Visalia Times-Delta from Visalia, California • 10

2B MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2008 VISALIA TIMES-DELTA AUSTRALIAN OPEN Henin, Sharapova set for showdown i SPORTS TODAY Men's College Basketball 4 p.m.: Syracuse at Georgetown (TV: ESPN) 6 p.m.: Texas at Oklahoma State (TV: ESPN) 9 p.m.: San Francisco at Conzaga (TV: ESPN) NBA 2:30 p.m.: Bulls at Grizzlies (TV: TNT) 5 p.m.: Cavaliers at Heat (TV: TNT) 7:30 p.m.: Nuggets at Lakers (TV: TNT) I NHL 4 p.m.: Capitals at Penguins (TV: Versus) Tennis Noon: Australian Open (TV: ESPN2) 6 p.m.: Australian Open (TV: ESPN2) i 12:30 p.m.: Australian Open (TV: ESPN2) i Women's College Basketball 1 4 p.m.: North Carolina at UConn( TV: ESPN2) ft THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Belgium's Justine Henin returns to Taiwan's Hseih Su-Wei during their third round women's singles match at the Australian Open tennis championships Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. final upset to Marion Bartoli. "She's a real fighter and she never gives up." Henin won the Sydney International title in the leadup to the Australian Open, beating No. 2-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, and has added wins over Aiko Nakamura, Olga Poutchko-va and No. 25 Francesca Schiavone at Melbourne Park.

Sharapova has not dropped a set in wins over JelenaTosic Kostanic, former No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport, Elena Vesnina and Dementieva. No. 2 Rafael Nadal also advanced to the quarterfinals in straight sets, including an abbreviated 6-3, 3-0 win in the fourth round when Paul-Henri Mathieu withdrew with an injured left leg. His match was over at 10:30 p.m.

at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday after he won 11 of 12 points to open the second set. Mathieu had taken a medical timeout to receive treatment, and told the chair umpire after 50 minutes that he could not continue. "I was playing well today, maybe I was playing my best tennis in Australia this year," Nadal, the three-time French Open champion, said. "I'm happy to be in the quarterfinals would have preferred not like this." The Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia Now for the hard part. Justine Henin will put her 32-match winning streak on the line against Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open quarterfinals, their first meeting since the season-ending championship final in Madrid.

Top-ranked Henin continued her stretch of straight sets wins over unseeded players with a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei in the fourth round Sunday, when two-set victories dominated after an extra-long Day 6. Fifth-seeded Sharapova pounded fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0, breaking the No. 11-ranked player in six of her seven service games, including one at love to finish off the match in 62 minutes. "I have always had really tough games against her," Sharapova I wanted to make sure I kept my focus all the way through." That was a good warmup for the next stage, she said. "Justine's the one to beat," Sharapova said.

"She's on a pretty good winning streak, but every match is new. "The one in Madrid was tough but physically she got me in the end she was tougher than I was in the end. But I had many chances IN BRIEF Wire reports and I was very close to winning." Sharapova was seeded No. 1 here last year when Henin skipped the season-opening major because she was going through a divorce. The Russian star reached the final before losing to Serena Williams in a lopsided final.

Williams also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 over No. 1 1 Nicole Vaidis-ova in a rematch of last year's semifinal. She next plays No. 3-ranked Jelena Jankovic, a 7-6 (3), 6-1 winner over Australia's Casey Dellacqua. Henin lost the No.

1 rank ing after the Australian Open last year, handing the top spot to Sharapova for seven weeks. But Henin returned to the tour soon after, embarking on a 63-4 season which culminated with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 win over Sharapova in 3-hours, 24-minutes at the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid. That was the longest best-of-three match in the history of the season-ending tournament and 12th-longest tour match in the Open era. "I always know to beat her I have to be at my best," said Henin, whose only loss since May was a Wimbledon semi COLLEGE FOOTBALL Utah State's Robinson shines in Shrine Game Dillinger leads Hawaii past Fresno State HONOLULU Jared Dillinger scored 15 points and Bobby Nash had 13 as Hawaii defeated Fresno State 75-62 Saturday night. Matt Gibson and Riley Luettgerodt added 12 points apiece for the Rainbow Warriors (7-10, 3-2 Western Ath-, letic Conference), who have won three of four.

