Oregon Ducks women open NCAA tournament against Portland State

Statesman Journal

Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu, front left, congratulates Maite Cazorla, right, at the end of the second quarter against Utah in an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, in Eugene, Ore.

The Oregon women’s basketball team will not have to leave the state until the NCAA Final Four, as the Ducks earned a preferable draw Monday in the NCAA tournament.

The Ducks open the tournament at home against Portland State at 6 p.m. Friday, and would stay at Matthew Knight Arena if they advance to the second round, and they would face the winner of Texas and Indiana.

Oregon is the No. 2 seed in the Portland Region, which means if they make it to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, those games would be played at the Moda Center in Portland. Mississippi State is the No. 1 seed in the Portland Region.

The Ducks enter the tournament with a 29-4 overall record, after winning the Pac-12 regular season championship and placing second in the Pac-12 tournament.

This is the third season in a row Oregon has made the NCAA tournament under coach Kelly Graves, having reached the Elite Eight in each of the past two seasons.

Men's basketball:Oregon Ducks open NCAA tournament against Wisconsin

Portland State is 25-7 overall this season, and the Vikings won the Big Sky tournament to clinch an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

The Ducks have four players who average double digits in scoring, led by Pac-12 Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu at 19.6. Ionescu also averages 7.5 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game.

This is Oregon’s 15th appearance in the NCAA tournament. This is Portland State’s second appearance in the NCAA tournament, with the other coming in 2010.

The women’s tournament announcement on Monday came earlier than expected because of a “technical error” at ESPN.

The NCAA released a statement addressing the issue: “An unfortunate technical error by ESPN revealed the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship bracket earlier today. We regret the network’s mistake and are working with our partners at ESPN to prevent similar errors in future years. We look forward to collaborating with ESPN to bring fans exciting women’s basketball tournament coverage throughout the remainder of the championship.”