Stanford’s Smith delivers win after losing fingernail
Alanna Smith hit a layup with three seconds left to lift No. 10 Stanford over USC 69-67.
Despite losing a fingernail on her right index finger early in the game, Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds to help the Cardinal (21-4, 11-3 Pac-12) rally after trailing for most of the game. DiJonai Carrington added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Kiana Williams played all 40 minutes and had 16 points and four assists.
The Trojans (15-10, 5-9) were led by the Moore sisters. Minyon Moore had 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Mariya Moore added 14 points.
Stanford shot 37.1 percent but out-rebounded USC 45-33 with 17 offensive rebounds.
Freshman Lexie Hull had seven rebounds and six points off the bench for Stanford but fouled out with 6:16 to play.
CAL SHOWS METTLE IN LOSS TO BRUINS>> The Golden Bears made things interesting in the second half, before UCLA nailed down a 80-74 win.
Cal (14-11, 5-9 Pac-12) overcame a 14-point deficit to take a lead midway through the fourth quarter, but the Bruins (16-9, 9-5 Pac-12) ended up with their fifth consecutive win over their Northern California rivals. Kristine Anigwe led Cal with 27 points and 15 rebounds, moving into the top five in the Pac-12 record book in both scoring and rebounding.
Asha Thomas added 18 points for Cal, while junior Jaelyn Brown scored all 13 of her points in the second half.
UCLA’s Japreece Dean led all scorers with 28 points.
Football
EX-RAIDERS GM WITH DOLPHINS >> Former Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie has landed with the Miami Dolphins as a senior personnel executive in their front office, according to multiple reports.
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, who was named head of football operations on New Year’s Eve, is expected to lean on McKenzie and new assistant general manager Marvin Allen for the upcoming draft.
McKenzie and Allen, who has 25 years’ experience in scouting for NFL teams, were instrumental in helping their previous teams build through the draft.
Coming off a 7-9 season, the Dolphins have eight picks this year, including the 13th overall.
McKenzie was fired in early December, ending a run that began in 2012 and saw him earn Executive of the Year honors in 2016.
The NFL’s career development advisory panel had recommended him as a potential
top candidate for any general manager position that came open.
McKenzie, 55, clashed with Raiders head coach Jon Gruden over the direction of the team, leading to his ouster in Oakland. TEBOW PASSES ON ALLIANCE >> New York Mets minor league outfielder Tim Tebow said Saturday he has turned down several requests from his former college football coach about joining the Alliance of American Football.
Tebow, 31, won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and helped the Florida Gators to two national championships before joining the NFL, but he turned to baseball following the end of his football career.
Orlando Apollos head coach Steve Spurrier, who coached Tebow at Florida, revealed earlier this week that Tebow turned down an invitation to join the Alliance of American Football, choosing instead to keep pursuing his baseball dreams.
Tebow said he rebuffed his former coach more than once, but that his decision wasn’t hard.
“It wasn’t hard at all ... and they’ve called a lot,” Tebow said at a Mets press conference on Saturday. “Coach Spurrier keeps calling, and I love Coach Spurrier . ... I’m all in on baseball.”
Tebow was a first-round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2010, but he started just 16 games over three NFL seasons with the Broncos (2010-11) and New York Jets (2012).
Tebow batted .273 with six home runs and 36 RBIs in 84 games at Double-A Binghamton last season. He was one of 13 Mets farmhands invited to spring training. CLEMSON DT KNOWS WHAT’S COMING AT COMBINE >> Dexter Lawrence said he knows just what he will tell executives at the NFL Scouting Combine who ask about
his positive test for a performance-enhancing drug, which kept him out of the College Football Playoff.
What he can’t tell them is how the drug, ostarine, found its way into his body.
“I do want to know how it got in my system and where it came from,” said Lawrence, one of three Tigers to test positive.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said recently that the school could have given the substance to the players, perhaps through supplements mislabeled by the manufacturer.
A school investigation is continuing.
Golf
HOLMES OVERTAKES THOMAS >> J.B. Holmes erased a 4-shot deficit going into the final round Sunday at the Genesis Open, taking advantage of Justin Thomas’ pratfall to earn his fifth career PGA Tour victory.
Holmes carded a 1-under-par 70 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, closing the round with seven straight pars and taking the lead for good at 13 when Thomas four-putted for a double bogey. Holmes two-putted from about 70 feet out on 18, cozying the birdie putt within about 2 feet. He finished the event at 14-under 270.
“I knew it was going to be very difficult to shoot a low score,” Holmes said afterward. “I needed some help from Justin.”
Thomas sprayed the ball all over the course, then couldn’t make up for it with the short game while shooting 75. He bogeyed 2, 4 and 5, then couldn’t recover on the back nine as the winds howled and denied players the low scores they routinely achieved the first three rounds.
Thomas could have forced a playoff if he had sank a 20-footer for birdie at 18, but his putt slid to the left just before reaching the cup.
“It was really tough on the back side, the wind was really blowing hard,” Holmes said.
Si Woo Kim finished third at 12 under, after a final-round 66. Marc Leishman and Rory McIlroy tied for fourth at 11 under, Leishman carding a 3-under 68 and McIlroy turning in a 69.
EX-SPARTAN WINS ON WEB. COM TOUR >> San Jose State graduate Mark Hubbard won the LECOM Suncoast Classic on the Web.com Tour with a 26-under par 262. The victory was his second as a professional and first since 2013.
College men’s basketball
CARDINAL ROLLS PAST BRUINS AFTER DELAY >> Stanford responded with a 15-3 burst after a long halftime delay caused by a loose rim Saturday night, opening a big lead en route to a 104-80 victory over visiting UCLA.
Josh Sharma had 22 points, KZ Okpala 20 and Cormac Ryan 19 in a balanced attack as the Cardinal (14-11, 7-6 Pac-12) went over 100 points for just the fourth time since 1950 in the rivalry between the California schools.
Sophomore Jaylen Hands poured in a careerbest 29 points for the Bruins (13-13, 6-7), who beatStanford 92-70 at home last month.
After the Cardinal used a 26-5 run in the first half to help build a 49-40 halftime lead, a decision was made at the break to replace both baskets with portable standards when the rim at which Stanford had shot in the first half was deemed to have been too loose to continue in operation.
The teams stayed in the locker room while the changes, which took about a half-hour, were made, and then they were given 10 minutes to warm up for the second half.
UCLA then had just one field goal in the first 4:49 of the second half as Stanford pulled away.
Okpala had two baskets, including a 3-pointer, while Sharma and Daejon Davis contributed dunks to the surge that opened a 64-43 advantage. Sharma had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Stanford also beat USC 79-76 on Wednesday.
Hockey
DUCK ENJOYS HISTORIC NIGHT >> Scott Niedermayer became the ninth NHL player to have his number retired by two different teams when the Anaheim Ducks hoisted his No. 27 to the rafters before Sunday’s game against the Washington Capitals.
Niedermayer, who was the captain on the Ducks’ 2007 championship team, also had his number retired by the New Jersey Devils in 2011.