Tar Heels Leave Cal Women Stuck, Win 65-52 at Haas

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–North Carolina’s ACC-leading defense, as advertised, gave the Cal Bears fits on Thursday night.

The Tar Heels forced Cal into catch-up mode from the start and kept the hosts out of step until the conclusion of the third quarter, which ended with the Bears trailing by just two points. But the fourth quarter saw the visitors’ pressure intensify, holding Cal to just seven points the rest of the way in a disappointing 65-52 loss.

The Bears squandered an opportunity to move closer to the top 16 teams nationally, who hold aspirations of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Cal remains entrenched in the post-season picture, but their opportunities to move up in the rankings could be limited to their upcoming road trip to Louisville and Notre Dame.

In the absence of a win, the highlight of the evening for Cal was leading scorer Ioanna Krimili’s 400th career 3-pointer. The 6th year guard moved into a select group of 16 women that have achieved the feat.

Krimili led Cal with 20 points, and Michelle Onyiah added 14 despite being limited to 18 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble and cramping. Marta Suarez and Lulu Twidale suffered rough nights shooting with a combined 5 of 23 accuracy.

UNC’s Alyssa Ustby, in her 132nd start, was again the key to the visitor’s defensive effort, limiting Suarez and Twidale individually while helping the Heels control the glass with a 38-28 edge.

“Their defensive pressure, their intensity gave us some trouble,” coach Charmin Smith said. “They kind of bullied us off our lines in trying to set screens, let alone use screens.”

Cal played without Natalia Ackerman and Giselle Maul which limited their bench production, and made the fourth quarter especially rough as fatigue and missed shots allowed UNC to increase their lead to as many as 14 points. The Bears lost at Haas Pavilion for the first time this season after rattling off 11 consecutive wins.

Cal’s weekend at home concludes with a contest against the Pitt Panthers, who have won just one of their nine conference games and are in danger of being one of the three teams that don’t qualify for the ACC Tournament. That game is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m.

Kraken Sink Sharks 6-2, Montour Scores Twice

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The Seattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour celebrates scoring his second goal against the San Jose Sharks in the second period at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thu Jan 30, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-2 to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Chandler Stephenson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brandon Montour (2 goals), Jaden Schwartz, and Eeli Tolvane scored for Seattle. Joey Daccord made 26 saves for the win. Carl Grundstrom and Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made seven saves on 11 shots before being replaced by Alexandar Georgiev, who made 20 saves in the loss.

The Kraken took an early lead at 3:55 of the first period. Chandler Stephenson got a break away courtesy of a series of good passes to get the puck out of Seattle’s zone. By the time the puck got to Stephenson, he was almost at the Sharks blue line and there was no one between him and Askarov. The shot went by Askarov on the glove side. Assists went to Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen.

Carl Grundstrom tied the game at 17:55. Grundstrom skated to the net from the right side, passing back and forth with Will Smith, before taking the shot. Assists went to Smith and Mikael Granlund.

The Sharks outshot the Kraken 11-8 in the first period. There were no penalties called in the first.

Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 2-1 at 2:03 of the second period. Bjorkstrand scored from just outside the blue paint off a pass from Chandler Stephenson. Assists went to Stephenson and Vince Dunn.

Brandon Montour scored the third Seattle goal less than a minute later. S Wright stole the puck from the Sharks and passed it over to Montour, who was just skating into the zone. Montour took the shot from high in the slot and beat Azkarov on the glove side.

Jaden Schwartz made it 4-1 at 5:58. Jamie Oleksiak’s pass found Schwartz breaking away at the Sharks’ blue line. No one got in front of him as he skated in and shot at the puck past Askarov.

The Sharks pulled Askarov after that one and put Georgiev in net.

Brandon Montour scored his second of the night on a power play at 7:52. Montour caught a cross-ice pass from Jared McCann before shooting from the hash marks into the far side of the net. Assists went to McCann and Chandler Stephenson.

In the second period, several calls gave the Kraken two power plays and the Sharks one. The Kraken outshot the Sharks 17-9 in the second.

Tyler Toffoli got one back for the Sharks at 8:06 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini got a pass through to Toffoli in the center of the ice. Toffoli got a wrist shot through traffic in front of the net for his 18th of the season. Assists went to Celebrini and Henry Thrun.

