UCLA Women Win Golf Crown

The UCLA women’s golf team was well aware that Duke had entered the NCAA Division I championship tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation, had won nine of its 10 tournaments this season and featured a lineup of five players ranked in the nation’s top 15.

It didn’t faze the second-ranked Bruins, who won the NCAA title Saturday at Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Ala. The Bruins shot two-over-par 290 in a final round split between Friday and Saturday because of weather delays and finished with a four-round total of four-under 1,148.

Oklahoma State finished second, three strokes back, and Duke, which shot 294 in the final round, finished third at six over.

“We had no fear of them,” UCLA Coach Carrie Forsyth said of the Blue Devils. “We knew they were a great team, we knew their record and they beat us once this year, but we didn’t have fear of anybody.”

It is UCLA’s first national title since 1991. Susie Matthews led the Bruins with a four-day total of eight-under 280, good for third place and two shots behind individual champion Sarah Huarte of California, who shot a three-under 69.

USC, which won the title last year, shot a nine-over 297 to finish in a tie for 12th place. The Trojans had a 72-hole total of 1,195, a two-stroke improvement over last year’s winning total.

-- Peter Yoon

The third-ranked UCLA men’s team won its second consecutive NCAA West Regional title at Sunriver, Ore. With the victory, the Bruins earned one of the three top seedings in the NCAA Championships June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.

UCLA shot a six-over 294 in the final round to defeat New Mexico by one stroke. The Bruins had a 54-hole total of one-over 865. Arizona was third at 872, followed by Arizona State at 873. USC and BYU tied for fifth at 881.

UCLA’s Travis Johnson tied for first in the individual tournament with a five-under total of 211 after shooting a par 72. Johnson tied with Arizona’s Chris Nallen, who also shot 72.

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The ninth-seeded UCLA women’s tennis team advanced to its first NCAA final since 1991, upsetting fifth-seeded Clemson, 4-0, in the Division I semifinals at Athens, Ga.

The Bruins (21-7), who have never won a national title, having lost in the finals in 1982 and 1989, will play second-seeded Stanford (28-0) in today’s championship match. The Cardinal beat third-seeded Vanderbilt, 4-0.

For the second day in a row, Daniela Bercek, ranked No. 31 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn., clinched the match for UCLA, this time defeating sixth-ranked Julie Coin, 6-2, 6-1.

On Friday, she upset fourth-ranked Megan Bradley of Miami, giving the Bruins a 4-3 victory.

The second-seeded USC men’s tennis team defeated 27th-ranked Arkansas, 4-1, in the NCAA Division I round of 16 at Tulsa, Okla.

The Trojans advanced to today’s quarterfinals against Stanford, which beat Florida, 4-3. Daniel Langre defeated Matt Simpson, 6-2, 6-3, to clinch the victory for the Trojans.

-- Associated Press

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Freshman Jodie Legaspi hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give top-seeded UCLA a 5-2 victory over second-seeded Alabama in the semifinals of an NCAA Division I softball regional at UCLA’s Easton Stadium.

“It was a good feeling,” said Legaspi, who finished with three hits. “I didn’t feel my feet touch the ground.”

UCLA (42-9), the defending national champion, battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to advance to today’s championship game against Alabama (45-19), which beat Long Beach State, 7-4, in an elimination game.

The 49ers (51-13) earlier beat Mississippi Valley State, 5-0, in an elimination game with five unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Lisa Dodd opened the UCLA ninth with a single to left. After cleanup batter Claire Sua flied to center, Michelle Turner ran for Dodd and took second on a bunt single by Stephanie Ramos.

Legaspi then drove a screwball from Crimson Tide reliever Stephanie VanBrakle into the trees beyond the left-field fence.

-- Lauren Peterson