EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women’s basketball team will open the 2019-20 season as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, the Associated Press announced Wednesday morning in its preseason top-25 poll.
It is the first No. 1 national ranking in program history for the Ducks, who are coming off last season’s historic run to the NCAA Final Four. Oregon opened 2018-19 at No. 3 in the AP poll and was ranked as high as No. 2 while winning its second straight Pac-12 regular season championship.
The Ducks received 25 of 28 first-place votes in the AP poll to earn the top spot, with Baylor, Stanford, Maryland and UConn rounding out the top five. Oregon was also No. 1 in the espnW preseason top 25 released earlier this week.
Led by reigning Wade Trophy and Wooden Award winner Sabrina Ionescu, who chose to return to Oregon for her senior season rather than declare for the 2019 WNBA Draft, the Ducks return four of five starters and seven total letterwinners from the 2018-19 Final Four squad.
Ionescu is joined by a pair of WBCA honorable mention all-Americans and all-Pac-12 selections in senior Ruthy Hebard and junior Satou Sabally, along with one of the nation’s top three-point shooters in junior Erin Boley. Oregon also brings back sophomore Taylor Chavez along with juniors Lydia Giomi and Morgan Yaeger.
Head coach Kelly Graves bolstered the Ducks’ depth in a big way with five offseason additions. Senior Minyon Moore (USC), a two-time Pac-12 all-defensive selection, and redshirt freshman Sedona Prince (Texas) joined Oregon as transfers, and the Ducks brought in a trio of highly-touted international recruits in Lucy Cochrane (Australia), Jaz Shelley (Australia) and Holly Winterburn (England).
The Ducks will get a unique opportunity on Saturday, Nov. 8, when they host the USA Women’s National Team in an exhibition game at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon will officially open its 2019-20 season on Monday, Nov. 11, with a Veterans’ Day matchup against Northeastern in MKA.
2019-20 Associated Press Preseason Top 25