Kevin Bell led Fresno State (9-10, 2-3) with 21 points and Hector Hernandez and Nedelijko Golubovic each scored 13 for the Bulldogs. The teams traded baskets early in the first half, which featured 12 lead changes and three ties. But the Bulldogs shot just 2-of-12 from the field in the final 10:38 of the half, and Hawaii outscored Fresno State 14-5 during the stretch to take a 29-23 lead at halftime. Hawaii extended its lead early in the second half, making five of its first six 3-point attempts of the half and went up 50-38 on Gibson 3-pointer from the right wing with 12:27 remaining. Fresno State would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Sutton one win away from 800 PORTLAND, Ore. Eddie Sutton is looking forward to his 800th win mostly because his sons are. "Where it hit home for me is my three interim San Francisco coach said after the Dons defeated Portland 60-59 Saturday night for Sutton's 799th career win.They encouraged me to come here.They said, '800 may not mean much to you, but it will to us and our children 20 years from Dior Lowhorn had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Dons' first win since Dec. 7. Manny Quezada added 17 points and Myron Strong had 13 for San Francisco (5-12, 1-1 West Coast Conference).

The Dons lost their first four games under Sutton, who took over as interim coach in late December. U.S. men score 2:0 win over Sweden CARSON Landon Donovan drew closer to the U.S. career goal record, and Eddie Robinson scored his first international goal in the Americans'2-0 exhibition victory over Sweden on Saturday night. "The guys are happy because we had a tough two weeks," Robinson said of the extended training camp.

"There was a lot of fitness, a lot of running because none of us have played in a couple of months." Robinson, making his international debut, gave the United States a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute, Pat Noonan deflected Brad Davis's corner kick off Swedish goal-. keeper Rami Shaaban, and Robinson converted from five yards. U.S. coach Bob Bradley attributed his team's success in the first half to Donovan. The Associated Press HOUSTON Despite a standout college career at Utah State, Kevin Robinson was virtually unknown to most football fans.

He likely helped change that Saturday night, catching a touchdown pass and returning a punt for a score in the West's 31-13 victory over the East in the 83rd East-West Shrine Game. "I came from a small school and not too many people know about me," he said.This was just an opportunity for me to go out there and just show what I could do against better competition. I wanted to show that no.matter where I'm from, I'm still a good player and I can play with the best." He gave the West a 7-3 lead when he returned a punt 72 defenders and then outran a couple more before juking the punter on his way into the end zone, which he flipped into. Robinson, who led Utah State in scoring the last three seasons, extended the West's lead to 24-6 when he scored on a 5-yard pass from Josh Johnson in the fourth quarter. Robinson finished with four receptions for 28 yards.

Johnson had three carries for 91 yards and was 5-of-ll for 78 yards passing. While at Utah State, Robinson broke the NCAA record for career all-purpose yards per play. He averaged 16.16 yards on 6,479 yards and 401 career plays. He had three kick returns for touch-downs this season and added one punt return score, making him the only player in the country with four returns for scores this season. Houston's Anthony Al-ridge helped lead the West.

After a forgettable performance in the Texas Bowl, Al-ridge closed out his college career in his home stadium, with a game worth remembering. Alridge scored on a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter that pushed the West's lead to 17-3. It was a redeeming performance for the running back who struggled in Houston's 20-13 Texas Bowl loss toTCU last month. "It was just great to go out with a win at my home stadium," Alridge said. "There's nothing like it.

It was a special moment for me." The crowd at Robertson Stadium, which included a child wearing a Houston helmet and Alridge's jersey, cheered loudest on his score. He then showed off with his rendition of rapper Soulja Boy Tell'em's "Crank That" dance in the end zone, while fans held up signs supporting him including one that read 'Anthony's Army Alridge promised some fans he'd dance if he scored. "I told them I was going to dance and that's what we said, laughing. Alridge had two reception for 39 yards. Alvin Bowen extended the West's lead on a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown with 30 seconds left.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson stood on the West team sideline for most of the first half, cheering on his former Oklahoma teammates. The four Sooners in the game were running back Allen Patrick, defensive back Marcus Walker, tight end Joe Jon Finley and kicker Garrett Hartley. Patrick was injured in the first quarter and had just one carry for three yards. Hartley missed a 29-yard field goal in the second quarter. yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.

He quickly dashed past the first wave of SCOREBOARD Today's Games Boston at New York, 10 a.m. Dallas at Washington, 10 a.m. San Antonio at Charlotte, 10 a.m. Portland at Atlanta, 11 a.m. Indiana at Philadelphia, 11 a.m.

