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2B – Daily News – Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Lady Aggies win 1st title Giants off to 1-4 start ‘‘We don’t give up. We might not play the Giants 1 Texas A&M76 Notre Dame 70 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Scor- ing, rebounding, even making a key steal, Danielle Adams saved her best game for the biggest stage and brought Texas A&M its first national championship. Adams scored 22 of her 30 points in a dominating second half and answered the Fighting Irish basket for basket Tuesday night to help Texas A&M bring a title to the former all- male military academy with a thrilling 76-70 victory in front of a pro-Notre Dame crowd. ‘‘I knew they couldn’t stop me inside so that’s what I did, I took it inside,’’ Adams said. No one was happier than Gary Blair, the outspoken A&M coach who hadn’t been in the Final Four since 1998 when he was with Arkansas. Blair bluntly said it was a good thing that top powers like Connecticut, Ten- nessee and Stanford weren’t in the title game. ‘‘We don’t give up,’’ Blair said. ‘‘We might not play the prettiest game in the world but it’s good for women’s basketball to see a Texas A&M and a Notre Dame in this game.’’ And then his Aggies went out and proved him right. Tyra White added 18 points for A&M, including a huge 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded to put A&M up 73-68 with 1:07 left. The Aggies are a national champi- onship newcomer and bullied their way through the tournament to get to the top. Like Notre Dame, the Aggies prettiest game in the world but it’s good for women’s basketball to see a Texas A&M and a Notre Dame in this game.’’ — Texas A&M coach Gary Blair vanquished their conference rival on the way, beating Baylor in the Dallas regional final after losing to the Lady Bears three times during the season. Adams, who had a history of van- ishing in big games, did no such thing on Tuesday night, scoring the second most points ever in a championship game (Sheryl Swoopes 47, 1993). ‘‘Glad we came back,’’ Blair said. ‘‘We had a bad 10 minutes in the first half. We found a way to come back, and Danielle got the ball inside.’’ Both teams reached the champi- onship game by knocking off two No. 1 seeds. Notre Dame eliminated Ten- nessee in the regional final, then swept past Connecticut in Sunday night’s national semifinals, the first time one team has taken down those two women’s basketball icons in the same tournament. A&M also had two impressive wins to get here. After beating Baylor in the regional final, the Aggies edged Stanford on Sunday night. It was the first title game without a No. 1 seed since 1994 and only the second overall. It also was the first final without either Connecticut or Tennessee since Maryland beat Duke in overtime for the 2006 champi- onship. And it turned out to be a good one. After a back-and-forth first half, and with the Aggies trailing 48-43 early in the second half, Adams simply took over. The 6-foot-1 center scored 10 of the next 13 points for the Aggies to give them a 56-53 lead midway through the second half. Texas A&M then extended the advantage to 64-57 behind the two Sydneys — Carter and Colson. But Notre Dame wouldn’t give up, battling back behind its sensational sophomore guard Skylar Diggins. The Irish scored nine of the next 11 points to tie the game at 66 on Diggins’ jumper with 3:56 left. Blair went right to Adams on the next two possessions and she deliv- ered, hitting back-to-back layups. Adams hit nine of her first 10 shots in the second half. After Devereaux Peters’ putback cut it to 70-68, White hit the huge 3. Diggins had two free throws with 40.7 seconds left, and the Irish had one last chance after a turnover by the Aggies with 29 seconds remaining. Muffet McGraw called her final timeout, but Diggins turned it over in front of the bench. White hit two free throws to seal the win. Dalembert, Thornton lead Kings Kings 104 Houston 101 HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Thornton and Samuel Dalembert scored 21 points apiece, Dalembert and DeMar- cus Cousins each grabbed 15 rebounds and the Sacramento Kings hurt Houston’s playoff hopes with a 104-101 win over the Rockets on Tuesday night. Tyreke Evans scored 18 points and Cousins scored 15 for the Kings. Kevin Martin scored 30 for the Rockets, who blew a big chance to gain ground on Mem- phis in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Hous- ton was three games behind the Grizzlies and New Orleans enter- ing the game, and Mem- phis lost to the Los Angeles Clippers. Kyle Lowry had 15 points and nine assists and Luis Scola had 18 points for the Rockets, who had a seven-game home winning streak snapped. The Kings shot well and led most of the way. RB (Continued from page 1B) varsity driving a ball over the fence in left center field. Howell said he brought his freshmen outfielder up slowly so she wouldn’t feel as much pressure, but after a great practice on Monday it was time to let her loose. “Boy, she came through in a big moment,” he said. It took that type of magi- cal moment to upstage McEnaney and Haley Har- ris, who reached base a combined nine times in 10 plate appearances. The two combined for Red Bluff’s first run after Harris led off the first inning with a double. McE- naney then drilled a ball arching over the left field fence that was brought back into play by the Paradise outfielder, but also dropped in the process allowing Har- ris to score. Red Bluff picked up another run in the second inning. Danisha Slay and Brooke Clatty had back-to- back singles and with two outs Harris drove in Slay. Trailing 5-2 entering the third inning, Red Bluff once again picked up another run. Megan McColpin and Thornton’s fadeaway jumper with 1:26 remaining put Sacra- mento up 96-90, and Martin lost the ball on the Rockets’ next pos- session, their 14th turnover. The Kings twice fouled Lowry on 3- point tries in the final minute, and Houston’s point guard went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to give Houston a chance at the end. But Dalembert made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds to go, grabbed a defensive rebound and made another one with five seconds left to put it out of reach. Sacramento shot 53 percent (44 of 83) and snapped a four-game losing streak to Hous- ton. The Rockets led 28- 24 after the first quar- ter, even though the Kings shot 56 percent (10 of 18). Houston shot only 43 percent in the quarter, but took 12 more shots (13 of 30), with the help of six offensive rebounds. Patrick Patterson converted another Fletcher drew walks sand- wiched around a McEnaney double. With the bases loaded, Weaver popped a ball up in behind the pitcher that landed safely in front of a disorganized Lady Bob- cats infield, allowing McColpin to score. While the Spartans wouldn’t get another run out of the inning or in the fourth when they also loaded the bases — they found a way to tie it before their 21st out. “It’s a tribute to the girls battling through it,” Howell said. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Colorado 3 0 0 9 8 2 Galaxy 2 1 1 7 4 5 Salt Lake 2 0 0 6 5 1 Vancouver 1 1 1 4 7 6 QUAKES 11 1 4 4 3 Seattle 0 2 2 2 3 5 Chivas USA 0 2 1 1 3 5 Portland 0 2 1 1 2 6 FC Dallas 0 2 1 1 1 5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Philadelphia 2 1 0 6 2 1 N. England 1 0 2 5 4 3 New York 1 0 2 5 2 1 Chicago 1 0 1 4 4 3 Kansas City 1 1 1 4 8 8 Toronto FC 1 1 1 4 5 5 Columbus 1 1 1 4 3 3 D.C. 1 2 0 3 5 7 Houston 0 1 2 2 2 3 ————————————————— Today’s game New England at Vancouver, 7 p.m. offensive rebound into a basket early in the sec- ond quarter to keep the Rockets ahead. But the Kings continued to hit shots, and led 48-41 just before the 2-minute mark of the half. Sacramento made 23 of 43 shots in the first half (23 of 43) and outscored Houston 34- 20 in the paint. Cousins already had his 24th double-double of the season at the break, with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Dalembert