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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2015 • 13COMAHA WORLD-HERALD SPORTS

STANDINGSEASTERN CONFERENCEAtlantic Division W L Pct. GBToronto............................................41 28 .594 —Boston.............................................30 38 .441 10½Brooklyn..........................................29 39 .426 11½Philadelphia....................................17 52 .246 24New York.........................................14 55 .203 27Southeast Divisiony-Atlanta..........................................53 16 .768 —Washington.....................................40 29 .580 13Miami..............................................32 36 .471 20½Charlotte .........................................29 38 .433 23Orlando ...........................................22 49 .310 32Central Divisionx-Cleveland .....................................45 26 .634 —Chicago...........................................42 29 .592 3Milwaukee ......................................34 35 .493 10Indiana............................................30 39 .435 14Detroit .............................................25 44 .362 19WESTERN CONFERENCESouthwest Division W L Pct. GBMemphis.........................................49 21 .700 —Houston ..........................................46 23 .667 2½San Antonio ....................................43 25 .632 5Dallas..............................................44 26 .629 5New Orleans ...................................37 32 .536 11½Northwest DivisionPortland ..........................................44 24 .647 —Oklahoma City ................................39 30 .565 5½Utah.................................................31 37 .456 13Denver.............................................26 44 .371 19Minnesota.......................................15 53 .221 29Pacific Divisionx-Golden State................................55 13 .809 —L.A. Clippers....................................45 25 .643 11Phoenix ...........................................37 33 .529 19Sacramento....................................23 45 .338 32L.A. Lakers......................................17 50 .254 37½x — clinched playoff spot; y — clinched division

RESULTS SATURDAYBrooklyn 123, Indiana 111Detroit 107, Chicago 91Phoenix 117, Houston 102Memphis 97, Portland 86Utah at Golden State, late

SCHEDULE SUNDAYMiami at Oklahoma City, 2 p.m.Cleveland at Milwaukee, 2 p.m.San Antonio at Atlanta, 2 p.m.New Orleans at L.A. Clippers, 2:30 p.m.New York at Toronto, 3 p.m.Washington at Sacramento, 5 p.m.Denver at Orlando, 5 p.m.Detroit at Boston, 5 p.m.Charlotte at Minnesota, 6 p.m.Dallas at Phoenix, 8 p.m.Philadelphia at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.

SUMMARIES SATURDAYNETS 123, PACERS 111Brook Lopez had 26 points andBojan Bogdanovic added 21 offthe bench for Brooklyn’s fourthwin in five games. Indiana,meanwhile, has lost five straight.Brooklyn ................................... 31 32 25 35—123At Indiana................................. 29 27 31 24—111B: Johnson 6-12 2-2 14, Young 3-6 0-0 6, Lopez11-14 4-5 26, Williams 7-15 1-2 17, Brown 0-1 2-22, Anderson 4-7 2-2 11, Jefferson 1-1 1-2 3, Jack 2-79-9 13, Bogdanovic 8-8 2-3 21, Plumlee 4-4 2-4 10.Totals 46-75 25-31 123.I: S.Hill 7-16 1-2 17, West 6-9 1-2 13, Hibbert7-14 2-2 16, G.Hill 8-15 2-3 18, Miles 5-11 0-0 14,Mahinmi 3-5 0-0 6, Stuckey 0-3 2-2 2, Watson 0-60-0 0, Rudez 3-4 0-0 8, Scola 6-7 5-7 17. Totals45-90 13-18 111.Rebounds: B 41 (Young 7), Indiana 44 (Mahinmi 7).Assists: B 21 (Jack 8), I 22 (G.Hill 9).

PISTONS 107, BULLS 91Reggie Jackson had 22 points,including 17 in the third quarter,as Detroit came back from a19-point deficit.Chicago..................................... 20 36 23 12— 91At Detroit .................................. 30 14 36 27—107C: Dunleavy 3-10 3-4 9, Noah 3-8 0-2 6, Gasol 10-166-6 27, Brooks 6-12 4-4 19, Snell 1-8 0-0 2, Mirotic1-8 5-5 8, Gibson 6-8 1-2 13, Hinrich 2-6 0-1 5,Moore 1-1 0-0 2, Mohammed 0-0 0-0 0, McDermott0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-77 19-24 91.D: C.Butler 7-11 2-2 20, Tolliver 2-7 0-0 4,Drummond 7-13 0-2 14, Jackson 9-16 3-3 22, Cald-well-Pope 6-11 0-0 15, Meeks 5-11 0-0 12, Dinwiddie3-11 3-3 10, Anthony 3-3 0-0 6, Martin 0-1 0-0 0,Prince 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 44-90 8-10 107.Rebounds: C 50 (Noah 13), D 47 (Prince 10).Assists: C 22 (Noah 7), D 28 (Jackson 11).

