Top-ranked Oregon upsets U.S. women's national team
For one night, Oregon can not only claim to be the No. 1 team in college basketball but the top women's team in the world.
The top-ranked Ducks beat the U.S. senior women's national team in exhibition play Saturday, riding program standouts Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally to a 93-86 upset.
DUCKS WIN!!!
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) November 10, 2019
No. 1 Oregon becomes just the second college team EVER to defeat @usabasketball and the first since 1999!#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/6XjMfOmg7F
Team USA's only other loss to a collegiate opponent occurred on Nov. 7, 1999, versus Tennessee. The senior women's team is now 43-2 all time against NCAA squads.
Ionescu scored 20 of her 30 points in the third quarter, setting the tone for an exciting finish in front of over 11,500 fans. Sabally, a 6-foot-4 junior from Germany, was equally impressive, finishing with 25 points for Oregon.
In an alternate universe, Ionescu might have been playing for Team USA rather than leading the charge against her national team. Before announcing her intent to return to Eugene for her senior season, the 5-foot-11 guard was widely projected to be selected first overall in the 2019 WNBA Draft.
"We were just going to try to stay within 20," Ionescu said postgame, according to The Oregonian. " ... As the game continued to go on, we kind of forget about who they were and the expectations of them beating us."