Ohio State rallies in second half to clip Lady Lions
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis hit five three- pointers and scored 26 points to pair with 12 assists, as No. 8 Ohio State rallied from down 14 in the second half to secure an 86-73 win over Penn State.
Jantel Lavender had 18 points and Brittany Johnson added 12 points on four three-pointers for the Buckeyes (23-3, 11-2 Big Ten), who buried 17-of-26 threes overall, including an efficient 9-of-13 in the second half.
Tyra Grant knocked down four three-pointers to finish with 22 points, and Alex Bentley hit 10-of-13 from the field for 20 points for Penn State (15-8, 7-6), which shot 52.6 percent in the first half to open up a 48-37 lead.
But the Lady Lions dipped to a 34.6-percent showing in the second half, and saw their lead -- as high as 56-42 less than three minutes in -- shrink to one on a Sarah Shulze triple with 11 1/2 minutes left.
PSU retained its lead, though, until Maria Moeller struck from long distance for a 70-69 game just past the six-minute mark. Tayler Hill and Moeller then drained shots from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions, and Prahalis pushed the lead to 79-71 with less than three minutes to go with one of her five.
OSU put the game away with a 7-of-8 showing at the free throw line from there.
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Knuble scored on the power-play with 2:11 remaining in overtime, and Alex Ovechkin recorded a hat trick, as the Washington Capitals fought back from a three-goal deficit to edge Pittsburgh, 5-4, an
<< UConn rolls on with 46-point win
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles scored 20 points and Maya Moore
added 16, as top-ranked Connecticut demoralized Louisville on the road in an
84-38 romp at Freedom Hall.
The Huskies (23-0, 10-0 Big East) took a commanding 5
<< Russia outlasts Serbia in Fed Cup quarters
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alisa Kleybanova and Svetlana Kuznetsova
booked Russia's ticket in the Fed Cup semifinals after winning the decisive
doubles rubber on Sunday.
Kleybanova defeated Ana Ivanovic in the second reverse si
<< Bosh powers Raptors to win over Kings
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Bosh poured in 36 points and grabbed 11
rebounds, helping Toronto to its seventh consecutive win at Air Canada
Centre, 115-104, over the Sacramento Kings.
Andrea Bargnani contributed 22 points
<< Cilic defends Zagreb crown
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seed Marin Cilic outlasted Germany's
Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 to retain the title at the Zagreb Indoors
tennis event.
Cilic beat Mario Ancic in last year's All-Croatian final, and now
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Rautins had 20 points, as third-ranked Syracuse downed Cincinnati, 71-54, at Fifth Third Arena. Kris Joseph had 17 points, while Scoop Jardine and Arinze Onuaku each chipped in with 11 points for t
Mallorca moves into top four >>
Mallorca, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mallorca took over fourth place in the La
Liga table on Sunday as Jose Carlos Nunes scored in the 81st minute of a 1-0
win over Villarreal at the Son Moix Stadium.
Mallorca entered the match having wo
St Etienne eases relegation worries >>
Saint Etienne, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St Etienne moved seven points clear
of the bottom three on Sunday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Monaco at the
Geoffroy Guichard Stadium.
Blaise Matuidi had the home side in front after 14 m
Udinese tops Napoli with Di Natale's late heroics >>
Udine, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antonio di Natale scored two goals in stoppage
time to complete a hat trick as Udinese beat Napoli, 3-1, on Sunday at the
Stadio Friuli.
Di Natale put Udinese in front after seven minutes when he followed
NFL Inactives (Sunday, February 7, 2010) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players
for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS VS. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, 6:25 P.M. (ET)
Saints - 3rd QB Chase Daniel, TE Darnell Dinkins, RB Lynell Hamilton, T
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Best Horse Betting Online
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
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