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