Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu on Monday became the first college basketball player (men’s or women’s) to collect 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career. She also recorded her 26th career triple-double. It all happened on a highly emotional day for the senior, who spoke at the memorial service for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna at Staples Center in Los Angeles in the morning before flying back to the Bay Area for Monday night’s game.
The No. 3 Ducks beat No. 4 Stanford 74-66, with Ionescu finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Oregon coach Kelly Graves said Ionescu also was battling the flu, which is why she missed most of the team’s warm-ups.
The date was special to her not just because of the memorial but also because 2/24/20 are the jersey numbers of Gianna, Kobe and Sabrina.
“It was for him,” Ionescu said, referencing Bryant, when asked by ESPN’s LaChina Robinson about hitting the milestone. “To do it on 2/24/20 is huge. We had talked about it in the preseason. I can’t really put that into words. He’s looking down and really proud of me and just really happy for this moment with my team.”
Ionescu took a charter flight with Graves’ wife, Mary, to Los Angeles following the Ducks’ practice on Sunday afternoon. They returned via charter to the team hotel in Palo Alto on Monday afternoon, then arrived at Maples Pavilion around 7:30 p.m. ET for a 9 p.m. tipoff.