SUNS 117, ROCKETS 102Eric Bledsoe had a career-high34 points for Phoenix.Phoenix..................................... 33 29 37 18—117At Houston................................ 37 24 25 16—102P:Marc.Morris 7-13 1-2 17, Mark.Morris 7-11 2-217, Len 2-10 1-3 5, Bledsoe 11-18 10-11 34, Tucker8-12 0-0 19, Wright 3-7 2-2 8, Warren 2-5 0-0 4,Goodwin 5-10 1-4 11, Price 1-5 0-0 2, Bullock 0-10-0 0. Totals 46-92 17-24 117.H: Ariza 6-13 0-0 15, Motiejunas 8-13 1-1 18, Dorsey1-1 0-0 2, Beverley 4-8 0-0 10, Harden 5-19 5-5 16,Smith 8-13 0-2 17, Terry 2-5 0-0 5, Brewer 5-11 4-414, Prigioni 1-2 0-0 3, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, McDaniels0-0 0-0 0. Totals 41-87 10-12 102.Rebounds: P 57 (Marc.Morris 10), H 44 (Ariza 12).Assists: P 20 (Mark.Morris 6), H 28 (Motiejunas 6).

GRIZZLIES 97, BLAZERS 86Jeff Green had 23 points forMemphis. Portland’s LaMarcusAldridge scored 16, but didn’tplay in the second half becauseof an injury to his left hand. Theteam said X-rays were negative.Portland.......................................27 17 18 24—86At Memphis.................................35 18 24 20—97P: Batum 0-4 0-0 0, Aldridge 7-12 2-2 16, Lopez 4-70-0 8, Lillard 8-18 9-9 27, Afflalo 3-6 2-3 8, McCol-lum 5-11 1-1 13, Freeland 1-3 0-0 2, Blake 1-3 0-0 2,Wright 4-11 0-0 10, Leonard 0-1 0-0 0, Gee 0-0 0-00. Totals 33-76 14-15 86.M: Je.Green 8-16 2-2 23, Randolph 8-20 0-0 17,Gasol 4-15 5-6 13, Conley 8-11 2-2 21, Allen 4-61-2 10, Calathes 1-3 0-0 3, Koufos 2-5 0-0 4, Carter1-7 0-0 2, Udrih 1-4 2-4 4, Leuer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals37-89 12-16 97.Rebounds: P 50 (Freeland, Lopez 7), M 50 (Allen 11).Assists: P 15 (Lillard 7), M 21 (Conley 9).

SUMMARIES FRIDAYKINGS 101, HORNETS 91Charlotte................................... 22 24 23 22— 91At Sacramento......................... 29 28 23 21—101C: Kidd-Gilchrist 13, Zeller 1, Jefferson 17, Walker18, Henderson 20, Ma.Williams 9, M. Williams 9,Biyombo 2, Stephenson 2.S: Casspi 10, Gay 33, Thompson 8, McCallum 8,McLemore 9, D.Williams 13, Stauskas 8, Evans 4,Miller 7, Landry 1.Rebounds: C 49 (Kidd-Gilchrist 7), S 57 (Evans 16).Assists: C 16 (M. Williams, Zeller 4), S 21 (Miller 7).

WARRIORS 112, PELICANS 96New Orleans............................. 26 16 26 28— 96At Golden State........................ 30 23 33 26—112NO: Pondexter 15, Cunningham 0, Ajinca 15, Evans2, Gordon 12, Withey 14, Cole 16, Fredette 10,Babbitt 9, Williams 3.GS: Barnes 22, Green 6, Bogut 6, Curry 16,Ju.Holiday 6, Barbosa 12, Iguodala 10, Speights 13,Livingston 8, McAdoo 0, Lee 7, Ezeli 4, Rush 2.Rebounds: NO 48 (Withey, Ajinca 8), GS 47 (Green8). Assists: NO 22 (Cole, Evans 4), GS 29 (Curry 11).

