The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 13

WNBA Aussie star tabbed by Storm By MELLSSA MURPHY Associated Press SECAUCUS NJ It took 20 hours to get here but Australian basketball star Lauren Jackson knew it would be worth the trip The Seattle Storm selected the 19 ycar old Olympic silver medalist as the top pick in the WNBA draft riday next three months will be a big test for Jackson said after signing a one year contract Americans are the best team in the world exciting playing against them and with The 6 foot 5 center should provide im mediate help for the Storm who finished last in the WNBA as an expansion team last season Seattle coach Lin Dunn likes versatility has size mobility is an inside outside Dunn said can post up with her back to the basket like a cen ter then step outside and shoot the With the second pick Charlotte chose point guard Kelly Miller a two time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year from Georgia Indiana then selected two time national Player of the Year Tamika Catchings of Tennessee who is recovering from a knee injury Jackie Stiles the NCAA scoring leader with 3393 points went to Portland with the No 4 choice Stiles led Southwest Missouri State to the NCAA inal our life has changed dramatically in the last two Stiles said See WNBA Page CIO Top overall pick Lauren Jackson of Australia left shows off her jersey with WNBA President Vai Ackerman Associated Press AML TH BUALO news Lee Janzen leads Li Pl fcl Houston Open OpOt Lb COLOq SATURDAY APRIL 21 2001 INSIDE 'XLJC3 CollegesJJ5 Classified Cl 1 STANLEY CUP PLAYOS Sabres looking to lock the door on lyers today By TIM GRAHAM News Sports Reporter See Sabres Page C5 you're up 3 1 and you have a team down you want to put them Sabres center Chris Gratton said want to give them any signs of life or any momen tum We gave them back a little hope We have to shut any kind of doubt out Only nine percent of teams down three games to one advance But the lyers found added hope Thursday with a 3 1 home victo ry in Game ive It was a rousing effort over ilbllvbb OdUlUa LvdHL Buffalo received another capricious out ing from goalie Dominik Hasek who has given up three goals in four straight games The last time he did that in the playoffs was never The Sabres were lackadaisical with the puck challenge defensively failed to forecheck when needed lost key faceoffs and seemed a step slow were a day late and a dollar Ruff said thought Philadelphia probably played their best I thought we played our poorest thought for the most part' we were average I don't think the tenacity or the sec ond effort was there in that game They came hard they pinched they played some times with reckless abandon Their defense came below the hash marks lots of times to Sabres vs lyers Sabres lead series 3 2 The Philadelphia lyers raised the stakes In response the Buffalo Sabres in tend to fold moving their entire stack of chips to the center of the table time for the Sabres to show everybody of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at 3 pm in HSBC Arena The Sabres view' it as an all or nothing proposition They lead the best of seven se ries three games to two is our Game Seven" Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said you look at a series and we talked about home ice advantage I said the biggest difference is that Game Seven scenario is in your building Well we get to close out the series in six and in our building want to play that up tempo puck pressure game and we want to have fun do it and we want to no for it not no what they have in crucial Game Six ing to be a tentative team that goes out there and hopes things go right We gotta go out and diet A lyers win this afternoon would move the series back to irst Union Center on Monday It's not a place the Sa bres want to be Game Six: Today: HSBC Arena aceoff: 3 pm TV: Ch 7 Radio: 1077M 1330 game Hurricanes 3 Devils 2' Vj BASEBALL ARENA OOTBALL NL Bisons get wet victory By MIKE HARRINGTON News Sports Reporter Rainy weather deter the Buffa lo Bisons Neither can a two day break in the schedule Nor an early three run deficit The April stampede contin tied riday night at Dunn Tire Park as Buffalo got a third inning grand slam from Karim Garcia and rallied past the Ottawa Lynx 6 3 The Bisons who had been idle since Tuesday are 11 2 and have won four straight Buffalo is the only Triple A team unbeaten at home with its 7 0 mark down town its best start ever So far the Bison bat ters seem to get every clutch hit they need and the bullpen has posted every out to wriggle out of any jam faced been happening" said man ager Eric Wedge getting the hits we need and making the pitches we have was played through a steady rain that held the in house crowd down to about 2000 The Bisons sold 11438 tickets their best figure since the season opener Those that came saw Tim Byrdak (1 0) get his first Bison win in his third start by persevering through five innings RBI doubles by Andy Tracy and Rob Sasser put Byrdak into a 2 0 first inning hole and the Lynx made it 3 0 on Dan run scoring triple to left cen ter in the second did a real good job in the fourth and fifth inning (allowing just one hit) and that really helped Wedge said himself early on but he worked to keep himself in the ball Byrdak kept Buffalo close long enough for the offense to do its job With two outs in the third Garcia crushed a 1 1 slider from Ottawa starter Bobby Munoz on a low line over the right field fence for the second grand slam of the season and a 4 3 lead was running hard 1 had Garcia said never thought that ball was going to go" Despite having just 11 hits and a 239 batting average Garcia has a team high 13 RBIs a strong hitter and a clutch hit Wedge said was sure a big hit for us mi Inside Andy Pettitte and the Yankees top the Red Sox Page C6 The game See Bisons Page C3 DEREK