Inside: Stanford women top Arizona on Monday night, wrap up Pac-12 regular-season title.
Kiana Williams scored 15 points and No. 4 Stanford clinched its first regular-season Pac-12 title in seven years, beating ninthranked Arizona 62-48 on Monday night.
Lexie Hull added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal (21-2, 18-2 Pac-12), who won their 10th straight game to capture the program’s first league title since 2014. Oregon won the past three.
Santa Cruz native Haley Jones had 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals for Stanford but also committed seven of her team’s 16 turnovers.
Hockey
KARLSSON’S TIMELINE FOR RETURN PUSHED BACK BY SHARKS >> It may be a few more days before injured San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson is able to skate again. The Sharks first hoped that Karlsson would be able practice sometime this week and potentially play Saturday when they host the St. Louis Blues. But coach Bob Boughner said that Karlsson, who is dealing with a groin issue, may not skate again until next week, pushing back the timeline for his return.
Karlsson has not played since Feb. 13 when he sat out the final 11 minutes of a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. It is believed that he has not skated since last Wednesday, when he had to leave the ice shortly after the team’s practice began.
SHARKS BEGIN HOMESTAND WITH A THUD >>
Every time it seemed like the San Jose Sharks had a chance to establish some momentum Monday night, the Minnesota Wild would come back with a better response.
Brent Burns scored a dazzling goal just 45 seconds into the first period, and the Wild responded with two quick goals less than eight minutes later. The Sharks killed a penalty to Logan Couture early in the second period, only to see Minnesota score at even strength shortly after the two-minute call expired.
When all was said and done, the Sharks simply couldn’t keep up with Wild, losing 6-2 at SAP Center to open what figures to be a grueling eight-game homestand.
Couture also scored for the Sharks and Martin Jones stopped 16 of 20 shots before he was replaced by Devan Dubnyk at the 10:48 mark of the second period.
MLB SEATTLE DOING DAMAGE CONTROL WITH PLAYERS AFTER EXEC’S VIDEO >>
Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais are doing damage control with players who were directly mentioned or referenced by former team CEO Kevin Mather in an online video that led to his resignation.
The message over the past two days to those affected has been: you have every right to be upset.
“We are very open with our players and urge them to be the same. And if they want to be angry, they should be, frankly. They should be insulted,” Dipoto said Tuesday. “But at the same time, they are collectively driven toward what we’re trying to do here as a team.”
The video posted over the weekend showed Mather expressing his views of the club’s organizational strategy and making controversial remarks about players during a recent online event. He took insensitive shots at a former All-Star from Japan and a top prospect from the Dominican Republic for their English skills. He also admitted the team may be manipulating service time for some of its young players.
Horse racing
2 MORE HORSES DIE AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS >> A 4-year-old gelding and a 5-year-old mare have died in training incidents at Golden Gate Fields, the third and fourth thoroughbreds to die at the Northern California racetrack this year.
The gelding named Sweet Boy died Saturday, and the California Horse Racing Board’s website lists it as a sudden death.
Sweet Boy was trained and co-owned by Timothy Bellasis. The gelding had four wins in eight career starts and earnings of $43,971.
My Three Kids died Sunday, according to the racing board. The mare was trained by Andreas Psarras. She had one win in 14 career starts and earnings of $14,908.
Tennis
MURRAY LOSES 1ST ATP TOUR MATCH IN 4 MONTHS >> Andy Murray lost in straight sets to No. 83-ranked Egor Gerasimov at the Open Sud de France in the former No. 1’s first ATP Tour match since October.
Murray’s lack of match fitness was apparent as he was beaten 7-6 (8), 6-1 by the big-serving Belarusian in 1 hour and 44 minutes in the first round of the indoor hard-court event in Montpellier.
Murray tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before he was due to board a charter flight to Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open last month. He was forced to withdrew from the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, saying he could not figure out a workable quarantine that would allow him to compete amid the pandemic.
High school athletics JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WITHDRAWS FROM TRANSGENDER CASE >>
The U.S. Justice Department has removed its support for a federal lawsuit in Connecticut that seeks to reverse a state policy allowing the participation of transgender athletes in girl’s high school sports.
The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners who argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against two transgender sprinters.
The Justice Department’s move comes just days before a Friday hearing on a motion to dismiss that lawsuit.