Seattle at Houston, 11:30 a.m. Utah at LA. Clippers, 12:30 p.m. Milwaukee at New Orleans, 12:30 p.m. Minnesota at Golden State, 1 p.m.

Chicago at Memphis, 2:30 p.m. Detroit at Orlando, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Miami, 5 p.m. Denver at LA. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.

Sacked-Yards Lost 2-8 0-0 Punts Fumbles-Lost 5-1 1-0 Penalties-Yards 6-50 7-37 Time of Possession 40:01 22:34 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING New York, Jacobs 21-67, Bradshaw 16-63, Manning 2-4. Green Bay, Grant 13-29, Favre 1 -(minus 1). PASSING New York, Manning 21-40-254. Green Bay, Favre 19-35-2-236. RECEIVING New York, Burress 11-154, Toomer 4-42, Smith 2-25, Boss 1-12, Bradshaw 1-9, Jacobs 1-8, Tyree 1-4.

Green Bay, Driver 5-141, Robinson 4-16, Lee 3-35, Morency 2-9, Jennings 1-14, Hall 1-12, Franks 1-11, Grant 1 -(minus 3). MISSED FIELD GOALS-New York, Tynes 43 (WL), 36 (WL). Palos); 5. Nick Rasmussen (Golden Valley) 154: 1. David Mariscal (Farmersville); 2.

Dwight Flores (Tulare Union); 3. Michael Lopez (Golden West); 4. Fernando Garcia (Delano); 5. Raymond Ramirez (Lemoore) 162: 1. Matt Moralez (Tulare Union); 2.

Aandeep Singh (Delano); 3. Miguel Pasillas (Roosevelt); 4. C.J. Moss (Morro Bay); 5. Matt Wykoff(Mt.

Whitney) 173: 1. Hugo Ferrer (Caruthers); 2. Rene Resendez (Parlier); 3. Zack Zuniga (Hanford WestO; 4. Nick Peterson (Golden West); 5.

Anthony Harrison (Mt. Whitney) 191: 1. Josh Macias (Delano); 2. Nick Corona (Hanford West); 3. Joe Stevens (Tulare Union); 4.

Moises Urbina (Parlier); 5. Fred Garcia (Dos Palos) 217: 1. Shane Vanderpool (LibertyMadera); 2. Jonathon Garcia (Hanford West); 3. Trevor Robinson (Hanford West); 4.

Alex Flood (Morro Bay); 5. Paul Sicks (Tulare Union) 287: 1. Jerome Long (Morro Bay); 2. Marcos Medina (Caruthers); 3. Alex Quair (Hanford West); 4.

David Tapia-Padron (Parlier); 5. Anthony Flores (Tulare Union) lifts, sm Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: Homewood Sun packed powder machine groomed 40 65 base 50 of 60 trails, 100 open, 8 of 10 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; June Sun packed powder machine groomed 36 72 base 35 of 35 trails, 100 open, 500 acres, 7 of 7 lifts, Mon-Fri: SatSun: Kirkwood Sun packed powder machine groomed 91-122 base 65 of 65 trails, 100 open, 2800 acres; 12 of 12 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Mammoth Sun packed powder machine groomed 60 80 base 150 of 150 trails, 100 open, 3500 acres, 29 of 29 lifts, Mon-Fri: SatSun: Mountain High Sun packed powder machine groomed 12 36 base 57 of 60 trails, 95 open, 270 acres, 16 of 16 lifts, Mon-Fri: SatSun: 8a-10p; Mt Shasta Sun 8:1 1 a hard packed 1 22 -158 base 32 of 32 trails, 100 open, 3 of 4 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; Sat: 9a-9p; Sun 9a-4p; Northstar at Tahoe Sun packed powder machine groomed 35 59 base 82 of 83 trails, 98 open, 17 of 17 lifts, Mon-Fri: SatSun: Royal Gorge Sun packed powder machine groomed 136 -168 base 63 of 90 trails, 93 open, 3 of 4 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-5p; SatSun: Sierra at Tahoe Sun packed powder machine groomed 45 78 base 41 of 46 trails, 89 open, 11 of 11 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: Apr 16: last day; Sierra Summit Sun packed powder machine groomed 44 72 base 80 of 80 trails, 100 open, 11 of 11 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Snow Summit Sun packed powder machine groomed 20 36 base 31 of 31 trails, 100 open, 14 of 14 lifts, sm Mon-Thu: Fri: Sat Sun: 8a-5p; Snow Valley Sun packed powder machine groomed 24 36 base 22 of 28 trails, 50 open, 120 acres, 7 of 12 lifts, sm Mon-Wed: ThuFri: 8a-9p; SatSun: 8a-9p; Soda Springs Sun packed powder machine groomed 89 -115 base 10 of 42 trails, 100 open, 6 of 7 lifts, Mon-Fri-9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Squaw Valley USA Sun packed powder machine groomed 115-115 base 170 of 170 trails. 100 nnn inm SD Kaeding 24, 8:36. Fourth Quarter NE Welker 6 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick), 12:15. SD NE First downs 17 25 Total Net Yards 311 347 Rushes-yards 22-104 31-149 Passing 207 198 Punt Returns 3-16 2-1 Kickoff Returns 4-84 5-92 Interceptions Ret.

