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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2016)
SPORTS TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 Sports shorts Capitals clinch Presidents’ Trophy WASHINGTON (AP) — Fourth-liner Tom Wilson atoned for two penalties by scoring the winning goal early in the third period as the Washington Capitals clinched the Presi- dents’ Trophy for the second time in franchise history by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 Monday night. The Capitals needed only a point to clinch the NHL’s best record this season and wrapped up home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs with seven games left. Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie also scored and Nicklas Back- strom added an empty-netter for Washington, which has an NHL-leading 113 points. Goaltender Braden Holtby made 21 saves to earn his 46th win, two shy of Martin Brodeur’s single- season record. 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS MILTON-FREEWATER Pioneers settling into groove Copeland, Earls allow combined one run in wins By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Williams: ‘I have to be 300 percent’ KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Serena Williams’ 20-match winning streak at Key Biscayne ended Monday with a 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2 loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova FACES in the fourth round of the upset-¿ lled Miami Open. Williams was bidding for her ninth title in the event Williams and her fourth in a row. But after a grueling ¿ rst set that lasted nearly an hour, the 21-time Grand Slam champion faded on a sweltering afternoon. It was her earliest exit at Key Biscayne since 2000, when she lost in the fourth round to Jennifer Capriati. “I did the best I could,” she said during a postmatch news conference that lasted less than three minutes before she cut it off. “I can’t win every match. These players come out and play me like they’ve never played before in their lives. I have to be 300 percent every day.” “Nine times is a lot of Final Fours. That’s a lot. That’s a lot of players over a lot of years. It’s not easy to do.“ — Geno Auriemma UConn women’s bas- ketball coach after the Huskies beat Texas 86-65 on Monday to reach their ninth-straight Final Four. UConn was such a heavy favorite in the game that bettors in Las Vegas had to wager $63,000 against the money line to win $100 on the Huskies. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1941 — Wisconsin, led by Gene Englund’s 13 points, wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 39-34 victory over Washington State. 1962 — Elgin Baylor (45) and Jerry West (41) of the Los Angeles Lakers become the ¿ rst teammates to score 40 or more points in an NBA playoff game. The Lakers, however, lose to Detroit 118-117. 1990 — Houston’s Akeem Olajuwon is the third player in NBA history to achieve a quadruple double during a 120-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. He ¿ nishes with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks and 10 assists. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com Staff photo by Kathy Aney Mallory Copeland, of Mac-Hi, is greeted by her teammates after hitting a home run Saturday against Estacada during the Spring Break Crossover Tournament in Milton-Freewater. Mac-Hi won 10-0. The Mac-Hi softball team ¿ nished off the Spring Break Crossover tournament feeling very con¿ dent about the remainder of the season. The Pioneers defeated the Twin Falls (ID) Bruins 11-1 and then defeated the Estacada Rangers 11-0 on Saturday afternoon for a 3-0 record in the round-robin tourna- ment. Mac-Hi (7-1) powered through to the victories on the backs of excellent team play, as well as strong performances from pitchers Mallory Copeland and Sydney Earls. Pitching was one of the biggest questions for the Pioneers coming into the 2016 season after gradu- ating the only player to throw an inning for them last season, all-state pitcher Colette Robert. But the team has done well in replacing her, as the junior Copeland and freshman Earls have had solid outputs in the team’s eight games. Earls, who transferred from Rainier (WA), started against Estacada and threw ¿ ve no-hit innings and allowed just three base runners, one on an error and then two in the fourth inning on a hit-by-pitch and a walk. It was Earl’s second pitching appearance See PIONEERS/2B Oregon State women reach ¿ rst Final Four Oregon State forward Deven Hunter kisses the Division I Regional Champi- onship NCAA tro- phy after a women’s NCAA basketball tourna- ment game against Baylor Monday in Dallas. Weise helps No. 2 Beavers hold off No. 1 Baylor By STEPHEN HAWKINS Associated Press DALLAS — Sydney Wiese scored 18 points, including three free throws in the ¿ nal 33 seconds and Oregon NCAA Women State advanced to the women’s Final Four for the ¿ rst time after a 60-57 victory over Baylor on Monday night. The Lady Bears (36-2) #2 Oregon St. ¿ nished their season with a regional ¿ nal lost for the third consecutive season. Oregon State (32-4) is going to Indianapolis to face three- #1 Baylor time defending national cham- pion UConn after eliminating the six-time defending Big 12 champions. Jamie Weisner, the Pac-12 Player of the Year who was the regional Most Outstanding Player, had 16 points while Ruth Hamblin had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Beavers — playing in their ¿ rst regional ¿ nal. Alexis Jones had 19 points for top-seeded Baylor, while Kalani Brown had 12 and Nina Davis 11. Nina Johnson, the senior point guard, 60 AP Photo/Bran- don Wade 57 had only one assist with seven rebounds in her ¿ nal chance to get to a Final Four. With a roster ¿ lled with seniors and juniors recruited by coach Scott Rueck, the Beavers were in a regional ¿ nal nearly six years after he had to conduct open tryouts to ¿ ll his ¿ rst roster. Oregon State has won 22 of its past 23 games and has already set a school record for victories this season. They won the Pac-12 Tournament and Crabbe leads Trail Blazers past Kings Portland has won five straight at home By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — Reserve Allen Crabbe scored 21 points and the Portland NBA Trail Blazers cruised to a 105-93 victory over the short- Sacramento handed Sacra- mento Kings on Monday night. CJ McCo- Portland llum had 16 points, while Damian Lillard added 13 points and nine assists, before both sat out the fourth quarter. Portland, which led by as many as 28 points, remained sixth in the Western Conference with seven games to go. The Blazers have won 14 of their last 16 games at home, PENDLETON Buckaroos hold off Riverhawks Pendleton undefeated at Boise tournament East Oregonian 93 105 shared the regular-season title, after last season winning the crown outright to end Stanford’s run of 14 championships in a row. “I don’t know how you put this into words,” Rueck said after getting the championship trophy. Weise made her second free throw after being fouled by Jones with 33 seconds left. Jones had a turnaround jumper that rattled around the See BEAVERS/2B AP Photo/Steve Dykes Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless (4) blocks the shot of Sacramento Kings center Kosta Koufos as center Ma- son Plumlee (24) defends during the fi rst quarter of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Monday, March 28, 2016. including ¿ ve straight. Seth Curry had a career-high 21 points in just his third start of the season and Omri Casspi added 18 for the Kings, who have lost ¿ ve straight to the Blazers. The Kings, all but out of the playoff picture, rested Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins. The starting lineup had Curry and Darren Collison in the backcourt, along with forwards Casspi and Quincy Acy and center Kosta Koufos. “Just opportunity for the See BLAZERS/2B BOISE, Idaho — The Pendleton Buckaroos concluded play in the Bucks Bags tournament on Saturday, holding off the Canyon Ridge Riverhawks 4-2 to ¿ nish Baseball the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. Junior Nick Lani got Pendleton the starting nod on the mound, and tossed six strong innings allowing just two earned runs and four hits with six strikeouts. Gage Correa Canyon Ridge pitched the seventh in relief and threw a perfect inning. The Buckaroos bats did not have much action against Canyon Ridge, registering four hits as Wyatt 4 2 See BUCKAROOS/2B
