Sports Radio 1400 WSJM @wsjmsports wsjmsports.com Wednesday, April 08, 2015
NCAA Tournament – Women’s National Championship
Last Night – Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
(1) Connecticut 63, (1) Notre Dame 53
UConn 63, Notre Dame 53 – 3-Peat: UConn beats Notre Dame 63-53 for 3rd straight title
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson each scored 15 points and UConn beat Notre Dame 63-53 on Tuesday night to win the Huskies third straight championship and 10th overall, tying Geno Auriemma with John Wooden for the most titles in college basketball. UConn’s coach has now won all 10 of his trips to the national championship game. The Huskies have won five of the last seven titles. Breanna Stewart stated when she came to UConn that her goal was to win four championships. The junior is now one title away from being the first to win four straight. Stewart has been a huge reason why the Huskies have been on their won three consecutive titles. The 6-foot-4 star is the latest in a long line of outstanding UConn players that Auriemma has coached, including Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Maya Moore.
MLB – Major League Baseball – Regular Season Opening Night/Day
Last Night
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs, PPD
Cardinals at Cubs – PPD
The St. Louis Cardinals’ game at the Chicago Cubs has been postponed due to a forecast of rain and cold weather. Lance Lynn was scheduled to start for St. Louis. Jake Arrieta would have started for Chicago. St. Louis won Sunday’s opener 3-0 as Adam Wainwright pitched six innings.
Today
Minnesota (Nolasco 0-0) at Detroit (Sanchez 0-0), 1:08 p.m. WSJM-AM/WCSY-FM 12:40
St. Louis (Lynn 0-0) at Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 0-0), 2:20 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Quintana 0-0) at Kansas City (D.Duffy 0-0), 8:10 p.m.
NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2
Minnesota Wild 2, Chicago Blackhawks 1
Red Wings 3, Hurricanes 2 – Red Wings beat Hurricanes 3-2, but haven’t clinched yet
Gustav Nyquist and Pavel Datsyuk scored in the third period, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Tuesday night, taking a big step toward their 24th consecutive playoff berth. Detroit could have clinched a postseason berth with the win over Carolina if Pittsburgh had beaten Ottawa in regulation, but the Penguins blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 in overtime. The Red Wings’ streak of playoff berths is the longest active run in the four major U.S. pro leagues. The Red Wings won for only the sixth time in their last 18 games, and they looked sluggish again while falling behind 2-1 in the second period, but Nyquist tied it less than two minutes into the third, and Datsyuk scored the game winner with 8:35 to play. Jimmy Howard made 30 saves for Detroit, which was outshot 28-16 over the final two periods.
Wild 2, Blackhawks 1 – Wild beat Blackhawks 2-1 to clinch playoff spot
Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves, and the Minnesota Wild clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker scored in the third period for the Wild, who were coming off a 2-0 home loss to Winnipeg on Monday night. It was Zucker’s first game since he broke his collarbone in the first period of a 5-3 victory over Vancouver on Feb. 9. It was quite a turnaround from Minnesota’s last visit to Chicago in January, when it lost 4-1 in the fifth game of a six-game slide. That losing streak dropped the Wild to 18-19-5, but they traded for Dubnyk on Jan. 14 and the veteran goaltender helped them turn their season around. Bryan Bickell scored his 14th goal and Corey Crawford had 28 stops for the Blackhawks (48-26-6), who have lost two in a row.
NHL – Vote postponed on rezoning plan for new Detroit hockey arena
Rezoning property for a new hockey arena and entertainment district just north of downtown remains on hold after the Detroit City Council postponed its vote on the plan. Councilmembers were expected to vote Tuesday, but needed more time to review the plan’s wording. The vote could come next week. Olympia Development wants to create residential space out of one vacant hotel in the area and demolish another. The plan also calls for creating more green space. The 18,000-seat, $450 million hockey arena for the Detroit Red Wings is expected to open in 2017. The project also includes a 45-block entertainment district. Olympia Development is owned by Red Wings’ owners Mike and Marian Ilitch. The team now plays at Joe Louis Arena, which opened in 1979.
NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic, 7:00 p.m.
Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.
NBA – Bulls’ Rose could return against Magic
The Chicago Bulls say Derrick Rose is questionable for their game today at Orlando. It’s the first time the star point guard has been listed as anything but “out” since his latest knee surgery. Rose had a minor operation in February and was expected to miss four to six weeks. A torn meniscus in his right knee sidelined him most of last season.