Eeli Tolvanen made it 6-2 at 12:18. The Kraken took the puck from the Sharks on a zone entry and went to the other way. Tolvanen used Cody Ceci as a screen for his shot, Ceci being the only Shark to catch him as he skated into the zone. Joshua Mahura got an assist on the goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday back in San Jose against the visiting Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 PM PT.

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: Bears battle UNC in Berkeley tonight; Cal still perfect 11-0 at home

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Stanford Tree (left) not happy, Cal Bears players (right) happy after sweeping the two game season series against the Stanford Cardinal on Thu Jan 25, 2025 at Maples Pavilion (Cal Bears X photo)

On Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Cal Bears (18-3) Kayla Williams scored 18 points and Ioanna Krimlli had 17 point and the Cal defeated the Stanford Cardinal (10-9) 75-72 last Thursday night.

 #2 The win was historic it was the Bears first sweep of the Cardinal in 39 years.

#3 The win on Thursday was Cal’s first win at Stanford since the 2014-15 and Stanford suffered it’s second home loss of the season.

#4 Marta Suarez who scored 13 points. The Bears had lost 12 in a row against the Cardinal. The win on Thursday was Cal’s first win by 20 points after having a successful evening of hitting 18 three pointers.

#5 The North Carolina Tar Heels (18-5) come calling Thursday night against Cal for a 7:00pm PST tip. NC has not lost a road game yet this season at 4-0.

Join Morris for the Cal Bears podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Can Chiefs threepeat? Eagles heavily rely on Saquon and Hurts in Super Bowl LIX

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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) scrambles against the Buffalo Bills in the second half at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Sun Jan 26, 2025 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, talk about how heavlily the Philadelphia Eagles rely on their running back Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts against a battle tested Kansas City Chiefs defense.

#2 Barkley scored three touchdowns and help lead the Eagles to their second Super Bowl. One of the touchdowns included a 60 yard run.

#3 The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was 18-26 for 245 yards and threw for one touchdown leading the Chiefs once again to the Super Bowl and their third straight Super Bowl and a chance to threepeat.

#4 It’s Kansas City’s second post season close game they just got by the Houston Texans 23-14 on Sat Jan 18 in the AFC Divisional game. Then last Sunday the Chiefs narrowly got by the Buffalo Bills 32-29 In the AFC Championship game in Kansas City to get into their third Super Bowl.

#5 It’s media week this week where the Eagles and Chiefs meet the press in New Orleans it’s the one week where players will get questions and any kind of questions.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson: Cardinal get big win over Orange 70-61; Raynaud leads the way with 21 points

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Syracuse Orange Jaquan Carlos (left) drives on the Stanford Cardinal Benny Gealer (right) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Wed Jan 29, 2025 (Stanford Cardinal X photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson:.

#1 Stanford Cardinal (15-6) Maxime Raynaud scored 21 points and had 15 rebounds with his national leading 17th double double. Stanford had a 17-0 run to open the game on Wednesday night against the Syracuse Orange (9-12) 70-61.

#2 Syracuse failed to convert it’s first seven shots. Raynaud hit two 3 pointers and scored eight points. As Stanford had the 17-0 lead. The Cardinal were up 25-2 but the Orange came right back with a 12-1 run and also closed the gap by seven points twice with a 33-24 Stanford lead at the half.

#3 Midway in the first half the Cardinal scored four three pointers more than Syracuse had two baskets. The Orange shot 8 for 15 in the last ten minutes of the first half. The Cardinal went three for 13.

#4 Raynaud had a double double before the first half was over. Raynaud had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half.

#5 The Cardinal visit the SMU Mustangs in Dallas on Sat Feb 1 for a 3:00pm PST tip. SMU are in fourth place and are 12-3 at home. Stanford is 3-3 on the road so far this season. How do you see this match up.

Join Michael Roberson for the Stanford Cardinal podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cardinal Squeezed the Orange 70-61, on a late Wednesday Night inside Maples

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Stanford Cardinal guard Ryan Agarwal (center) is all smiles as the Cardinal defeated guard Lucas Taylor (3) and the Syracuse Orange at Maples Pavilion on Wed Jan 29, 2025 (Stanford Cardinal X photo)

By Michael Roberson

STANFORD, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal (15-6, 7-3 ACC) Peeled the Syracuse Orange (9-12, 3-7 ACC) 70-61 all around the Farm, and remained unbeaten at home (Maples) and the Bay (Haas) in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

ACC Player of the Week, Maxime Raynaud started the bi-coastal contest with his own personal 5-0 run. He hit a shot clock buzzer-beating 3-pointer, then scored another bucket shortly thereafter. The Cardinal added 12 consecutive more points, to perform a 17-0 run, before Syracuse could even affect the scoreboard.

