Sports 2000

Phil Mickelson leads the WGC Champions in Shanghai after the third round. He fired a 67 Saturday to post a 54-hole score of 14-under par. Tiger Woods and Nick Watney shared the lead after two rounds. Both men posted two-under 70s today to finish at 12-under, two strokes behind Mickelson.

Bo Bae Song leads Akane Iijima and In-Kyung Kim by a shot with one round to go at the LPGA tournament in Japan. Seventh-ranked Boise State (9-0, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference) held off Louisiana Tech (3-6, 2-4), 45-35, in Ruston Friday.

The last two undefeated NBA teams lost tonight as Boston (6-1) fell to visiting Phoenix (5-1), 110-103, and Denver (5-1) dropped a 96-88 decision at Miami (5-1). New Jersey (0-6) remains the league’s only winless squad as the Nets were edged, 97-94, at Philadelphia (3-2).

Edmonton (9-9) clinched a CFL Western Division playoff spot tonight by thrashing British Columbia (8-10), 45-13, in Vancouver. B.C. could still advance to the playoffs depending on the outcome of Saturday’s game between Hamilton and Winnipeg.

Nick Watney leads the WGC Champions as the second round draws to a close in Shanghai. Tiger Woods is among three players tied for second, one shot behind Watney. Brittany Lang leads after the first round of the LPGA event in Japan.

Real Salt Lake upset Columbus, 3-2, to win its two-leg MLS Western Conference semifinal, 4-2. Connecticut is atop the preseason women’s college basketball coaches poll.

Virginia Tech broke its two-game losing streak as the #23 Hokies (6-3) dispatched East Carolina (5-4), 16-3, in a non-conference game at Greenville, North Carolina. Northern Illinois (6-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) humbled visiting Eastern Michigan (0-9, 0-5), 50-6. Temple (7-2, 5-0 MAC) rallied past Miami University (1-9, 1-4), 34-32, in Oxford, Ohio.

In the NHL, Montreal edged Boston, 2-1. Columbus defeated Atlanta, 4-3. Ottawa beat Tampa Bay in overtime, 3-2. Detroit squeaked past San Jose in a shootout, 2-1. Vancouver handled Minnesota, 5-2. Calgary won at St. Louis in overtime, 2-1. Phoenix beat Chicago, 3-1. The New York Rangers defeated Edmonton, 4-2. Anaheim blanked Nashville, 4-0. Los Angeles thrashed Pittsburgh, 5-2.

The UEFA Champions League completed Matchday 4 of the group stage this week. In Group A, Bordeaux (10 points) won at Bayern Munich (four points), 2-0, and Juventus (eight points) won at Maccabi Haifa (zero points), 1-0. In Group B, Wolfsburg (seven points) won at Besiktas (one point), 3-0, and CSKA Moscow (four points) drew at Manchester United (10 points), 3-3.

In Group C, Real Madrid (seven points) tied host AC Milan (seven points), 1-1, and Marseille (six points) crushed visiting Zurich (three points), 6-1. In Group D, Chelsea (10 points) and Porto (nine points) clinched places in the knockout round while Atletico Madrid (two points) and APOEL (one point) have been eliminated from contention. Porto won at APOEL, 1-0, and Chelsea tied at Atletico, 2-2.

In Group E, Liverpool (four points) drew at Lyon (10 points), 1-1, and Fiorentina (nine points) hammered guest Debreceni (zero points), 5-2. In Group F, Barcelona (five points) tied at Rubin Kazan (five points), 0-0, and Inter Milan (six points) won at Dynamo Kiev (four points), 2-1.

In Group G, Rangers (two points) drew at Unirea Urziceni (five points), 1-1, and Stuttgart (three points) tied at Sevilla (10 points), 1-1. Sevilla earned a spot in the last 16 with the result. In Group H, Arsenal (10 points) smashed AZ Alkmaar (two points), 4-1, and Standard Liege (four points) blanked visiting Olympiakos (six points), 2-0.

Tiger Woods leads the PGA Tour Championship by one shot against Padraig Harrington and Sean O’Hair. The top 30 players are in Atlanta to compete for the seasonal title and a $10-million prize.

Great Britain and Ireland leads Continental Europe, 6-4, after two days of the Seve Trophy. The Ryder Cup-style event continues through Sunday. GB&I won the Thursday and Friday fourball matches, each by a 3-2 score. Saturday features four greensome games and four foursome matches. Greensomes involving two-man teams, both of hit tee shots then pick the better ball and play the rest of the hole in an alternate-shot style. There will be 10 singles matches Sunday.

Sophie Gustafson leads the LPGA Challenge in Danville, California after 36 holes. Lorena Ochoa, Maria Hjorth and Shanshan Feng share second place, one stroke behind Gustafson. Russ Cochran and Denis Watson are tied atop the standings of the Champions Tour event in Cary, North Carolina.

Fourth-ranked Mississippi fell at South Carolina, 16-10, in its Southeastern Conference opener Thursday. The Rebels (2-1, 0-1) hadn’t been in the top five in two generations. The Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1) had never beaten a top-five squad. Among the key games Saturday will be Miami (2-0) visiting Virginia Tech (2-1) in an Atlantic Coast Conference tilt.

Indiana evened the WNBA Eastern Conference Finals with a 79-75 win over Detroit. The decisive third game will be Saturday in Indianapolis. Montreal (10-2) thrashed host Hamilton (6-6), 42-8, in a CFL game Thursday.