scored three baskets inside early in the third quar- ter to move the Kings out to a nine-point lead. Lowry made his first 3- pointer and Scola scored from the top of the key to pull Houston back within four, and Scola finished a fast break with a layup to cut the deficit to 64-62. Thornton scored three baskets in a 40- second span as Sacra- mento pushed the lead to 10. The Rockets ral- lied again before the end of the quarter, with Lowry capping a 10-2 spurt with a running jump shot. Red Bluff hosts Las Plumas at 4 p.m., today. MLB West Division Texas East Division American League WL Pct GB 5 0 1.000— Angels 2 3 .400 3 Seattle 2 3 .400 3 A’s 13 .250 3.5 WL Pct GB Baltimore 4 0 1.000— Toronto 3 1 .750 1 New York 3 2 .600 1.5 Boston 0 4 .000 4 Tampa Bay 0 4 .000 4 Central Division WL Pct GB Kansas City 4 1 .800 — Chicago 2 2 .500 1.5 Cleveland 2 2 .500 1.5 Minnesota 2 3 .400 2 Detroit 1 3 .250 2.5 ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Toronto 7, Oakland 6, 10 innings Cleveland 3, Boston 1 Kansas City 7, Chicago 6, 12 innings Los Angeles 5, Tampa Bay 3 Minnesota 5, New York 4, 10 innings Texas 3, Seattle 2 Today’s games Oakland (Braden 0-0) at Toronto (Litsch 0-0), 4:07 p.m.,CSNC Los Angeles (Haren 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Hellickson 0-0), 10:10 a.m. Seattle (F.Hernandez 1-0) at Texas (C.Wilson 0-0), 11:05 a.m. Chicago (Buehrle 1-0) at Kansas City (Francis 0-0), 11:10 a.m. Boston (Matsuzaka 0-0) at Cleveland (Talbot 0-0), 4:05 p.m. Detroit (Verlander 0-0) at Baltimore (Bergesen 0-0), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Pavano 0-1) at New York (Garcia 0-0), 4:05 p.m., ESPN2 Thursday’s games Oakland at Toronto, 9:37 a.m. Boston at Cleveland, 9:05 a.m. Minnesota at New York, 10:05 a.m. Tampa Bay at Chicago, 11:10 a.m. Detroit at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Houston committed four turnovers in the first five minutes of the fourth and the Kings rebuilt a 10-point lead. The Rockets also missed seven of their first nine shots in the final quarter. Beno Udrih hit a jumper, then drove for a layup to give Sacramen- to its biggest lead at 92- 80 with six minutes left. Courtney Lee and Lowry finished a 10-2 Houston run with 3- pointers, cutting the gap to 94-90 at the 2-minute mark. The Rockets had a chance to get closer, but Scola was called for an offensive foul trail- ing a fast break. Notes: Cousins has nine double-doubles in his past 19 games. ... The Kings won for only the second time in their past nine trips to Houston. ... Thornton has scored 20 points or more in 10 of his past 14 games. ... Martin has reached 30 points in five of his past 12 games. ... The Rockets play the Hornets in New Orleans on Wednesday night. MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 3 1 .750 — Colorado 2 1 .667 .5 Dodgers 3 2 .600 .5 Arizona 1 3 .250 2 GIANTS 14 .200 2.5 East Division WL Pct GB New York 3 1 .750 — Philadelphia 3 1 .750 — Atlanta 3 2 .600 .5 Florida 2 2 .500 1 Washington 1 3 .250 2 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 4 0 1.000— Chicago 3 2 .600 1.5 Pittsburgh 3 2 .600 1.5 St. Louis 2 3 .400 2.5 Milwaukee 1 4 .200 3.5 Houston 0 4 .000 4 ————————————————— Tuesday’s results San Diego 3, San Francisco 1 Chicago 6, Arizona 5 Cincinnati 8, Houston 2 Colorado 3, Los Angeles 0 Florida 3, Washington 2, 10 innings Milwaukee 1, Atlanta 0 New York 7, Philadelphia 1 St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 2 Today’s games San Francisco (Lincecum 0-1) at San Diego (Stauffer 0-0),3:35 p.m.,CSNB Pittsburgh (Correia 1-0) at St.Louis (Carpenter 0-0), 10:45 a.m., MLBN Arizona (Galarraga 0-0) at Chicago (Dempster 0-1), 11:20 a.m., WGN Los Angeles (Billingsley 1-0) at Colorado (Hammel 0-0), 12:10 p.m. New York (Pelfrey 0-1) at Philadelphia (Blanton 0-0), 4:05 p.m. Houston (Figueroa 0-0) at Cincinnati (Volquez 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Washington (L.Hernandez 0-1) at Florida (Volstad 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Atlanta (Minor 0-0) at Milwaukee (Estrada 0-0), 5:10 p.m. Thursday’s games Houston at Cincinnati, 9:35 a.m. Colorado at Pittsburgh, 10:35 a.m. Atlanta at Milwaukee, 10:40 a.m. New York at Philadelphia, 12:05 p.m. Washington at Florida, 4:10 p.m. San Diego 3 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Aaron Harang pitched six strong innings in his debut with his hometown Padres, who won their home opener 3-1 Tuesday against the skidding San Francisco Giants. The defending World Series champion Giants, who eliminated the Padres from playoff contention on the last day of the 2010 season, have lost four of five. Harang (1-0) held the Giants to one run on six hits in six innings, struck out six and walked two. He joined the Padres as a free agent in the offseason after spending 7 1/2 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. Harang made five straight opening day starts with the Reds. Heath Bell pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in as many chances. Nick Hundley had three hits for the Padres, who returned home after taking two of three in St. Louis. The Giants got a quick run when Andres Torres opened the game with a single, stole second and scored on Aubrey Huff’s grounder for the second out. Harang got in trouble in the third when he loaded the bases on Miguel Tejada’s leadoff double, a single by starter Madison Bumgarner and Huff’s two-out walk. He got out of it when Buster Posey hit a one-hopper back to the mound. The Padres surged ahead 3-1 when they batted around in the bottom of the inning. Jorge Cantu hit a sacrifice fly, Chase Headley drew a bases-loaded walk and another run came in on Chris Denorfia’s dribbler toward the mound that Bumgarner lost the handle on. It was scored an infield sin- gle. Bumgarner (0-1) was pulled after allowing Hundley’s leadoff double in the fourth. He gave up three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out two. After playing a messy series in the field in Los Angeles, the Giants had one defen- sive gaffe, but it didn’t cost them. After Hundley doubled leading off the fourth, he was caught in a rundown when reliever Guillermo Mota gloved Jason Bartlett’s comebacker and threw to second. Hundley, though, was able to elude the tag of Pablo Sandoval and was safe at third, giving the Padres runners on the corners with one out. They were stranded when Mota retired the next two batters. A’s lose in 10 innings A’s 6 Toronto 7 , 10 inn TORONTO (AP) — Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tues- day night. Josh Willingham hit a leadoff homer in the top the 10th to give Oakland a 6-5 lead. But Rajai Davis led off the bottom half with a single against Grant Balfour (0-1) and Escobar followed with a first-pitch homer that landed in the right field bullpen, his first of the season. Blue Jays right-hander Jason Frasor (1-0) earned the win despite allowing Willingham’s homer. The Athletics were pun- ished for two errors. Oak- land, which committed seven errors over the week- end in losing two of three at home to Seattle, leads the majors with nine miscues. Oakland opened the scoring with a three-run, five-hit third against Blue Jays left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes. Conor Jackson and Mark Ellis each hit RBI doubles and David DeJesus drove in a run with an infield NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-SHARKS 47 23 9 103 240 202 Phoenix 42 25 12 96 224 217 Kings 45 28 6 96 214 191 Ducks 44 30 5 93 228 231 Dallas 40 28 11 91 217 224 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-Detroit 46 23 10 102 255 231 Nashville 43 26 11 97 215 191 Chicago 42 28 9 93 247 216 St. Louis 37 33 10 84 235 230 Columbus 34 33 13 81 210 249 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA z-Vancouver 52 19 9 113 254 183 Calgary 40 29 11 91 242 233 Minnesota 37 34 8 82 198 224 Colorado 29 42 8 66 219 278 Edmonton 25 43 11 61 188 256 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Philadelphia 46 23 11 103 249 215 x-Pittsburgh 47 25 8 102 229 194 N.Y.Rangers 43 32 5 91 228 193 New Jersey 36 38 5 77 165 200 N.Y.Islanders 30 37 12 72 220 250 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-Boston 44 24 11 99 238 189 x-Montreal 43 30 7 93 210 205 Buffalo 41 29 10 92 236 222 Toronto 37 32 11 85 215 243 Ottawa 31 39 10 72 188 245 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-Washington 47 22 11 105 219 194 x-Tampa Bay 44 25 11 99 237 236 Carolina 38 30 11 87 225 232 Atlanta 33 34 12 78 217 258 Florida 29 38 12 70 190 220 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Buffalo 4, Tampa Bay 2 Dallas 3, Columbus 0 Edmonton 2, Vancouver 0 Montreal 2, Chicago 1, OT Nashville 6, Atlanta 3 Ottawa 5, Philadelphia 2 Pittsburgh 4, New Jersey 2 St. Louis 3, Colorado 1 Washington 3, Toronto 2, SO Today’s games San Jose at Anaheim, 7 p.m., CSNC Detroit at Carolina, 4 p.m. Florida at Washington, 4 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Boston, 4 p.m. Toronto at New Jersey, 4 p.m. St. Louis at Chicago, 5 p.m., VS Edmonton at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Phoenix at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Monday’s late result San Jose 6, Los Angeles 1 single. The Athletics chased Reyes with two more in the fourth. Andy LaRoche sin- gled home a run and Will- ingham hit a sacrifice fly off reliever Carlos Villanueva. Toronto got one back in the bottom half off Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy, who didn’t give up a hit to the first 10 batters he faced. Escobar ended that streak with a single, went to third when Adam Lind singled off the first base bag and scored on Aaron Hill’s field- er’s choice. The Blue Jays took advantage of sloppy Oak- land defense to tie it with a four-run sixth. Davis led off with a double and Escobar singled off the glove of third baseman Kevin Kouz- manoff before Lind hit a sacrifice fly. Hill hit an RBI single and took second on McCarthy’s throwing error before Juan Rivera reached on a throwing error by Kouzmanoff. Edwin Encar- nacion made Oakland pay with an RBI double and Travis Snider capped the rally with an RBI ground- out. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB y-Lakers 55 21 .724 — Phoenix 37 40 .481 18.5 WARRIORS 33 44 .429 22.5 Clippers 31 47 .397 25 KINGS 23 54 .299 32.5 Southwest Division WL Pct GB y-San Antonio59 19 .756 — x-Dallas 53 24 .688 5.5 New Orleans44 33 .571 14.5 Memphis 44 34 .564 15 Houston 41 37 .526 18 Northwest Division WL Pct GB x-Okla. City 51 26 .662 — x-Denver 47 30 .610 4 x-Portland 45 32 .584 6 Utah 36 41 .468 15 Minnesota 17 61 .218 34.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB y-Boston 54 23 .701 — x-Philadelphia 40 38 .513 14.5 x-New York 39 38 .506 15 New Jersey 24 53 .312 30 Toronto 21 56 .273 33 Southeast Division WL Pct GB y-Miami 54 23 .701 — x-Orlando 49 29 .628 5.5 x-Atlanta 44 34 .564 10.5 Charlotte 32 45 .416 22 Washington 21 56 .273 33 Central Division WL Pct GB y-Chicago 57 20 .740 — Indiana 35 43 .449 22.5 Milwaukee 31 46 .403 26 Detroit 26 51 .338 31 Cleveland 16 61 .208 41 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Sacramento 104, Houston 101 Golden State at Portland, late Boston 99, Philadelphia 82 Chicago 97, Phoenix 94 Cleveland 99, Charlotte 89 L.A. Clippers 82, Memphis 81 New Jersey 107, Minnesota 105 New York 131, Toronto 118 Oklahoma City 101, Denver 94 Orlando 78, Milwaukee 72 San Antonio 97, Atlanta 90 Washington 107, Detroit 105 Utah at L.A. Lakers, late Today’s games Sacramento at S.A.,5:30 p.m.,CSNC Lakers at Golden State,7:30 p.m.,CSNB Cleveland at Toronto, 4 p.m. New York at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Orlando at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Washington at Indiana, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Houston at New Orleans, 5 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Milwaukee at Miami, 5 p.m., ESPN Phoenix at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Denver at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.