Privates :) und Spiel » h the race and was focused on the N

STANFORD, Calif. -- Even in November, Tara VanDerveer prepares her team for March by scheduling tough games and treating them like NCAA Tournament matchups.Crisp ball movement and balance carried Stanford.Brittany McPhee scored a career-high 28 points, Erica McCall added 17 points and six blocked shots, and No. 11 Stanford avenged a home loss against Texas from two years ago by beating the eighth-ranked Longhorns 71-59 on Monday night.McPhee shot 11 for 15 and had seven rebounds, while McCall had five boards and blocked five of her shots in the first half as Stanford (2-0) shot 54.9 percent to overcome 20 turnovers and spoil Texas season opener.Our team really focused. This was like an NCAA Tournament week. It was awesome, VanDerveer said. Im really proud of how people worked and Im really excited for the good things that we did and well go right back to work and get ready for Gonzaga and clean up some of those rebounds, some of those turnovers.VanDerveer, the Hall of Fame coach beginning her 31st season at the school and 38th as a college coach, moved 18 victories away from joining the late Pat Summitt as the only womens coaches to reach 1,000 career wins.After the Longhorns cut Stanfords lead to 52-47 on Joyner Holmes layin with 3:10 left in the third quarter, McCall quickly answered on the other end and Alanna Smith scored the next time down as the Cardinal capitalized on Atkins turnover.Smith, a sophomore from Australia, had her family in the stands visiting. Her father, Darren, was asked during one timeout what insight he had for the team -- and his response was a good one.Get Brittany McPhee the ball, he said, smiling.Brooke McCarty, the leading returning scorer for Texas after she averaged 11.8 points last season, had 20 points and Ariel Atkins had 14.It was an eye opener today, McCarty said. We kind of have to take that and roll with it. We just got outplayed and we got beat.A junior guard with 11 career starts over her first two college seasons, McPhee is taking on a bigger role for VanDerveers young team. And Texas, which beat Stanford the past two seasons, didnt have an answer for her accuracy.The Longhorns ended the Cardinals 28-game home winning streak with an 87-81 overtime win at Maples Pavilion on Nov. 20, 2014, when Stanford was ranked sixth and Texas No. 10 -- the programs first win over a top-10 team in almost six years. It marked the first meeting when both teams were in the top-10.That year, Stanford couldnt make it two in a row after beating No. 1 Connecticut 88-86 in overtime three nights earlier to snap the Huskies 47-game winning streak.Then Texas won again last season in Austin, 77-69.Stanford was too much this time.When you get beat sometimes all you do is talk about what your team wasnt good at but I would say that midway through the second quarter they really broke our defense down, Texas coach Karen Aston said. Were young and a little bit immature and I thought that we started panicking a little bit. We missed some free throws and our confidence got rattled a little bit at the end of the first half and we werent able to recover from that.BIG PICTURETexas: The Longhorns held a 38-32 rebounding edge but were just 6 for 14 at the free throw line. They lost a season opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Aston (4-1). ... Aston coached her 300th career game. She is now 190-110 starting her 10th season as a college coach and 89-47 in her fifth season leading the Longhorns. ... Texas started the season on the road for only the second time in the past 13 years.Stanford: McCall was one off her career high in blocks. She had three blocks in a season-opening win against Cal Poly on Friday and now has nine through two games. I love blocked shots, she said. ... The Cardinal are 15-4 at home against top-10 teams over the last 10-plus seasons and 139-7 at Maples since 2007-08.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns host Houston Baptist on Wednesday morning in their home opener, an 11 a.m. local time tipoff for the programs annual 40 Acres Field Trip game for middle-school students from around Texas and a day that includes educational activities.Stanford: The Cardinal have another tough opponent Friday at home against West Coast Conference power Gonzaga, winner of 11 of the last 12 WCC regular-season titles and picked to do so again. Custom Seattle Mariners Nike Jerseys . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. Custom Milwaukee Brewers Nike Jerseys . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/ . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Custom Minnesota Twins Nike Jerseys .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Custom Los Angeles Dodgers Nike Jerseys . