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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2021)
A5 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 bendbulletin.com/sports NFL PLAYOFFS Cross-country skiing Lamar winless no more, Ravens finish Alessandro Trovati/AP photos United States’ Jessie Diggins celebrates after winning the women’s cross-country Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on Sunday. Diggins is the first skier from the U.S. to win the event. CAN YOU DIG IT? Minnesota’s Jessie Diggins becomes the first American to win a Tour de Ski title Associated Press United States’ Jessie Diggins cries after completing a women’s Tour de Ski cross- country 10K mass start event in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on Sunday. V AL DI FIEMME, Italy — Jessie Diggins won a first title for the United States in cross-country skiing’s Tour de Ski on Sunday. Leading the women’s time standings after seven events, Diggins placed second in the 10-kilometer final stage of the 10-day competition raced in Italy and Switzerland. Her final time of more than three hours was 1 minute, 24 seconds ahead of Russian Yulia Stupak. Ebba Andersson of Sweden was third. In 15 years of the marathon competition, Dig- gins’s third place three years ago is the only other podium finish by an American man or woman. Four different Norwegians combined to win the past seven editions of the women’s Tour de Ski. The cross-country skiing power did not enter the 2021 competitions because of safety concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Diggins, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, won an Olympic gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games in team sprint with Kikkan Randall. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NFL | ANALYSIS No.11-ranked Oregon women dismantle Cal Another early playoff exit adds to the Seahawks’ frustration Associated Press BY TIM BOOTH Associated Press BERKELEY, Calif. — Kylee Watson scored a career high 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting and 11th-ranked Oregon obliter- ated Cal 100-41 on Sunday. Oregon entered with a four-game win streak over Cal with an average margin of victory of 39 points per game. Taylor Chavez, Te-Hina Paopao and Nyara Sabally each scored 13 points to lead the Ducks who had a half-dozen players score in double figures and a total of 11 score. Oregon shot 42 of 80 (52.5%) from the field. After the Ducks (9-2, 7-2 Pac-12 Confer- ence) built a quick 10-2 lead, Cal responded by outscoring the Ducks 13-8. Ugonne Ony- iah’s 3-pointer with 3:10 left in the first quar- ter brought the Bears within 18-15. But Oregon responded with a vengeance and outscored the Bears (0-10, 0-7) 28-4 for the remainder of the half and led 50-19 at halftime. The Ducks had runs of 18-2 and 12-0 during that stretch. Cal scored four points in the second quar- ter and eight in the third. Onyiah scored 13 for Cal and Evelien Lutje Schipholt 10. SEATTLE — For all the success through the years, there is an in- disputable fact Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks more veteran players can’t avoid. Since the Seahawks loss to New England in the Super Bowl in Feb- ruary 2015, their playoff perfor- mances have been complete failures by their own standards. It’s now been six years since Se- attle won more than one game in a single postseason. The Seahawks have failed to advance beyond the divisional round since that last Su- per Bowl appearance following the 2014 season. No NFC champion- ship game appearances. No chances at getting back to playing for a title. The latest abrupt playoff exit may be the most troubling following Sat- urday’s 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. After getting outcoached and outplayed by their division foe, the Seahawks are unexpectedly headed into an important offseason sooner Ted S. Warren/AP Seattle Seahawks’ Shaquill Griffin, right, embraces teammate Poona Ford after they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in their wild-card playoff game on Saturday in Seattle. than anyone expected. “Out of all the years since we lost to New England, I thought that this year was our best chance in going,” Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright said on Sunday. “I truly felt like we had all the pieces. We had all the confi- dence in the world to go back, and 12-4 that’s a really good season. It’s just unfortunate that yesterday was just one of them days.” See Seahawks / A6 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lamar Jackson finally has his first postseason vic- tory — and on the road, no less. Combine that with Bal- timore smothering 2,000- yard rusher Derrick Henry, and the Ravens look play- off tough. Jackson ran for 136 yards and a 48-yard touchdown while throw- ing for 179 more as the Ravens rallied from 10 points down and beat the Tennessee Titans 20-13 Sunday in their AFC wild- card game. Baltimore also held Tennessee to its fewest points all season. The Titans (11-6) had the ball and a chance to tie when Marcus Peters in- tercepted Ryan Tannehill’s pass intended for Kalif Raymond with 1:50 left. After the turnover, the Ra- vens came onto the field and started waving good- bye to the Titans — draw- ing a taunting penalty they didn’t mind at all. “We finished finally,” Jackson said. “We finally finished.” Brees, Saints pull away from Bears NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees will get to cel- ebrate his 42nd birthday by preparing for a playoff game that will also fea- ture the one active NFL quarterback older than him. Brees completed 28 of 39 passes for 265 yards, connecting with Michael Thomas and Latavius Murray for touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the Chi- cago Bears 21-9 in an NFC wild-card game Sunday. Alvin Kamara rushed for 99 yards and added a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter af- ter sitting out the regu- lar-season finale and not practicing this past week because of COVID-19 pro- tocols. The victory for the Saints (13-4) and Brees, who turns 42 on Friday, sets up a divisional-round meeting next weekend in the Superdome with Tampa Bay and 43-year- old QB Tom Brady. Cleveland drills Steelers from start PITTSBURGH — So much for the weight of history. Or practicing. Or having your head coach on the sideline. The Cleveland Browns overcame all of it, disman- tling the Pittsburgh Steel- ers 48-29 in the wild-card round Sunday night. It’s the franchise’s first postseason victory in more than a quarter cen- tury and earned a trip to Kansas City next Sunday to face the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs. Playing with first-year head coach Kevin Ste- fanski, Cleveland (12-5) raced to the biggest first half by a road team in NFL playoff history then held on. Baker Mayfield threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns. — Associated Press