Last Friday night, the on-fire Oregon Ducks took eventual champion Baylor down to the wire in the NCAA Women’s Semifinal. While the Lady Bears were longer and quicker than the Ducks, Oregon looked capable of the upset until late in the fourth quarter, when a cold snap struck at the worst possible time. Baylor prevailed and went on to beat Notre Dame, in another great game, on Sunday night for the National Championship.
While Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu didn’t end up making the All-Tournament team, she became the sport’s breakout star in 2019. Just a junior, Ionescu broke the NCAA’s record for career triple-doubles in February, her 13 beating out former Brigham Young University star Kyle Collinsworth’s 12. (Collinsworth was a four-year player, and Ionescu now has 18.) She’s a magnetic force on the court, and not just because she’s an awesome team’s primary playmaker and a deadly shooter; she oozesattitude on the floor and backs it up. Check out the death stare Ionescu gives her defender, DiDi Richards, after this three-point-and-one play in the Final Four: