep, scored six points in the quarter and grabbed four rebounds during a key four-minute stretch to end the third quarter during which UO reasserted its hold on with an 11-2 run.

"We just couldn't get over that hump," Central Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "I think when you lose a basketball game, and you did everything that you could possibly do, sometimes you just lose to a better team. You know, they were bigger. They were bigger, they shot it better than we did tonight."

Gildon finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and the loudest cheering section in the whole building. Behind the UO bench sat 12 family members who'd received tickets, along with at least a dozen other friends and former teammates.

In three tournament games, she's scored 32 points in 64 minutes, a big spike from her regular-season averages.

"It's always nice to hear familiar voices in the crowd yelling and cheering you on," she said. "I knew I needed to step up for the team."

Oregon has 48 hours to correct one of few glaring problems with its performance. The undersized Chippewas grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and were outrebounded overall by just two.

"We can't allow 22 offensive rebounds on Monday night or we're going to get, you know, blown out," Graves said. "That's the bottom line."

Stepping off of the interview dais, Graves retreated to a locker room where the celebration was muted. Instead of a shower, what awaited him was a composed locker room and at least one more game in a tournament where Oregon's success is no longer a surprise.

"We deserve to be where we're at, we worked very hard to get here the last two years," Ionescu said. "I think it's more where we should be, instead of jumping up for joy."

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif