STANFORD, Calif. -- Even in November, Tara VanDerveer prepares her team for March by scheduling tough games and treating them like NCAA Tournament matchups.Crisp ball movement and balance carried Stanford.Brittany McPhee scored a career-high 28 points, Erica McCall added 17 points and six blocked shots, and No. 11 Stanford avenged a home loss against Texas from two years ago by beating the eighth-ranked Longhorns 71-59 on Monday night.McPhee shot 11 for 15 and had seven rebounds, while McCall had five boards and blocked five of her shots in the first half as Stanford (2-0) shot 54.9 percent to overcome 20 turnovers and spoil Texas season opener.Our team really focused. This was like an NCAA Tournament week. It was awesome, VanDerveer said. Im really proud of how people worked and Im really excited for the good things that we did and well go right back to work and get ready for Gonzaga and clean up some of those rebounds, some of those turnovers.VanDerveer, the Hall of Fame coach beginning her 31st season at the school and 38th as a college coach, moved 18 victories away from joining the late Pat Summitt as the only womens coaches to reach 1,000 career wins.After the Longhorns cut Stanfords lead to 52-47 on Joyner Holmes layin with 3:10 left in the third quarter, McCall quickly answered on the other end and Alanna Smith scored the next time down as the Cardinal capitalized on Atkins turnover.Smith, a sophomore from Australia, had her family in the stands visiting. Her father, Darren, was asked during one timeout what insight he had for the team -- and his response was a good one.Get Brittany McPhee the ball, he said, smiling.Brooke McCarty, the leading returning scorer for Texas after she averaged 11.8 points last season, had 20 points and Ariel Atkins had 14.It was an eye opener today, McCarty said. We kind of have to take that and roll with it. We just got outplayed and we got beat.A junior guard with 11 career starts over her first two college seasons, McPhee is taking on a bigger role for VanDerveers young team. And Texas, which beat Stanford the past two seasons, didnt have an answer for her accuracy.The Longhorns ended the Cardinals 28-game home winning streak with an 87-81 overtime win at Maples Pavilion on Nov. 20, 2014, when Stanford was ranked sixth and Texas No. 10 -- the programs first win over a top-10 team in almost six years. It marked the first meeting when both teams were in the top-10.That year, Stanford couldnt make it two in a row after beating No. 1 Connecticut 88-86 in overtime three nights earlier to snap the Huskies 47-game winning streak.Then Texas won again last season in Austin, 77-69.Stanford was too much this time.When you get beat sometimes all you do is talk about what your team wasnt good at but I would say that midway through the second quarter they really broke our defense down, Texas coach Karen Aston said. Were young and a little bit immature and I thought that we started panicking a little bit. We missed some free throws and our confidence got rattled a little bit at the end of the first half and we werent able to recover from that.BIG PICTURETexas: The Longhorns held a 38-32 rebounding edge but were just 6 for 14 at the free throw line. They lost a season opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Aston (4-1). ... Aston coached her 300th career game. She is now 190-110 starting her 10th season as a college coach and 89-47 in her fifth season leading the Longhorns. ... Texas started the season on the road for only the second time in the past 13 years.Stanford: McCall was one off her career high in blocks. She had three blocks in a season-opening win against Cal Poly on Friday and now has nine through two games. I love blocked shots, she said. ... The Cardinal are 15-4 at home against top-10 teams over the last 10-plus seasons and 139-7 at Maples since 2007-08.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns host Houston Baptist on Wednesday morning in their home opener, an 11 a.m. local time tipoff for the programs annual 40 Acres Field Trip game for middle-school students from around Texas and a day that includes educational activities.Stanford: The Cardinal have another tough opponent Friday at home against West Coast Conference power Gonzaga, winner of 11 of the last 12 WCC regular-season titles and picked to do so again.NBA Jerseys China . 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Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie.CHICAGO -- Somebody has to win.In a battle between two last-place teams, the San Francisco 49ers (1-10) will visit the Chicago Bears (2-9) on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. The clubs have combined for one win -- yes, one -- in the past eight weeks.Yet as strange as it sounds, the game carries significance heading into 2017. Both teams are on track to receive top-five picks in the NFL draft, and this weekends matchup could help determine the order of selection.Naturally, players on both sides do not want to hear about how a loss might improve their teams draft position. They are starved for a victory, and many second- and third-stringers who are now in the lineup know that the final five weeks of the regular season will serve as an audition tape as they look for jobs next year.One player who could benefit the most from a strong performance this week is Bears quarterback Matt Barkley. The 26 year old faced an uncertain future when the Arizona Cardinals released him at the end of training camp, but he has found opportunity in Chicago after injuries to Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer and Connor Shaw.Barkley made his first NFL start last week against the Tennessee Titans and likely will be under center once again this week. He completed 28 of 54 passes for 316 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and nearly engineered a fourth-quarter comeback before the Bears final drive stalled inside the Titans 10-yard line.Moving on from here, (we know) that we can win, that we have guys on this team that can win games, said Barkley, a former college standout at USC. Just making sure that we dont shoot ourselves in the foot, I think thats the goal from here on out.The same could be said for the 49ers.On offense, San Francisco has played much better in recent weeks thanks to the re-emergence of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The outspoken 29 year old continues to make headlines for his non-football actions, and now he is creating a buzz with his performance on the field. In four starts in November, he passed for 1,110 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions for a 96.0 rating. He scrambled 29 times for 223 yards and a touchdown.I feel like Im getting more and more comfortable in this offense, Kapernick told the San Francisco Chronicle this week. Ultimately, I think thats what it comees down to for a quarterback.dddddddddddd Getting comfortable in an offense, really getting your feet settled in, getting that foundation, where you can go out and just play freely. This offense has been great for me in that way.Against a short-handed Bears defense, Kaepernick could thrive. Chicago will be without starting linebackers Jerrell Freeman (suspension) and Danny Trevathan (knee injury), which means that rookie fourth-round draft pick Nick Kwiatkoski and 2015 undrafted free agent John Timu are likely to start in the middle of the 3-4 scheme.The 49ers have averaged 20.7 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the league. The Bears rank similarly on the opposite side of the ball as they have allowed 24.0 points per game, which ranks 18th.The numbers are much more difficult to predict this week when the Bears have the ball. Chicago has averaged 16.2 points per game, which is second-to-last in the league. The Bears have scored 17 points or fewer in all but three games this season, and their highest output for the season is 23 points against the Colts.However, as poorly as the Bears offense has performed, the 49ers defense has been just as bad. San Francisco has allowed 31.3 points per game, which is last in the league. The injury-riddled defensive unit, which remains without key players such as linebacker NaVorro Bowman (Achilles) and safety Eric Reid (biceps/injured reserve), has allowed 40-plus points three times this season and has given up 30-plus points a whopping eight times in 11 games.This seasons ugliness combined with the dismissal of Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich led some to speculate that 49ers head coach Chip Kelly might be interested in returning to his previous position in the college ranks. But Kelly told reporters this week that he had no interest in going back to Eugene.I havent talked to a college since Ive been in the NFL, and thats not my goal, Kelly said to the San Francisco Chronicle. My goal is to be the head coach of the 49ers. Thats what Im going to do. It surprises me that it continues to be a new story. Its been the same story since I left four years ago. Im not looking to go back, and thats what Ive always said. ' ' '
