L.A. win opens WNBA season
Nneka Ogwumike scored 23 points, newcomer Odyssey Sims added 20 and the Los Angeles Sparks opened defense of their WNBA title with a 78-68 victory over the Seattle Storm at Staples Center.
Tina Charles scored 12 points and Epiphanny Prince had 11 to help the host New York Liberty beat the shorthanded San Antonio Stars 73-64. The Stars were missing top pick Kelsey Plum out of Washington, who sprained her right ankle last week.
Tiffany Hayes hit 11 of 12 free throws and finished with 19 points, including a late threepointer,
and the Atlanta Dream held off the host Connecticut Sun 81-74.
Tennis: Rafael Nadal ended his seven-match winless streak against Novak Djokovic with a 6-2, 6-4 win that put him in the Madrid Open final again.
Nadal overpowered Djokovic, converting on his third match point to earn his first victory against the secondranked Djokovic since the 2014 French Open final. The four-time Madrid champion will play the title match against ninth-ranked Dominic Thiem, who ousted Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4.
On the women’s side, Simona Halep won her second straight Madrid title, defeating Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2. College baseball: Nico Hoerner celebrated his 20th birthday with a game-winning single in the 10th inning as No. 10 Stanford defeated host Cal 6-5. Stanford (32-13, 14-8 Pac-12) has won 13 of its past 14 games. The Cardinal improved to 3-0 against Cal (21-25, 12-13) this season, and clinched the season series for the ninth straight year. College tennis: The defending NCAA champion Stanford women easily handled visiting Idaho 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The Cardinal (22-2) will host TCU, a 4-0 winner over Rice, in the second round on Sunday.
In Berkeley, Cal routed San Jose State 4-0 to advance to the second round against LSU. Water polo: Maggie Steffens scored four times, No. 2 Stanford clamped down in the fourth quarter and the Cardinal (22-3) advanced to their eighth straight NCAA final with an 11-10 win over No. 3 USC in Indianapolis. Stanford, which has appeared in every championship match since 2010, will play No. 1 UCLA (24-1) for the title Sunday. The Bruins beat Cal 14-11 in the tournament’s earlier semifinal.