Iowa, LSU vie for first NCAA women’s basketball titles

• April 1, 2023

DALLAS — Caitlin Clark has captured the attention of basketball fans with her historic performance in the NCAA Tournament.

Iowa’s sensational guard will try to finish off the unprecedented run she’s led the Hawkeyes on with a championship when they face LSU on Sunday in the title game.

“I think winning a national championship is how you put a final bow on it,” Clark said. “I think that’s the best way, but we’re going to give it everything we have for 40 more minutes. We know that’s all we have left of our season.”

The dazzling guard, who grew up in Iowa, became the first women’s player to post back-to-back 40-point performances in the NCAA Tournament after her 41-point game lifted the Hawkeyes over previously unbeaten South Carolina in the Final Four.

Now she’ll try to etch her name next to some of the greatest ever to win a title – like Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes, Chamique Holdsclaw, Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson.

Another SEC team stands in the way: LSU and coach Kim Mulkey, who was impressed watching Clark on Friday night.

“That’s my first time to see her play in person, and I didn’t get to watch the game because I had to deal with (the media),” Mulkey said. “When I did get out there, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Gosh, she’s special. She’s special.”

While her team doesn’t have any title experience, Mulkey has been in this position three times before when she was coaching Baylor. Each time she came away with the title.

To keep that perfect record intact, LSU will have to find a way to slow down Clark.

“Iowa is a great team and I’m going to give credit where it’s due. They have the best player, the player of the year, Caitlin Clark,” LSU guard Alexis Morris said. “She’s amazing. I respect her game.”

It took Mulkey five years to get Baylor to the championship game. She did it in two with the flagship school in her home state after beating Virginia Tech in the semifinals.

The Tigers made the Final Four in five straight seasons from 2004-08 led by women’s basketball greats Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. LSU could never get to the title game until now. The men’s team also had never made it before either.

“It is so exciting – I don’t even know how old LSU is,” Mulkey said. “I don’t even know when they started playing men’s or women’s basketball, but it has to be a long time ago. And to think all those great players that have played in the NBA and the WNBA, and they never played for a national championship. That’s mind-boggling to me.”

BIG TEN HISTORY

Iowa is looking to become only the second Big Ten team to ever win the national championship, joining Purdue, which did it in 1999 under Carolyn Peck. The last women’s team from the conference to play in the title game was Michigan State – and lost to Mulkey and Baylor in 2005.

BIG TEN CONNECTION

Angel Reese and Kateri Poole are no strangers to Clark, having played against her when they were in the Big Ten. Reese transferred from Maryland, Poole from Ohio State.

“Luckily, me and Kateri have played them before in the Big Ten, so I know what Caitlin brings to the table for sure,” Reese said. “Just making sure that third and fourth player, making sure they don’t go off and get their 20 points, that’s going to be the difference.”

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PONYTAIL PETE

Clark has been compared to LSU great Pete Maravich ever since she was in high school. It’s a not far-fetched comparison, according to Iowa’s guard.

“I am familiar with his game. I’ve seen a lot of his highlights,” Clark said. “Obviously a tremendous compliment. I saw somebody called me like Ponytail Pete or something like that. I thought that was kind of funny. I think just a tremendous compliment. Like you said, I take a lot of pride in being able to do a lot of different things for my team, whether it’s scoring, but also I think the passing can get overlooked at times.”

NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP

Who: Iowa (31-6) vs. LSU (33-2)

When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas

TV: ABC

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County softball standings: Saturday, April 1

• April 1, 2023

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Orange County high school softball standings through Friday, March 31