CLIPPERS 113, WIZARDS 99Washington .............................. 21 33 23 22— 99At L.A. Clippers ........................ 35 31 24 23—113W: Pierce 6, Nene 14, Gortat 12, Wall 19, Beal 18,Sessions 6, Gooden 10, Porter 2, Butler 0, Seraphin10, Webster 2.LAC: Barnes 8, Griffin 22, Jordan 10, Paul 30, Redick26, Rivers 5, Hawes 3, Turkoglu 6, Robinson 3, Jones0, Hamilton 0.Rebounds:W 42 (Nene 7), LAC 58 (Jordan 23).Assists: W 27 (Wall 10), LAC 33 (Paul 15).

NOTESAMARE STOUDEMIRE FINEDAmare Stoudemire was fined$15,000 by the NBA for verballyabusing an official and notleaving the court in a timelymanner after he was ejectedfrom Dallas’ game Friday.

CELTICS’ SMART SUSPENDEDMarcus Smart was suspendedone game by the NBA for punchingSan Antonio’sMatt Bonner in thecrotch. The Celtics guard wasejected from Friday’s gamewhenhe wound up and delivered anuppercut on Bonner as the Spurs’bigman set a screen.

NBA

Iowa knows it must play betterto advance past second roundfor first time since 1996

IOWA CITY (AP) — After 15 yearsat Iowa, coach Lisa Bluder is just a winaway from her first trip to the Sweet 16.

But if the Hawkeyes don’t play betteragainst Miami than they did againstAmerican, their season might end justlike the previous 14 have.

Iowa (25-7) will host the 11th-seededHurricanes (20-12) on Sunday in the sec-ond round of the NCAA tournament.

Miami pulled off an upset Fridaywhen it knocked off Washington 86-80.The Eagles nearly did the same to Iowa,which needed nine 3s to hold off Ameri-can 75-67.

“It’s great to be here. But I don’tthink it’s any secret that we want to gofarther, that we would love to be playingnext week,” Bluder said.

Here are some of the key points toconsider as the Hawkeyes look for theirfirst trip to the Sweet 16 since 1996.

LOGIC IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Iowa’s Samantha Logic showed whyshe’s the leader of the Hawkeyes withanother brilliant performance in the winover American. She had 14 points, 11rebounds and eight assists against justtwo turnovers, proving why she’s the mainreason Iowa is in such great position toreach a regional semifinal. “It’s just howyou go out and play. So we are not lookingat numbers and how good of a chance wehave,” Logic said.

MOTLEY’S CREW

The Hawkeyes had better find a way toslow down Adrienne Motley if they hopeto advance to Oklahoma City. Motley hasa knack for playing her best in big games,following up a 32-point performance ina win over Notre Dame in January with30 points in the upset of Washington. “Ifwe get ourselves in situations where herteammates move the ball properly andwe can get her in what we call downhill alittle bit, she’s really hard to guard,” Miamicoach Katie Meier said.

BALANCED HAWKS

Iowa rarely relies on its bench. But itdoesn’t have to. The Hawkeyes have fourstarters averaging at least 13 points agame, and Ally Disterhoft scored 18 pointsand Melissa Dixon had 15 against theEagles. “On the offensive end, they canscore from anywhere on the floor,” Miami’sJessica Thomas said. “They have threats

in the post, they have threats on theperimeter, and they have shooters allaround the perimeter.”

SECOND-ROUND BLUES

Iowa is one of just 10 teams to reacheight straight NCAA tournaments. But theHawkeyes have lost in the second roundseven times since 1997. They were beatenby Notre Dame at home in 2013, andLouisville pounded Iowa 83-53 last yearat Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa, though, is17-0 at home this season.

QUOTABLE

“Part of the pregame speech, I said, youknow, you have the confidence; you haveenough big wins, you have the résumé. Butyou also have the pain. You have the painof some of these losses. You have the painof a missed box-out. You have the joy ofgetting an offensive rebound on a missedfree throw, and we have won a gamethat way, too,” Meier said in reference tofreshman Erykah Davenport’s crucial laterebound in the win over Washington. “Thatwas the joy part that we really love. It wasa huge play by a freshman.”

OKLAHOMA CITY REGION: MIAMI AT IOWA11 a.m. Sunday • Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City • ESPN2 (whiparound coverage)

Sweet 16 won’t come easy

WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LosAngeles Lakers guard SteveNash announced his retire-ment Saturday, quietly endinga 19-year NBA career thatincluded two MVP awards.

After playing in just 65games over the past three sea-sons because of injuries, the41-year-old Canadian playmak-er formalized his departurewith a letter on the Players’Tribune, a website where he isa senior producer.

