Sabrina Ionescu rarely turns down an opportunity to show up and support her alma mater Oregon whenever she can. A few months ago, Ionescu helped welcome ESPN's “College Gameday” at a home football game, and this time, the New York Liberty star turned up to offer some advice to her former women's basketball team.

Ionescu was present courtside with her husband Hroniss Grasu as the Ducks took on No. 21 USC in Los Angeles. Oregon struggled through the first half, falling behind 37-21, but an impromptu halftime speech from Ionescu provided some inspiration for the team to completely turn around in the second half against the Trojans.

“She kind of lit the kids up a little bit at halftime,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said. “It's really funny because she said the exact same thing I wanted to say. I gave her first crack at it, and she walked in, and I was thinking, ‘Damn, [Sabrina], I would have said the exact same thing.' It was good to have her here on a night like this.”

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Oregon went on to limit USC's standout freshman Jazzy Davidson to just one basket through the second half as the Ducks outscored their opponents 50-29 and ended the game on a 14-0 run. Oregon ended up pulling off the upset 71-66 after guard Ari Long hit three 3-pointers in a row to give the visiting team the lead with only 31 seconds remaining. Ionescu's attendance made all the difference, and Graves revealed what exactly the 28-year-old said postgame.

“That we've got to play our game. We were a little intimidated, and she talked about that. She talked about playing stronger,” Graves said. “Just realize who we are, and we're not going to out-athlete them, so we're going to have to out-tough them. The message was right on point, and they listened. Maybe I've got to hire her.”