After a 7:35 scoring drought by the visitors from the Empire State, they finally got into the scoring column on a layup by senior guard Jaquan Carlos. Even after getting off the “Goose Egg,” they trailed by as much as 23 points midway through the first half.

From that point on, Syracuse went on a 22-8 run by intermission. During that push, the Orange cut the deficit to seven twice, and trailed by nine after 20 minutes of action, 33-24.

Raynaud was the only player in double-figures at the half. He compiled a double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

In the second half, the Cardinal put the lead pack in double-digits right away, on an Oziyah Sellers Trey. However, Syracuse relentlessly showed they still had juice inside of them and continued to cut into the Cardinal’s impressive lead.

Syracuse was able to get within six , but no closer than that because Stanford turned up the defense and recovered crucial and timely rebounds. The Oranged ended the game with five more turnovers than their counterpart, and gave up 10 more points than they were able to score off of Stanford’s miscues.

All other statistics were close, but the 10 point difference in turnover was the difference, as the extra 5 were converted to two points each. Winning by nine, 70-61, was a direct result of that margin of victory.

Raynaud improved on his halftime double-double, by garnering a game-high 21 points and 15 rebounds. Jaylen Blakes joined him with 14 points and 6 rebounds, while both Oziyah Sellers and Benny Gealer offered 10 points apiece.

Jaquan Carlos led the way for the Orange with 16 points, and his teammate Eddie Lampkin chipped in 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Stanford will next be in action in Dallas, TX, Saturday, February 1, as they take on the Southern Methodist Mustangs 5:00 PM CT, on the ACC Network. Syracuse crosses the Bay on the same date to take on the California Golden Bears 7:00 PM PT, on ESPN2. The aforementioned Carlos led the Orange with 7 points and 3 assists.

Utah HC Takes Mammoth Step Toward Team Name But Falls to Penguins 3-2 In Overtime

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Pittsburgh Penguins center Syd Crosby (87) and Utah Hockey Club’s left wing Michael Carcone (53) battle for the puck in second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Jan 29, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah inched closer to a new team name on Wednesday, but Sid Crosby’s overtime goal delivers another home ice loss.

The Utah Hockey Club announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had rejected various proposed names and logos that the team had sought as possibilities for the 2025-2026 season and beyond, including what had been the odds-on fan favorite “Yetis,” which turns out to be heavily trademark protected by Yeti Coolers LLC. As a result, the team announced that fan voting would take place at Delta Center during the next four home games where attendees would be able to choose between the current Utah Hockey Club name, the Utah Mammoth, or the Utah Wasatch, which is the name of the mountain range flanking Salt Lake City and the surrounding region.

The announcement was enthusiastically received by two particular fans, Richard Latimer and Nick Finlayson, who have actively campaigned for the Mammoth name from the beginning and who have been seen at many games and on television news programs sporting their now familiar Mammoth attire. Though not technically permitted to advocate at the arena’s polling booths where fans lined up for the opportunity to weigh in on the new name, Latimer and Finlayson nevertheless hung out near one of the voting sites prior to Wednesday night’s tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins to draw attention and occasionally break into a “Let’s Go Mammoths” chant. Finlayson said, “When they announced the names that you could vote for, Mammoth stuck out immediately.” Latimer added, “We knew it was Mammoth from the beginning. As soon as it was announced we got a hockey club we knew we had to be the Mammoth. … We came to game one, opening night, dressed as mammoths.” The two friends have even taken their costumes on the road to a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Spencer Joseph of the local Fox 13 affiliate surveyed a number of fans about their preferences, and Utah Mammoth was the clear fan favorite thus far.

Out on the ice, Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to the lineup from injury after a five-game absence and gave his squad a 1-0 lead at 14:51 of the first with his 9th goal of the season, a snap shot on the power play, assisted Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley. Utah goaltender Connor Ingram turned away all four Pittsburgh shots in the period, while Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 11 of 12.

Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson evened things up at 6:40 of the second period with his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Sidney Crosby and Matt Grzelcyk. Utah would respond two minutes later and regain the lead as Michael Carcone netted his 4th of the season, assisted by John Marino and Nick Bjugstad.

At 6:17 of the third period, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson took advantage of a misdirected pass in the Utah defensive zone and blasted a shot past Ingram to ties things up again with his 5th goal of the season, unassisted, and the two teams ended regulation play knotted up 2-2.

With a little more than a minute remaining in the overtime period, Penguins star Sid Crosby gave Utah fans a glimpse of his Hall of Fame credentials with the game winner for Pittsburgh, his 16th of the season, assisted by Cody Glass and Rickard Rakell. Crosby commented after the game about playing for the first time in Salt Lake City. “It was great. The atmosphere was great, it was a lot of fun to play here. I can tell that the people are excited here to have a team and can support them.”

In the Utah locker room, Mikhail Sergachev was asked what it will take to learn from the losses. “Time. Tough loss, tougher than the ones that we had before. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s going to take. I think the leadership group and the coaches are doing everything we can to try to turn it around. And we can’t be too negative about it, but we can’t be just ‘whatever next one.’ Can’t be like that. So we’re going to talk about it tomorrow, for sure.”

Head coach André Tourigny praised Sergachev’s growth as a leader. “He has a lot of character. He takes ownership, and he doesn’t shy away from responsibility. He’s a winner, he won before so he knows what it takes, and he believes in (the) group and he wants to win.”

Utah HC returns to home ice on Friday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:00pm.

Tyrese Maxey Proves To Be Too Much For Sacramento As Kings Drop Game to the Sixers 117-104

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Sacramento Kings DeMar DeRozan (10) takes a shot over the Philadelphia 76ers Tyrese Maxey (0) in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Wed Jan 29, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (24-23) played a tough three quarters losing to the Philadelphia 76ers (19-27) in the fourth quarter of their matchup 117-104. The playing field was pretty level until the fateful final quarter.

The Sixers outplayed the Kings from the field and they could not contain Tyrese Maxey after three quarters of pretty even play. Domantas Sabonis had a triple double, his second in a row. and Malik Monk had the team high score with 21 points. He scored 15 of those 21 points in the first half and was pretty quiet in the second half finishing the game playing for 40 minutes.

Game recap: The first half of this game was a close one from the get go. The Kings led after the first 12 minutes by the slim margin of 30-28. The Sixers prevailed in the second quarter outscoring the Kings 32-26 and led at the half 60-56. This was still a tight game after two quarters. De A’aron Fox finished the half with 15 points pushing through the hand injuries that have hurt his play recently.

The game remained close through the third quarter with the Sixers continuing to lead by a slim margin 89-87. In the fourth quarter the Sixers turned the game around in the final minutes. The Kings offense went stale with under four minutes left in the game.

Through the final four minutes of play Sacramento was only able to score four points in a real offensive letdown. The final was 117-104 in favor of the Sixers and Philadelphia had their fourth win in a row. After struggling for a time, the Sixers have really turned things around and appear to be right on track.

The stats in this game were not all that bad for Sacramento. The high for the Kings was Malik Monk with 21 points. De A’aron Fox and DeMar DeRozan each chipped in 19 points. Keegan Murray had a nice game with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Domantas Sabonis had a triple double with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. The Kings were able to protect the ball with 12 turnovers. They shot at 82% from the line, they out-rebounded the Sixers 46-35, they had more fast break points and more points in the paint.

Where did they fall short? They could not contain Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey who was able to shoot for 30 points. The Sixers bench played a lot in this game coming away with 40 points, while the Kings bench, although they did not play close to as many minutes were only able to hit 15 points. This was a huge discrepancy coupled with Philadelphia’s 52% shooting from the field to the Kings 44%.

Tyrese Maxey had another great game for Philadelphia with the 30 points, in fact, this was his 12th straight game with 25 or more points. The Sixers have certainly recovered from the seven-game skid they were on.

The Kings on the other hand have really fallen short after the amazing run they went on right after Doug Christie took over as head coach. They are struggling right now having lost three of their last four games and it often times comes down to the defense and the lack of talent on the bench.

Game notes: After getting back on track beating the Brooklyn Nets Monday night, the Sacramento Kings traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Sixers Wednesday night but couldn’t win a second game in a row. As the trade deadline approaches the Kings are working hard to keep all distraction at bay and stay focused on their current road trip.

