NCAAW
Mechelle Voepel 4y

Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu eclipses 2,000 points, 800 assists for career

Women's College Basketball, Oregon Ducks

Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu fell just short of adding to her career triple-double total Wednesday night in a 109-52 victory over Utah State in Eugene, Oregon. But she did top the 2,000-point mark (2,012) and also joined an elite group of passers in Pac-12 conference history.

The senior guard had 16 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds, just missing her 19th career triple-double.

Ionescu also avoided an injury scare.

She was driving to the basket when she was fouled with 3 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third quarter and fell to the court, putting a hand on the back of her right leg. She was helped to her feet and appeared to be reluctant to go to the bench, but did and sat out until returning to the lineup to open the fourth quarter.

"Obviously it's a concern any time anyone, Sabrina or anyone else, is down there holding on to their knee," Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. "I'm glad it was nothing.''

Asked how to explain the "dead leg'' Ionescu described to her teammates, Graves said, "I don't know what that is. We used to call it a charley horse.''

Ionescu now has 810 career assists, making her the fifth player in Pac-12 history -- men's or women's -- to top 800 in that category. She's tied with Arizona men's player Russell Brown (1978-81), and is just 21 behind the women's all-time leader, UCLA's Jordin Canada (2015-18), who finished with 831 assists.

Ionescu, who had 311 assists last season, could end up as the league's all-time leader, men's or women's. The record of 938 assists is held by former Oregon State and NBA star Gary Payton (1987-90). The only other Pac-12 player in the 800-assist club is UCLA men's standout Pooh Richardson, who had 833 in 1986-89.

With 27 more rebounds this season, Ionescu also will hit 800 in her career in that category.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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