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far.WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- There was no slipup on the final lap this time, so Kyle Buschs victory celebration at Watkins Glen International was as sweet as it gets. Bumped aside a year ago by Brad Keselowski on the final lap as they sped around an oil-covered track, Busch held the reigning Sprint Cup champion at bay on a two-lap dash to the checkered flag Sunday. Busch kept his foot on the accelerator a tad longer than usual during his postrace burnout, even sticking half his body out the window while smoke swirled all around and the tires kept churning. "A big sigh of relief, just a deep breath. Whew!" said Busch, who also was victimized two years ago while leading on a green-white-checkered finish and finished third. "I was just trying to take it all in and figure it all out. The last couple of years here have been tough, and today it could have been tough again." Keselowski finished second in this race for the third straight time, and challenged Busch on the final lap, pulling to his rear bumper at one point. There was no bump this time. "We had a shot at it," Keselowski said. "I was going to have to wreck him to really get it, and I didnt want to do that. Theres racing and theres wrecking. Those are two different things. "Everybody defines them a little differently, and I guess thats the code you live your life by. If I was going to take out Kyle, it would have been wrecking in my mind, and theres a distinct difference." Racing can be all about luck sometimes, and Busch couldnt get much luckier than he was on this day. Polesitter Marcos Ambrose dominated the race, leading 51 laps, but his good fortune -- he was seeking his third straight Cup win at The Glen -- finally ran out just past the halfway point of the 90-lap race. Crew chief Dave Rogers was planning to have Busch pit on lap 60, but his crew noticed fluid on the track and brought the No. 18 Toyota in a lap early. Busch was in the pits when a caution flew and Ambrose had to pit under yellow, losing his spot to Busch at the front. "That was a game-changer right there," said Busch, who won from the pole in 2008 at The Glen. Busch held on through a series of cautions over the final 28 laps. Ambrose, who restarted 12th, crashed late trying to make a run with an ill-handling car and finished 23rd. He entered the race with an average finish of second in five previous starts at Watkins Glen and also had won all three Nationwide races hed entered at the storied road course in upstate New York. "Thats just the way it goes," Ambrose said. "We put on a strong showing. It wasnt our day, but weve had plenty of good days here." The field didnt have to worry about five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart. The man known as Smoke is out indefinnitely after breaking two bones in his right leg last Monday night in a sprint car race in Iowa.dddddddddddd Stewart, who has undergone two surgeries, saw his streak of 521 consecutive Cup starts come to an end. Max Papis drove Stewarts No. 14 Chevrolet on Sunday and finished 15th. Several drivers had stickers on their cars honouring Stewart with the message: "Get Well Smoke 14." Martin Truex Jr. was third, followed by Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya. Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10. Jeff Gordon entered the race with momentum in ninth place in the points standings after a second last week at Pocono, but his day was ruined early with a wreck on lap 15. The four-time Watkins Glen winner finished 36th and dropped to 13th in the standings with four races to go until the Chase for the Sprint Cup title starts. The top 10 drivers in points and the drivers from 11th to 20th with the most wins earn wild-card berths for the 10-race post-season. Kurt Busch moved into 11th place, just two points behind Truex and only four behind ninth-place Greg Biffle. Ambrose was unchallenged for the lead through the first half of the race, building a margin of nearly 3 seconds over Kyle Busch, who started fifth and was up to second by lap 21. Busch had been unable to close on Ambrose before a red flag flew midway through the race and was focused on the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in front. "Theyre better," Busch said of Ambrose. "Im trying to figure out where Im getting beat. Hes been driving away." On the ensuing restart on lap 43, Ambrose again sailed clear of the field, building a cushion of 3.5 seconds over Busch as the final pit stops loomed. The complexion of the race changed when Aric Almirola blew a right front tire and slid off course into a tire barrier, bringing out that fateful caution. When the race restarted, Busch was in front with Keselowski third and Ambrose 12th, and the car that had dominated the race out front became just ordinary in traffic, unable to move forward. Nine laps after the restart and struggling, Ambrose had picked up only one spot and trailed Busch by nearly 10 seconds. Truex managed to pass Busch on lap 65, but Busch banged past him in the Inner Loop seconds later and Keselowski followed into second. Keselowski stayed close for a while, but Busch began to pull away just as he had a year ago when oil spoiled his day. "It was a really, really sticky situation last year, and it wasnt all Brads fault," Busch said. "There was oil on the race track, but Brads the one that spun us out. It eventually cost us being able to make the Chase. I figured maybe he could do some of the same again, but he kept it clean today." ' ' '