TRINITY LEAGUE
League
Overall

JSerra
3-0
13-3

Orange Lutheran
2-0
10-5

Rosary
1-2
8-7

Mater Dei
1-2
9-8-1

Santa Margarita
1-4
11-6-1

SUNSET LEAGUE
League
Overall

Marina
5-0
17-1

Los Alamitos
2-0
10-2

Huntington Beach
2-1
7-3

Edison
1-1
10-6

Fountain Valley
1-4
6-9

Corona del Mar
0-2
1-8

Newport Harbor
0-3
5-9

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Tesoro
2-0
10-3-1

Mission Viejo
2-0
8-7-1

Aliso Niguel
0-1
12-4

San Juan Hills
0-1
2-10

Dana Hills
0-2
6-6

SEA VIEW LEAGUE
League
Overall

Capistrano Valley
2-0
10-3

El Toro
1-1
5-7-1

Trabuco Hills
0-1
10-6

San Clemente
0-1
1-6

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Woodbridge
3-0
5-4-1

Beckman
4-1
9-6

Northwood
2-1
5-3

Irvine
2-1
8-5

Laguna Hills
2-4
6-6

Portola
0-2
1-4

University
0-4
0-5

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE
League
Overall

Esperanza
3-0
15-3

Villa Park
0-1
13-4

Canyon
0-1
9-4

El Modena
0-1
10-5

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE
League
Overall

Foothill
1-0
10-4

El Dorado
1-0
9-10

Brea Olinda
0-1
5-9

Yorba Linda
0-1
3-9

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Westminster
2-0
11-5

Segerstrom
1-0
4-12

Ocean View
1-1
10-5

Garden Grove
0-1
8-4

Katella
0-1
7-5

Godinez
0-1
6-8

FREEWAY LEAGUE
League
Overall

Sunny Hills
2-0
5-4-1

Troy
2-0
9-6

Sonora
1-0
6-7

Fullerton
0-1
14-2

Buena Park
0-2
6-5-1

La Habra
0-2
5-9

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Overall

Los Amigos

4-2-1

La Quinta

3-4

Bolsa Grande

2-5

Santiago

2-5

Rancho Alamitos

2-5

Loara

1-6

EMPIRE LEAGUE
League
Overall

Cypress
1-0
9-2-1

Crean Lutheran
0-0
7-2-1

Kennedy
0-0
8-4

Pacifica
0-0
9-5

Valencia
0-0
5-8-1

Tustin
0-1
0-3

ORANGE LEAGUE
League
Overall

Anaheim
1-0-1
3-7-2

Santa Ana Valley
0-0-1
5-0-1

Western
0-0
1-3-1

Savanna
0-0
2-9

Magnolia
0-0
0-6

Century
0-1
0-10

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Costa Mesa
2-0
8-1

Calvary Chapel
2-0
3-7

Estancia
1-1
4-3

Orange
1-1
1-4

Santa Ana
0-2
5-9

Saddleback
0-2
2-8

​ Orange County Register 

Angel City FC heads to Orlando ready to bounce back

• April 1, 2023

The Angel City Football Club rode the emotions in last week’s regular-season opener.

From the fast start, with an opening goal from Alyssa Thompson, to having a second goal wiped off due to video review, ACFC ended up on the wrong end of a 2-1 result in front of a sellout home crowd.

Now the club will look to regroup Sunday on the road against the Orlando Pride (2:30 p.m., Paramount+).

“The first 20 minutes we started really well,” ACFC forward Claire Emslie said. “When Jun (Endo) scored to put us up by two, we were in a really good possession position.

“The VAR decision was a lot of the girls’ first experience on the field, when the game gets stopped for so long. That kind of changed things, allowing Gotham to change their shape, which made it a bit harder for us to break them down.”

The first VAR decision occurred after Endo’s strike from 40 yards flew into the net for an apparent 2-0 lead. However, after referee Elijio Arreguin went to the monitor, he disallowed the goal due to a foul by teammate Dani Weatherholt during the play.

The second video review that went against Angel City came early in the second half when it was judged that goalkeeper DiDi Haracic brought down Gotham FC’s Svava Rós Guðmundsdóttir for a penalty. Initially, the referee didn’t rule a foul, but did so after going over the video review.

“We showed that we could still create chances in the dying moments,” Angel City coach Freya Coombe said. “But we learned a little bit about ourselves in terms of our responses to VAR decisions when things didn’t particularly go our way.”

Angel City will be facing an Orlando Pride club that underwent a makeover during the offseason. The Pride finished 10th last season and lost its season opener 4-0 to the Portland Thorns.

“Orlando is always a tough place to play,” Coombe said. “They will probably be disappointed with the result that they had against Portland, looking to make that right, especially with it being their first home game of this regular season.

“We’re going to see a very competitive Orlando team come out. There’s an element where they may be a little unpredictable.”

Camberos available

Scarlett Camberos, who joined Angel City FC earlier this week from Club America, will be available, Coombe said.

“Scarlett has been a great addition,” Coombe said. “She was on our radar, playing last year. We also got to see her do her thing when we played against Mexico at BMO Stadium last year. What she offers for us is again, another forward who can help us apply pressure to opposition throughout 90 minutes with our strong forward line. She’s dynamic, great on the dribble, and good at combining. She’ll be a great fit in this league.”

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International duty

With a FIFA international window approaching, four Angel City players will depart after the game to join their respective national teams. Emslie will join Scotland for games April 7 and 11; Jun Endo will join Japan for games April 7 and 11; Katie Johnson will join Mexico for games April 8 and 11; and Ali Riley will join New Zealand for games April 7 and 11.

Angel City at Orlando

When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando

How to watch: Paramount+

​ Orange County Register 

LA man charged with molesting 3 girls in Irvine, using images in child pornography

• April 1, 2023

A Los Angeles man has been charged with multiple felonies for the sexual assaults of three young girls in public places in Irvine, including an assault of a 9-year-old in a library where the man forced the girl to read cue cards and film him while he masturbated.

