Alaska’s hot-shooting Ruthy Hebard makes mark on NCAA record book

The latest 30 for 30 isn't a sports documentary. It's the shooting streak that put Ruthy Hebard in the NCAA record book Friday night.

Hebard, the can't-miss kid from Fairbanks, set a new standard for perfection by extending her three-game shooting streak to 30 consecutive field goals without a miss for the No. 9 Oregon Ducks.

Hebard, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, connected on all 12 of her shots from the field Friday in ninth-ranked Oregon's 80-74 double-overtime win over USC in Eugene, Oregon.

That performance came five days after she went 12 for 12 to boost Oregon past Washington State 90-79. Two days before that, she went 13 for 15 and hit her final six attempts in a 76-63 win over Washington.

In those three games, the West Valley graduate totaled 86 points on 37 of 39 shooting.

By sinking 30 shots in a row, Hebard broke the previous NCAA record of 28 straight set in 1998 by Southern Utah's Myndee Kay Larsen. The men's record is also 30 straight, set in 2016 by Yale's Brandon Sherrod.

Hebard has made so many baskets in a row that she lost track of her streak Friday against the Trojans. "I actually thought I missed two, but hey, I'll take it," Hebard said in a pac12.com interview.

Hebard does her damage in the paint, whether she's being double-teamed or wide open. She's been perfect in five games this season – she was 10 for 10 against Texas A&M, 7 for 7 against Eastern Washington, 9 for 9 against Arizona State and 12 for 12 against both Washington State and USC. The 12-for-12 efforts established a single-game record for the Ducks.

A three-time Alaska Player of the Year for the Wolfpack, Hebard averages 18.1 points and 8.6 rebounds and has 40 blocks and 36 steals in 27 games for the Ducks. She has hit 201 of 300 shots from the field for a 67.0 shooting percentage, and she reached the 1,000-point threshhold for career points in the win over Washington State.

The NCAA record for single-season shooting percentage is 72.4, set by Larsen in 1998. The career record is 70.3 percent, set by UConn''s Tamika Williams (1999-2002.

As a freshman, Hebard shot 58.8 percent to rank 15th nationally in shooting accuracy.

She'll try to extend her streak Monday when the Ducks, who are 24-4, host seventh-ranked UCLA in a Pac12 showdown. The game is scheduled to air on ESPN2 (GCI cable channel 35) at 6 p.m.