DEFENSE,QBS SHINEIN LOW-SCORINGSENIORBOWL GAME

Thepass rushersdid theirbest to steal theshow fromquarterbacks DesmondRidder and KennyPickett intheSenior Bowl.

Cincinnati’sRidder threw two touchdownpasses andthe National teamhad eight sacks ina20-10victory over the American teamSaturdayat Mobile, Ala.

“Wedidn’t comeouthere to lollygagthroughit,“Minnesotadefensivelineman Boye Mafe said. “We told each other togo out and have ourbest gamesandplayour bestfootball.This was our lasttime to get to represent our schoolssowhynot go out on a goodnote.”

Ridderhelped finishoffa jobstarted byPittsburgh’s Pickett, a HeismanTrophy finalist who was 6-of-6passingfor89yardsanda touchdowndespiteonlyplaying the firstquarter. The Nationalpass rushersmadeit a toughafternoonfortheirquarterback counterparts,polishingoff the weeklong showcasefor topseniorand graduated junior NFL prospects. Oklahoma’s Perrion Winfrey,PennState’s Jesse Luketa and Mafeeachhad twosacks.Luketa and Mafe also both forced a fumble on sacks of NorthCarolina quarterback Sam Howell Winfrey wasthe overall gameMVP, while Mafe was the Nationalplayerofthe game and Western Kentucky defensivelinemanDeAngelo Malone waspickedasthe top American teamplayer.

Localcolleges TheSanDiego State women’s basketball team (10-12 4-7 Mountain West) lostatBoiseState(8-14,4-7) 72-63despite 20points from SophiaRamos and 15 from Asia Avinger Forthesecondtimeinas manydaysSanDiegoState diver Ximena LechugaGonzalez won theday’s competitionattheLumberjackInvitationalat WallAquatic Centeronthecampus of NorthernArizonainFlagstaff, Ariz.OnFriday,the senior wonthe 1-meter eventand backedthatuponSaturday with a victoryinthe3-meter competition.

TheCalStateSan Marcoswomen’sbasketballteam (15-2, 13-1 CCAA) collected its 11th consecutivevictory with a 72-61winatCalState DominguezHills(9-9, 7-6).

Jordan Vasquez had 22 pointsand 10 reboundsfor theCougars. Despite 13 points from

National receiverBo Melton(18)runswiththeball whilepursuedbyAmerican’s JoshThompson.

SydneyBrown theUCSan Diego women’s basketball team(9-10,6-4Big West) struggled offensivelyinthe secondhalf to fall to visiting UCSantaBarbara(11-7, 5-4), 59-47.

Soccer When the FA Cup game enteredstoppage time, West Ham was facingahumiliatingloss to sixth-tier side Kidderminster. Alex Penny had scoredinthe 19thminute for the National North division’s third-place teamwho were outplayingthemillionaires fromLondon,whoare only point away fromtheChampions League places inthe Premier League. Only DeclanRice’s equalizerforcedthe game into extratime to prevent WestHam frombeingonthe receiving endofthebiggest upset inthe 150 years of worldsoccer’s oldest competition.Then to avoid a penalty shootoutatthe 6,000-capacity centralEngland stadium,it took JarrodBowen scoringin stoppagetimeof extratimetorecovera2-1victory against the team 113 placeslowerin theEnglish leaguesystem.

It was astruggle too in London forEuropean champion Chelsea,needing to come frombehind to eliminate third-tierPlymouth2-1 in extratimeatStamford Bridge to reachthe fifth round. Sevilla wasteda chance to move only onepoint behind Spanishleagueleader Real Madrid after Ivan Rakitic hadaninjury-time penalty saved in a 0-0draw at Osasuna.

• Olivier Giroud again showedwhyhecanneverbe writtenoff,scoring twolate goalsas AC Milan rallied to beatcity rivalInterMilan2-1 and re-ignite theSerieA title race.

Cameroonproducedan epic fightback from3-0down tofinishat3-3beforewinning thethird-placematch againstBurkina Fasoin a 5-3 penalty shootoutat theAfricanCupof Nations.

• Robert Lewandowski endedhisone-gamescoring drought. The Polandstar scoredhis24th goalin 21 games to helpBayernMunich stretch its Bundesliga lead to ninepointswith a 3-2 win overvisitingLeipzig.

Horse racing

ExpressTrain ranperhapsthebestraceof hisca- reerinwinningtheGradeII, $200,000San PasqualStakes forthesecond yearin a row at SantaAnitaPark inArcadia. ExpressTrain($5.20) powered to a 3¼-lengthvictory. Merneith ($7.60)went to the front,shookoff a challenge fromheavilyfavored CeCe and went on to a 3-lengthwin intheGradeII,$200,000 Santa Monica.Finally, Count Again ($7.60)stormed homethroughthelane to taketheGradeIII,$100,000 ThunderRoad.

• Early Voting ($4.60) gave trainer ChadBrown and owner Klaravich Stables back-to-back Withers wins whenhedominated 10 othersintheGradeIII $250,000 Withersat New York’s AqueductRacetrack.Early Voting received 10 KentuckyDerby qualifyingpoints.

• GulfstreamPark-based trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. tookthe firstofhishome track’s seriesof Kentucky Derbypreps thanks to White Abarrio ($14).The RaceDay coltpressuredpace-setter Galt andthen took command cominginto the stretch to win theGradeIII, $250,000HolyBullStakes. WhiteAbarrio covered11⁄16 milesin 1:42.80and earning 10 Derbyqualifyingpoints U-T NEWS SERVICES