They are mid-way through the trip which includes Saturday night’s game with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Monday’s game with the Timberwolves next on their schedule.

The thumb sprain which has hampered De’Aaron Fox for a bit now has not healed. What has improved however is the comfort level he now has with the sleeve he is wearing to protect the thumb. This was obvious from his performance in Monday’s win over the Nets in which Fox scored 30 points.

Fox was tied in scoring with 19 points Wednesday night’s game. The Sixers were missing a lot of key players which include Paul George and Joel Embid. The Kings had every starter available for this game. Philadelphia picked up their fourth win in a row.

This was a huge disappointment for the Kings as they go into their toughest matchup of the season on Saturday taking on the first place OKC Thunder at Paycom Center. They will have their work cut out for them this weekend trying to contain Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. TIp-off for that game is scheduled for 5:00 PM.

NBA G League action: Kings end five game win streak in 115-98 loss to Grand Rapids

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Stockton Kings guard Colby Jones (20) takes a finger roll shot at the hoop against the visiting Grand Rapids Gold at Adventist Health Arena on Tue Jan 28, 2025 (Stockton Kings X photo)

By William Espy

STOCKTON–The Stockton Kings (11-3) ended their five-game winning streak against long-time NBA veteran Andre Miller’s Grand Rapids Gold (7-7) 115-98 at Adventist Health in Stockton on Tuesday night. Kings forward Isaac Jones was named as the G-League Player of the Week on Tuesday and looked to continue his strong run of form.

The contest started off with both teams seeming evenly matched. Both teams were struggling to hit their shots, shooting under 30% to start the game. Back-to-back threes by Terry Taylor put momentum firmly in Stockton’s favor for the first time on the night halfway through the first quarter.

Two consecutive fouls quickly allowed the Gold to tie it up, though, after they converted on their free throws. The Gold would then go on a run, taking a 21-14 lead with a couple of minutes remaining in the quarter and forcing the Kings to call a timeout.

Grand Rapids would keep their momentum running through the end of the quarter, though, taking a 27-14 lead into the break. After 12 minutes, the Kings were shooting just 20% from the field.

The Gold continued growing their lead, but Skal Labissiere tried to get his team energized with two dunks in quick succession. Unfortunately for Stockton, they weren’t able to build off of it, as Grand Rapids would go down and score on both of their ensuing possessions.

Grand Rapids would continue dominating for the remainder of the first half, and ultimately, their lead would be up to 61-38 by the end of the second quarter. While the Kings undoubtedly hit more shorts in the second frame, they were much weaker defensively and allowed the Gold to score almost at will.

The Kings just weren’t able to get things going right out of the half as the Gold continued to extend their lead. After six minutes of the third quarter, it was 74-45 in favor of the visiting team.

Over the course of the night, the Kings looked uncharacteristically sloppy. They were missing shots at a higher rate, running into each other, and allowing the Gold to get chances they typically wouldn’t allow.

Jaylin Williams left the game with an injury late in the third quarter following a collision with two Kings players below the basket. The Gold would continue to extend their lead for the remainder of the third, eventually leading 91-66 heading into the final period.

The Kings’ offense was playing better in the fourth, but ultimately it would be too little, too late as they’d ultimately lose their third game of the season and fall 115-98 to the Gold.

The two teams will meet again on Thu Jan 30, as the Kings look to start a new winning streak and get some revenge all at the same time at 7:00pm PST.

Super Bowl LIX podcast with David Zizmor: Saquon is key to the Eagles success; Mahomes feeling like his old self for Chiefs

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Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) takes off for one of his three touchdowns against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sun Jan 26, 2025 (AP News photo)

On Super Bowl LIX podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had himself an afternoon against the Washington Commanders running for a 60 yard touchdown on the Eagles first play and had a total of 118 yards and three touchdowns.

#2 Quite an afternoon for the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs were favored by a 1.5 and that prediction was pretty close as the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl defeating the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday 32-29.

#3 Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes went 18-26, 245 yards, and threw for one touchdown and this was not an easy one but Mahomes kept the Chiefs in a close game. Philadelphia’s Jaylen Hurts 20-28, 246 yards, and one touchdown for the win against the Washington Commanders. How do you see this Super Bowl match up?

Join David Zizmor for the Super Bowl podcasts Wednesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com