3-14 2-7 Comp-Att-Int 19-37-2 22-33-3 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-4 2-11 Punts Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0 Penalties-Yards 1-5 2-19 Time of Possession 26:40 33:20 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING San Diego, Turner 17-65, Sproles 3-34, Tomlinson 2-5. New England, Maroney 25-122, Moss 1-14, Faulk 1-8, Evans 2-7, Brady 2-(minus 2). PASSING San Diego, Rivers 19-37-2-211. New England, Brady 22-33-3-209. RECEIVING San Diego, Chambers 7-90, Jackson 6-93, Gates 2-17, Sproles 2-5, Turner 1-5, Tomlinson 1-1.

New England, Faulk 8-82, Welker 7-56, Stallworth 2-11, Moss 1-18, Evans 1-13, Gaffney 1-12, Maroney 1-9, Watson 1-8. MISSED FIELD GOALS None. Giants 23, Packers 20 N.Y. Giants 3 3 14 3 23 Green Bay 0 10 7 3 6 20 First Quarter Second Quarter NY FGTynes 37, 11:41. GB Driver 90 pass from Favre (Crosby kick), 11:18.

GB-FG Crosby 36, 1:30. Third Quarter NY Jacobs 1 run (Tynes kick), 7:56. GB Lee 12 pass from Favre (Crosby kick), 5:00. NY Bradshaw 4 run (Tynes kick), 2:12. Fourth Quarter GBFG Crosby 37, 11:46.

Overtime NY FG Tynes 47, 12:25. NYG GB First downs 24 13 Total Net Yards 380 264 Rushes-yards 39-134 14-28 Passing 246 236 Punt Returns 4-24 2-1 Kickoff Returns 5-121 5-103 Interceptions Ret 2-20 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 21 -4(H) 19-35-2 NBA Standings EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Pel GB Boston 32 6 .842 Toronto 22 19 .537 1114 New Jersey 18 22 .450 15 Philadelphia 16 25 .390 17'A New York 13 27 .325 20 Southeast Division Pet GB Orlando 25 17 .595 Washington 21 17 .553 2 Atlanta 17 19 .472 5 Charlotte 16 24 .400 8 Miami 8 31 .205 15 Central Division Pel GB Detroit 29 12 .707 Cleveland 21 18 .538 7 Indiana 18 23 .439 11 Chicago 16 23 .410 12 Milwaukee 16 24 .400 12 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division Pet GB Dallas 27 12 .692 New Orleans 27 12 .692 San Antonio 25 13 .658 1 Houston 21 19 .525 6'k Memphis 11 29 .275 16 Northwest Division Pet GB Denver 24 15 .615 Portland 24 16 .600 Utah 23 18 .561 2 Seattle 9 31 .225 15 Minnesota 5 34 .128 19 Pacific Division Pet GB Phoenix 29 12 .707 l.A. Lakers 26 12 .684 1 Golden State 25 17 .595 4 Sacramento 17 22 .436 11 LA. Clippers 12 24 .333 14 Saturday's Games Sacramento 110, Indiana 104 Orlando 101. Portland 94 Philadelphia 99, Toronto 95 Charlotte 105, Memphis 87 York 88, Miami 84 Chicago 97, Detroit 81 Houston 83, San Antonio 81 Golden State 119, Milwaukee 99 Denver 111.

Minnesota 108 Dallas 111, Seattle LA. Clippers 120, New Jersey 107, OT Sunday's Game NFL Playoff Glance Wild-card Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 5 Seattle 35, Washington 14 Jacksonville 31, Pittsburgh 29 Sunday, Jan. 6 N.Y. Giants 24, Tampa Bay 14 San Diego 17, Tennessee 6 Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan.