GEEBuffalo News a a a i I 5 A' i iY i i 1 1 1 I 1 'Y'V I i (V Buffalo receiver Kevin Mason reels in a touchdown catch under pressure from New Kevin Gaines Latta powers Destroyers to victory By KEITH MCSHEA News Sports Reporter The Arena ootball League franchise had its share of worsts is now happi ly racking up a bunch of firsts? Willie two spectacular second half touchdown receptions led the Buffalo Destroyers to a come from behind 39 28 victory over the New Jersey Gladiators riday night before a home opening crowd of 10212 at HSBC Arena The Destroyers followed the fran first season opening win last week with its first home opening victory and its first 2 0 start in the three seasons of a team that stumbled out of the womb at 1 17 another first: at 2 0 Buffalo is tied with Carolina for first place in the National East Division and none is a good place to be it sure beats the alternative we want ed to get off to a fast start and so far so said Buffalo coach Ray Bentley got off to a 14 0 lead and the next thing you know in a dogfight I like my chances in a dogfight got some alley fighters on this team and take it one at a With Buffalo trailing 28 20 game MVP Latta scored on a 39 yard catch and run from Kubiak to give Buffalo the lead The TD gave the Destroyers some fourth quarter momentum as Buffalo held New' Jersey scoreless while it drove for two scores: a 1 yard keeper by quarter back Jim Kubiak and a 28 yard connection from Kubiak to Latta On Latta's first touchdown he caught the ball near the right sideline put on the brakes then weaved in and out of traffic and fought off a face mask to get to the end zone That brought Buffalo to within 28 27 with 3:25 left in the third quarter was kind of shocked" Latta said of the first score thought I was going to get hit and (the defender) kind of nicked me When I got in the open field I knew that was trouble (for New Jersey)" On Latta's second score Buffalo faced a second and 16 at its 22 with a 33 28 lead Kubiak rolled out to his left just in front of the end of the Destroyers bench and hit a streaking Latta on the opposite side of the field Latta made a dazzling over the shouldcr catch in the end zone to for 39 28 lead with 3:18 left The second half effort was all the more impressive because Buffalo did it without offensive whiz Bobby Olive The offensive specialist who had three touchdowns in 61 54 win at Toronto last week left the game just before halftime with a See Destroyers Page C3 Bills wait as alcons go for No 1 By MARK GAUGHAN News Sports Reporter The Buffalo Bills will sit and watch the run on defensive linemen this after noon before deciding what need they will fill in the 66th annual NL Draft Whether a premier defensive lineman will fall to the 14th overall selection is one of many uncertainties in what shapes up as the most unpredictable wide open first rounds in recent years Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick is expected to be the first overall choice but of the Atlanta alcons not the San Diego Char gers The Chargers moved down to the fifth overall pick in a blockbuster trade riday afternoon af ter contentious con tract talks with Vick The Chargers also got the 67th pick this year a second rounder next year and receiverreturn specialist Tim Dwight After the alcons take Vick the possibilities are endless because there is so little dif ference in the rank NL Draft TV coverage: Today at noon on ESPN switches to ESPN2at7pm Sunday at 11 am on ESPN switches to ESPN2at1pm Draft Preview Begins on C7 ing of the top dozen college football stars The Bills will make the 14th pick sometime between 2:15 and 3:15 pm unless they trade down There are at least six premier defen sive linemen available and the new four man defensive front is thin lori Gerard Warren" Justin Smith Richard Seymour and Andre Carter all are virtually sure to be gone among the top 10 picks The question for the Bills is whether 320 pound MarcusStroud or lorida speed rushing end Jamal Reynolds will last until 14th It would be especially hard for the Bills to pass up Stroud because they have no proven player to put alongside Pat Williams at defensive tackle Howev er Jacksonville picks 13th and might take the big Bulldog The Jaguars also have needs on the offensive line The Bills have lots of needs too Coach Gregg Williams wants a big cor nerback to plug into his secondary The Bills coaches think highly of Nate Clem ents of Ohio State Clements (5 foot ll 209 pounds) is bigger and faster than Buffalo's Antoine Winfield and San See Draft Page C8 NBA Sixers looking for revenge rom News Staff and Wire Reports This time the Philadelphia 76crs are the favorites in the second season the perfect team to play be cause the team we couldn't get by two years in a 76ers guard Allen Iverson said as his team prepared for its series against Indiana Indiana the defending Eastern Con ference champions swept the Sixers out of the conference semifinals in 1999 and needed six games to beat them in the sec ond round last year This season the Six ers are the top seed in the East and the Pacers own the worst record among the playoff participants (41 41) The Pacers 76ers series will be the first of four playoff games today The Dallas Mavericks in the postsca Playoff openers Indiana at Philadelphia 12:30 Ch 2 Dallas at Utah 3:00 Chs 2 9 Minnesota at San Antonio 5:30 2 Charlotte at Miami 8:30 Playoff scouting report Page C4 Notre Dame's Murphy enters draft Page C5 son for the first time in 11 years travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz The Minnesota Timberwolves eighth seeded in the West face a daunting task in the Alamodome against the San Antonio Spurs who boast the best record at 58 24 And the Charlotte Hornets meet the Heat in Miami The other four series begin on Sunday lbs i BlH Bl NsM if i 1 gji pjjj coLor cruuruit tra t'l Ka fLerJmt 6 i f'lTHn' 1 1 A.