Christopher Eduard, 53, has been accused in a litany of sexual assault and child pornography charges, including two counts of false imprisonment, two felony counts of inappropriate acts with a minor, one felony count of forcible lewd act on a child, and one felony count of possession of child pornography.

Eduard has also been charged with one misdemeanor count of sexual exploitation of a child, one misdemeanor count of using a minor in pornography production, and one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure.

On March 21, Eduard asked a 9-year-old looking at children’s books in the Heritage Park Regional Library to film him while instructing her to read sexually explicit things off of cue cards while he exposed his genitals and masturbated in front of her, police said.

He was arrested and released on bail. Irvine police detectives then linked him to two other unsolved child molestation crimes from 2021, at two different Target stores in Irvine, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

He was re-arrested and is being held without bail. He returns to court on April 10.

Eduard faces up to 25 years in state prison and three years in the Orange County Jail.

“High-risk sex offenders are the most dangerous kind of criminal and the most likely to re-offend. The kind of person who would prey on innocent children looking at library books or toys and sexually assault them should not be allowed to be out on bail to be able to prey on more children,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County baseball standings: Saturday, April 1

• April 1, 2023

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Orange County high school baseball standings through Friday, March 31

TRINITY LEAGUE
League
Overall

Santa Margarita
8-1
14-3

Mater Dei
7-2
11-5-1

Orange Lutheran
4-5
10-6-1

JSerra
4-5
10-6

Servite
3-6
9-8

St. John Bosco
1-8
6-11

SURF LEAGUE
League
Overall

Huntington Beach
2-1
11-6

Los Alamitos
1-1
11-4

Corona del Mar
1-1
8-8

Fountain Valley
1-2
6-8

WAVE LEAGUE
League
Overall

Edison
2-0
8-5

Newport Harbor
1-0
6-7

Marina
0-1
5-9

Laguna Beach
0-2
3-7-1

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Capistrano Valley
3-0
8-5

Tesoro
3-1
7-6

Dana Hills
1-3
3-11

Mission Viejo
1-4
9-6

SEA VIEW LEAGUE
League
Overall

San Clemente
2-1
9-3

El Toro
2-1
5-9

Trabuco Hills
1-1
7-7

Aliso Niguel
1-2
4-9

San Juan Hills
1-2
4-9

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Woodbridge
11-2
13-3

Northwood
9-4
10-5

Laguna Hills
7-6
10-6

Beckman
6-6-2
8-7-2

Irvine
6-7-1
7-8-1

Portola
5-6
7-7

University
3-7-1
7-7-1

Sage Hill
1-10
3-11

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Estancia
7-1
14-2

Orange
3-1
7-6

Calvary Chapel
4-2
9-5

Costa Mesa
4-2
14-3

St. Margaret’s
2-4
2-7

Santa Ana
2-6
4-9

Saddleback
0-6
1-12

ORANGE LEAGUE
League
Overall

Century
4-0
11-3

Savanna
3-0
7-2-1

Magnolia
2-2
7-7

Anaheim
2-2
6-10

Western
0-3
1-9

Santa Ana Valley
0-4
2-10

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE
League
Overall

Villa Park
3-1
11-3

El Dorado
3-2
10-7

El Modena
2-3
10-7

Foothill
1-3
8-7

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE
League
Overall

Yorba Linda
3-1
7-8-1

Brea Olinda
2-1
7-5

Canyon
1-2
7-6

Esperanza
1-3
5-7

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE
League
Overall

Ocean View
2-1
10-7

Westminster
2-1
10-2

Segerstrom
2-2
2-9-2

Garden Grove
1-1
10-5

Katella
1-1
7-10

Godinez
0-2
1-8

EMPIRE LEAGUE
League
Overall

Cypress
8-0
14-4

Pacifica
2-0
14-2

Crean Lutheran
1-0
13-3

Kennedy
0-3
7-7-1

Tustin
0-3
1-13

Valencia
0-5
2-12

FREEWAY LEAGUE
League
Overall

Sonora
2-0
9-6

Fullerton
1-0
9-4

La Habra
1-0
8-1-2

Troy
0-1
7-6-1

Sunny Hills
0-1
7-4-1

Buena Park
0-2
7-7

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE
League
Overall

Loara
4-1
5-5

Los Amigos
4-2
7-5

Santiago
3-2
4-6

Bolsa Grande
2-2
5-7

La Quinta
2-4
4-8

Rancho Alamitos
1-5
3-8

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE
League
Overall

Western Christian
5-0
6-1

Calvary Chapel/Downey
5-1
7-5-1

Pacifica Christian
5-2
7-3

Fairmont Prep
4-4
4-5

The Webb Schools
4-5-1
4-5-1

Tarbut V’Torah
2-5
2-5

Avalon
0-3
1-4

Southlands Christian
0-5-1
1-7-1

Capistrano Valley Christian
0-0
9-7

​ Orange County Register 

Angels, Anthony Rendon decline comment after altercation with A’s fan

• April 1, 2023

OAKLAND — A day after video of Anthony Rendon engaging in an altercation with a fan circulated on social media, the Angels circled the wagons and said little, citing the ongoing Major League Baseball investigation.