“I will likely never playbasketball again,” wrote Nash,who hasn’t played at all thisseason. “It’s bittersweet. Ialready miss the game deeply,but I’m also really excited tolearn to do something else.”

The eight-time All-Star isthird in NBA history with10,335 assists, trailing onlyJohn Stockton and Jason Kidd.Nash also is the best free-throw shooter in NBA historyat 90.4 percent, barely edgingMark Price.

While thanking a lengthylist of former teammates andinfluential mentors in his letter,Nash wrote of his lifelong lovefor basketball and his relent-less desire for improvement.

“The greatest gift has beento be completely immersed inmy passion and striving forsomething I loved so much —visualizing a ladder, climbingup to my heroes,” Nash wrote.

Although his career wounddown awkwardly with the Lak-ers, Nash will be rememberedfor his incredible prime withthe Phoenix Suns. The speedy,sharp-shooting point guardchanged the professional gameand won MVP awards in 2005and 2006 during a dominantstretch as the catalyst forcoach Mike D’Antoni’s up-tem-po offense.

“It will always hurt thatPhoenix Suns fans didn’tget the championship theydeserved during our run,” saidNash, who spent 10 seasons inPhoenix during two tenureswith the team.

“Yes, we had some bad luck,

but I always look back at it andthink, ‘I could’ve made onemore shot, or not forced a turn-over, or made a better pass.’But I don’t regret anything.The arena was always sold outand rocking. It was the time ofmy life.”

Nash was born in South Af-rica but grew up in British Co-lumbia and starred in collegeat Santa Clara. After startinghis NBA career with two quietyears in Phoenix, he rose toprominence with the DallasMavericks during the 2000-01 season alongside MichaelFinley and Dirk Nowitzki.

After re-signing with Phoe-nix, Nash and D’Antoni led theSuns to the conference finalsagain but repeatedly fell shortof the NBA Finals in painfulfashion. Nash led the NBA inassists five times in seven sea-sons while scoring at least 14.7points per game in each year,and he became one of just 10players in league history towin consecutive MVP awards.

NBA

Two-timeMVPNashannouncesretirement

THE A S S OC I AT ED PRE S S

Steve Nash, who won back-to-back MVP awards with thePhoenix Suns, announced hisretirement Saturday. He is thirdall-time with 10,335 assists.

With Obama cheering,Princeton stays perfectCOLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) —With President Barack Obamasupporting his niece and the restof Princeton’s basketball teama few rows from courtside, theTigers managed to stay unbeaten.After trailing at halftime Saturday,eighth-seeded Princeton cameback to improve to 31-0 and win awomen’s NCAA tournament gamefor the first time in school history,beating No. 9 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay 80-70 behind MichelleMiller’s 20 points and AnnieTarakchian’s 19.There was some questionwhether Ivy League championPrinceton deserved a betterseeding, given that it was the onlyundefeated women’s team andwas ranked 13th in the final APpoll. But the Tigers had been 0-4in the NCAAs — all since 2010 —and fell behind 35-32 late in thefirst half.Princeton is not onlyunaccustomed to losing, it’s alsonot all that familiar with dealingwith tight games, having won allbut two by at least 10 points.Still, Green Bay managed to hangin there, never falling behind bymore than eight points early.And when Kaili Lukan hit acorner 3, off a pass from herolder sister Megan, it brought thePhoenix within 30-27 with about6½minutes left in the first half.Soon after, Green Bay went onan 8-0 run capped by a pair ofjumpers by Tesha Buck to take a35-32 lead. Miller’s jumper justbefore the buzzer got the Tigerswithin 35-34 at halftime.But Princeton moved out in frontwith a 15-3 run to go up 60-48with about 9 minutes left onAlex Wheatley’s layup. Green Bayclosed to 69-65 on Megan Lukan’sbasket with about 2 minutes left,but Princeton held on.Mehryn Kraker led Green Baywith 21 points, and Kaili Lukanadded 17. But the Phoenix shot8 of 27 on 3-pointers, whilePrinceton went 9 of 16.Obama’s niece, freshmanforward Leslie Robinson, did notappear in the game for Princeton.

ALBANY REGION

RUTGERS 79, SETON HALL 66:Kahleah Copper and Tyler Scaifescored 21 points, and the ScarletKnights beat their in-state rivalfor the 14th time in 15 meetings.Tabatha Richardson-Smith had 18points for the Pirates, who are intheir first tournament in 20 years.Rutgers outscored Seton Hall 23-10 over the final nine minutes.