NFL – Ihedigbo wants new contract with Lions
James Ihedigbo’s agent says the Detroit defensive back would like a new contract with the Lions and is prepared to skip voluntary offseason activities if he can’t get a deal done. Detroit signed Ihedigbo to a $3.1 million, two-year deal before last season, and the veteran safety started 13 games and intercepted a career-high four passes. Agent Marc Lillibridge says Ihedigbo’s potential absence wouldn’t really be a holdout, since he’d be skipping voluntary activities. Ihedigbo is due a base salary of $1.1 million on his current deal. The Lions announced the signing of linebacker Brandon Copeland on Tuesday.
NCAA – `Princess Lacey’ tribute begins again for campus rock
Michigan State University students are paying tribute again to an 8-year-old girl who died after a battle with cancer by painting a rock that serves as a campus message board. The Lansing State Journal says students began to paint The Rock on Tuesday evening. Connor Sexton of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Philanthropy Team says people are invited to come and sign it throughout the day Wednesday. Lacey Holsworth’s battle with nerve-cell cancer inspired the Michigan State basketball program and strangers who followed her story. She died last April 8 at her home in nearby St. Johns. Former Spartans star Adreian Payne befriended her during one of her hospital stays. She was affectionately known as “Princess Lacey.”
NCAA – 12-year-old ties for 1st in ESPN bracket challenge
A sixth-grade boy from suburban Chicago completed a near-perfect bracket predicting the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, finishing in a tie for first in ESPN’s popular annual contest. Sam Holtz said ESPN officials told him Tuesday that is he ineligible to claim the top prize _ a $20,000 gift card _ because he is 12 years old. ESPN requires participants to be at least 18, and he was told he will get a goody bag instead. The tournament includes 67 games and Holtz missed only six. Out of 11.5 million who entered a bracket on ESPN’s website, Sam finished tied for first with 1,830 points after Duke beat Wisconsin 68-63 in Monday’s championship game. He entered 10 brackets in the contest.
AHL – American Hockey League
Last Night
Chicago Wolves 7, Lake Erie Monsters 3
Tonight
Milwaukee Admirals at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m.
ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Tonight
Kalamazoo Wings at Indy Fuel, 7:05 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Baseball
St. Joseph 15, Benton Harbor 0 – Game 1
St. Joseph 8, Benton Harbor 0 – Game 2
- Eric Engel had three hits, Jake Mavis had three RBI’s as St. Joe beat Benton Harbor in game 1 of the SMAC West doubleheader. In the second game Ben Johanski and Hunter Waning had two hits and two RBI’s each in the Bears 8-0 win over the Tigers.
Coloma at Buchanan – PPD
Softball
River Valley 18, Michigan Lutheran 8 – Game 1
River Valley 9, Michigan Lutheran 5 – Game 2
- Even with Sarah Cramer’s two home runs and home runs from Amanda Nitz, Kayla Rosenbaum River Valley beat Michigan Lutheran 18-8 in game 1 of a doubleheader. River Valley also won the second game 9-5 in a 5 inning game that was cut short due to darkness.
St. Joseph 15, Benton Harbor 0 – Game 1
St. Joseph 17, Benton Harbor 0 – Game 2
Girls Soccer
Lakeshore 3, Lake Michigan Catholic 1
- After a scoreless first half, both teams found their offense in the second 40 minutes as Lakeshore got goals from Victoria Bower (52nd minute), Avery Bauer (71st minute), and Lindsay Ebeling (77th minute). Andi Ives had LMC’s goal in the 73rd minute to cut the Lakeshore lead to 2-1. Lakeshore improves to 2-0 on the season while LMC drops to 1-1.
Coloma 8, River Valley 0
- Dominique LeClear had a had trick while Alyssa Bahr and Payton Terry each had two goals in Coloma’s 8-0 win over River Valley. Kathryn Pawluk also added a goal for the Comets.
Niles 3, Bridgman 1
- Chelsea Best had two goals and Emily Gaines added another as Niles beat Bridgman 3-1. Katie Hartzler scored Bridgman’s goal on a penalty kick.
Brandywine 3, Buchanan 1
- Brooke Smith scored twice, Jalessa Garner added another goal in Brandywine’s 3-1 win over BCS rival Buchanan. Jada Meahl scored the Bucks goal.
Today
Baseball
Bridgman at St. Joseph, 4:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Berrien Springs, 4:00 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Bridgman at St. Joseph, 6:45 p.m.
Track and Field
St. Joseph at Lakeshore, 4:00 p.m.
Bridgman Invitational, 4:30 p.m.
Bridgman, Brandywine, Cassopolis, Lake Michigan Catholic, River Valley, New Buffalo
Girls Tennis
Niles at Brandywine, 3:45 p.m.
Lake Michigan Catholic at Berrien Springs, 4:00 p.m.