The Angels’ third baseman stood in front of dozens of reporters on the field Saturday at RingCentral Stadium and declined to answer any questions about the incident.

“I’m sorry I can’t comment,” Rendon said in response to several different versions of questions about what happened between him and a fan after Thursday’s season-opening loss.

Wow! Uncool! pic.twitter.com/FNRFWL46A0

— PetrosAndMoneyShow (@PetrosAndMoney) March 31, 2023

Video showed Rendon reaching up to grab the shirt of a fan wearing A’s apparel. He then called the fan a “mother——“ and swiped toward his head with his left hand. Rendon seemed to be responding to verbal abuse the fan had directed at him.

A second video surfaced Saturday that showed Rendon waved the fan over to the railing before the incident.

Here’s a new video, by the way.

pic.twitter.com/a7pFDWmplq

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) April 1, 2023

Major League Baseball is investigating, a league spokesperson said Friday.

If Rendon is suspended, it would be his second suspension in less than a year. He was suspended for five games for his part in a brawl between the Angels and Mariners in June. Rendon, who was on the injured list after undergoing wrist surgery, was on the field taking swings with his arm in a cast.

Rendon was able to rehab his injury quickly enough to serve that suspension at the end of last season, so he could be available for Opening Day this year.

Rendon also may be the subject of an Oakland Police Department investigation. The OPD released a statement Friday indicating it was an investigating an incident at the address of the stadium.

“The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is investigating a battery that occurred on March 30, 2023, following an event in the 7000 block of Joe Morgan Way. At this time, no victim has contacted OPD, however, surveillance video of the incident has surfaced. As a result, OPD created an incident, made a report, and is actively investigating.”

Citing the ongoing investigations, Angels general manager Perry Minasian and manager Phil Nevin declined to say much about the incident.

“Obviously it’s in MLB’s hands right now,” Minasian said. “At this point, I can’t talk about it. But at some point, I will.”

Nevin and Minasian led a team meeting in the clubhouse before Saturday’s game, which was the Angels’ first game since the incident came to light Friday.

“We talked briefly,” Nevin said. “As always, we have those intimate moments between myself and the players. They stay in there. We talked a little bit.”

Asked if the incident could become a distraction for his team, Nevin said: “For the moment, maybe because a lot of media is here, but I don’t think so. I’ve said all along that we’ve got a great group in there. The one thing that I was most proud of last year and then continuing through the spring was the way this team bonded and jelled together. They’re all going to stand together now. It was evident when we met earlier.”

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Rendon was in the lineup for Saturday’s game.

Hunter Renfroe, who was standing next to Rendon when the incident happened Thursday, did not comment on the confrontation, but did say he didn’t believe the Angels would be distracted.

“Business as usual today,” Renfroe said. “We’ve got a baseball game today. We’ve got to play, no matter what happens.”

Ballpark security was stationed by the railing near the Angels’ dugout, with instructions to intercede at the first sign of a conflict.

​ Orange County Register 

Sweet German shepherd Jade is a cuddler

• April 1, 2023

Breed: German shepherd

Age: 1-2 years

Sex: Female

Jade’s story: Jade was in a shelter and pregnant. She had her puppies and was such a good mom. But now it’s her turn for a home of her own. She loves to play and go for walks. She is very sweet and is a cuddler. She gets along with other dogs, so could be an additional pup for an adopter.

Adoption fee: $200

Adoption procedure: Contact Liz with OC Shelter Partners, 714-576-6413.

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​ Orange County Register 

Looking for 2 sweet, affectionate cats? Check out Pixie and Dustie

• April 1, 2023

Breed: Tortoiseshell, Pixie; tabby, Dustie

Age: 14 weeks old

Sex: Female, Pixie; male, Dustie

Pixie and Dustie’s story: These bonded siblings were rescued just before one of Southern California’s recent rainstorms. They were found living in an alley in Long Beach with little warmth or shelter. Now they are living indoors, clean and safe. These two are purr machines – their motors are constantly running! They adore affection and human company and are oh, so sweet. They have so much love to give. They’re sure to add tremendously to your life as they are super affectionate and playful.

Adoption donation: $250 for both to cover flea and worm treatments, vaccinations, microchips and spays

Adoption procedure: Contact Joanne with Long Beach Spay & Neuter Foundation at 562-241-1521 or [email protected] to arrange a meeting.

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​ Orange County Register