12 Green Bay 42, Seattle 20 New England 31, Jacksonville 20 Sunday, Jan. 13 San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24 N.Y. Giants 21, Dallas 17 Conference Championships Sunday, Jan. 20 AFC New England 21, San Diego 12 NFC N.Y. Giants 23, Green Bay, 20, OT Super Bowl Sunday, Feb.

3 Glendale, Ariz. New England vs. N.Y. Giants, 3:17 p.m. (FOX) Pro Bowl Sunday, Feb.

10 At Honolulu AFC vs. NFC, TBA (FOX) Patriots 21, Chargers 12 San Diego 3 6 3 0 12 New England 0 14 0 7 21 First Quarter Second Quarter NE Maroney 1 run (Gostkowski kick), 13:48. SD NE Gaffney 12 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick), 3:51. SD FG Kaeding 40, :08. Third Quarter Prep Wrestling Central Valley Invitational at Golden West Top four teams: Tulare Union 116, Golden West 115, Hanford West 91, Morro Bay 89 Individual results 105: 1.

Dalton Matevier (Clovis North); 2. Chan Chao (Golden West); 3. Javier Salgado (Roosevelt); 4. Anthony Lopez (Delano); 5. Alex Gomez (Frontier) 114: 1.

Matt Enriquez (Tulare Union); 2. Cameron Perez (Lemoore); 3. Roger Anguiano (Farmersville); 4. Justin Solorio (Wasco); 5. Joey Castro (Roosevelt) 121: 1.

Chris Calcagno (Clovis North); 2. Riley Burger (Golden West); 3. Jesse Arellano (Parlier); 4. Tyler Spencer (LibertyMadera); 5. Carlos Reyes (Roosevelt) 127: 1.

Jose Blanco (Wasco); 2. Santiago Perez (Woodlake); 3. Guillermo Pimentel (Dos Palos); 4. Mike Torres (Tulare Union); 5. Ben Michel (Morro Bay) 132: 1.

Dustin Moody (Golden West); 2. Nolan Marshall (Mt. Whitney); 3. Brandon Daniels (Roosevelt); 4. Rudy Alanis (Parlier); 5.

D.J. Dizney (LibertyMadera) 137: 1. Alex Mechikoff (Clovis North); 2. Michael Langford (Dos Palos); 3. Johnny Pedraza (Hanford West); 4.

Markey Gutierrez (Golden Valley); 5. Beau Romero (Wasco) 142: 1. Jorge Torres (Caruthers); 2. Nestor Ruelas (Golden West); 3. David Quiroz (Dos Palos); 4.

Jorge Peek (Golden Valley); 5. Nick Rasmussen (Golden Valley) 147: 1. Isaac Morris (Morro Bay); 2. Brandon Whitten (Hanford West); 3. Brian Argueta (Fresno); 4.

Jovan Duncan (Dos Ski Report California Alpine Meadows Sun packed powder machine groomed 55 93 base 65 of 100 trails, 100 open, 13 of 13 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Badger Pass Sun 3:1 4p packed powder machine groomed 36 54 base 10 of 10 trails, 100 open, 80 acres, 4 of 5 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Bear Mountain Sun packed powder machine groomed 20 36 base 24 of 27 trails, 98 open, 12 of 12 lifts, sm Mon-Fri: SatSun: 8a-4p; Bear Valley Sun packed powder machine groomed 57 57 base 67 of 67 trails, 100 open, 1280 acres, 10 of 10 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: Boreal Sun packed powder machine groomed 98 -115 base 34 of 42 trails, 80 open, 100 acres, 9 of 9 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-9p; SatSun: 9a-9p; Dodge Ridge Sun packed powder machine groomed 46 58 base 59 of 59 trails, 100 open, 815 acres, 10 of 10 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Donner Ski Ranch Sun packed powder machine groomed 54-100 base 53 of 53 trails, 100 open, 500 acres, 6 of 6 lifts, Mon-Fri: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p; Heavenly Sun packed powder machine groomed 58 80 base 95 of 96 trails, 100 open, 4800 acres, 29 of 30 32 of 34 lifts, Mon-Fri: SatSun: 9 Sugar Bowl Sun narkarf machine groomed 67 97 base 83 of 84 trails, 98 open, 1475 acres, 9 of 13 lifts Mon-Hi: 9a-4p; SatSun: 9a-4p;.