UCONN 89, ST. FRANCIS 33:The top-seeded Huskies shot70 percent from the floor whileholding the Terriers to 22 percent.Morgan Tuck added 26 points forUConn, which is aiming for its thirdstraight title and 10th overall.

LOUISVILLE 86, BYU 53:MyishaHines-Allen scored 19 pointsto lead the Cardinals, and JudeSchimmel added 13 points.

SOUTH FLORIDA 73, LSU 64:Courtney Williams had 17 pointsand 12 rebounds, Alisia Jenkinsadded 15 points and the Bullsadvanced to face Louisville in thesecond round Monday night.

SPOKANE REGION

MARYLAND 75,NEWMEXICO STATE 57: BrionnaJones dominated the post onboth ends of the court, getting 22points and 12 rebounds to carrythe Terrapins, who will take a 25-game winning streak into Mondaynight’s matchup against Princeton.

PITTSBURGH 51,CHATTANOOGA 40: Stasha Careyscored 16 points and pulled down13 rebounds as the 10th-seededPanthers snapped the Mocs’ 25-game winning streak.

TENNESSEE 72, BOISE STATE 61:Bashaara Graves scored 24 pointsas the Lady Vols outlasted theBroncos to move on to a matchupwith Pittsburgh. Tennessee wasclinging to a 63-58 lead when ArielMassengale sank a 3-pointer tospark a game-clinching 8-0 run.

OKLAHOMA CITY REGION

OKLAHOMA 111, QUINNIPIAC 84:Freshman Gabbi Ortiz scored 16points and Vionise Pierre-Louisadded 15 as the fifth-seededSooners snapped the Bobcats’21-game winning streak.

STANFORD 73,CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 60:Lili Thompson and TaylorGreenfield each scored sevenpoints in a game-changing 14-0run in the second half to help theCardinal overcome a long scoringdrought in the first half. Stanfordadvanced to play Oklahoma in thesecond round.

GREENSBOROREGION

NORTH CAROLINA 71,LIBERTY 65: Allisha Gray scored17 points, and the Tar Heelswithstood the Flames’ late push.

OHIO STATE 90,

JAMESMADISON 80: Ameryst

Alston scored 28 points as theBuckeyes held off the pesky

Dukes. Ohio State scored onseven straight possessions downthe stretch to earn a matchup

against host North Carolina.

ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 69,

TEXAS A&M 60: Taylor Gault had25 points and Kiera Clark added22 in the 11th-seed Trojans’

upset. UALR led almost the entiregame and is the third 11th seedto win in this year’s tournament.

ARIZONA STATE 74, OHIO 55:

Katie Hempen scored a career-

high 23 points and hit five3-pointers as the Sun Devilsdominated at both ends. Arizona

State will play Arkansas-Little Rockin the round of 32.

FLORIDA GULF COAST 75,

OKLAHOMA STATE 67: KaneishaAtwater scored 26 points to help

the Eagles win their 26th straightgame. The Cowgirls eliminated theEagles in the first round last year.

FLORIDA STATE 91,

ALABAMA STATE 49: Freshman

Shakayla Thomas scored 17points, and three teammatesjoined her in double figures for the

second-seeded Seminoles, whoplay Florida Gulf Coast on Monday.

SATURDAY’S ROUNDUPSCHEDULE SUNDAY

ALBANY REGION

Dayton (26-6) at Kentucky (24-9),1:30 p.m.

Texas (23-10) at California (24-9),8 p.m.

SPOKANE REGION

Mississippi State (27-6) at Duke(22-10), 11 a.m.

Gonzaga (25-7) at Oregon State(27-4), 6 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY REGION

Miami (20-12) at Iowa (25-7), 11a.m.

Arkansas (18-13) at Baylor (31-3),1:30 p.m.

DePaul (27-7) at Notre Dame (32-2), 8 p.m.

GREENSBORO REGION

Syracuse (22-9) at South Carolina(31-2), 6 p.m.

THE A S S OC I AT ED PRE S S

Princeton coach Courtney Banghart watches as her players celebrate aplay in the first half of the Tigers’ first-round win in the NCAA tournament.Princeton improved to 31-0 and plays top-seeded Maryland next.

THE A S S OC I AT ED PRE S S

Iowa guard Samantha Logic scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out eightassists in the third-seeded Hawkeyes’ first-round win against American.