Sports
No. 23 Saint Mary's ready for senior night vs. Oregon State
Feb 22, 2025; Spokane, Washington, USA; St. Mary’s Gaels center Mitchell Saxen (11) runs off the court after a game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images Mitchell Saxen played in his school-record 151st game for No. 23 Saint Mary’s on Thursday night. No. 152 promises to be more emotional.
The center for the Gaels will be playing in his final home game at the cozy on-campus gym when Saint Mary’s faces Oregon State in West Coast Conference play on Saturday night in Moraga, Calif.
Saxen and teammates Augustas Marciulionis and Luke Barrett will partake in pregame Senior Night activities before Saint Mary’s (26-4, 16-1 WCC) takes aim at its seventh straight victory.
The 6-foot-10 Saxen has been a vital figure in the Gaels’ success the past three seasons after not starting a single game in his first two seasons on campus.
He was the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year last season — and the favorite to repeat — and is two blocked shots away from reaching 40 for the third straight campaign. Saxen has averaged double-figure scoring and 7.6 boards or higher in each of the past three seasons.
“I didn’t go in with any expectations of ever being a starter, the guy that’s relied upon,” Saxen recently told the school website. “I just wanted to be as good as I could be and just to maximize every day. And when you do that in this program, it pays off. …
“A lot of people want to transfer out early or try to find a better situation early, but sometimes the best situation is to develop behind really good players. I feel like that was kind of the story of my career and the story of a lot of Gael careers.”
Saxen is averaging 10.3 points and 7.9 rebounds this season. His 38 blocks lead the Gaels and his 40 steals rank second.
Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett appreciates what Saxen has brought to the program.
“People don’t realize how good he is, but for some reason, he keeps ending up on a team that wins a lot of games,” Bennett said. “So, there’s something to be said for that.”
Saxen’s former teammate, Alex Ducas (150 from 2019-24), held the former Gaels’ record for games played.
Saint Mary’s will look to put forth a better effort against the Beavers (20-10, 10-7) after it delivered an underwhelming 58-55 road win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday.
Paulius Murauskas saved the Gaels with 18 points and 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.
The Gaels are vying to complete a two-game sweep of the Beavers after notching a 63-49 road win in Corvallis on Feb. 8. Marciulionis stood out for Saint Mary’s with 18 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and four steals. Isaiah Sy led Oregon State with 10 points off the bench.
The Beavers had a three-game winning streak end Thursday as San Francisco’s Veniamin Abosi hit a decisive 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left in the Dons’ 74-72 road victory.
Oregon State’s Parsa Fallah scored 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting. He hit a shot that could have forced overtime but a video review showed he didn’t get it off before time expired.
Fallah (12.7) ranks second on the squad in scoring behind Michael Rataj (17.5).
Despite the tough loss against San Francisco, the Beavers have reached the 20-win mark for the second time in coach Wayne Tinkle’s 11 seasons and just the third time in 35 campaigns.
Tinkle said the milestone has major meaning.
“It certainly does. Over the years, it has changed a little but 20 wins … especially for us, adding nine new players and getting to 20 wins is certainly a great mark,” Tinkle said. “It’s funny, as soon as we wrote it up on the board the guys were like, ‘We got to add to it.'”
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek both upset at Stuttgart
Elena Rybakina hits a shot against Aryna Sabalenka during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., March 15, 2026. Top-seeded Elena Rybakina escaped in a third-set tiebreaker while No. 2 Coco Gauff and No. 3 Iga Swiatek were upset victims to Karolina Muchova and Mirra Andreeva, respectively, in Friday’s quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.
No. 7 Muchova saved 12 of 15 break points during a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory that marked her first win over Gauff in seven career meetings. The Czech will next face No. 4 Elina Svitolina after the Ukrainian delivered a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Czech Linda Noskova.
No. 6 Andreeva of Russia rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win to defeat Swiatek of Poland for the third consecutive time. Andreeva saved 9 of 14 break points while winning in two hours, 36 minutes.
Andreeva next faces Rybakina, who staved off a second match point against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez as part of winning the final three points to score a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory. Rybakina had a 7-6 edge in aces and hit 51 winners while winning in three hours, two minutes.
Rouen Metropolitan Open
Teenage qualifier Veronika Podrez of Ukraine reached the semifinals in her first main-draw tournament by rolling to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Brit Katie Boulter in Rouen, France.
Podrez, 19, had 28 winners against 11 unforced errors while finishing off Boulter in 78 minutes. Podrez’s semifinal opponent will be second-seeded Sorana Cirstea after the Romanian registered a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Anna Bondar of Hungary.
Top-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Tatjana Maria of Germany will meet in the other quarterfinals. Kostyuk ousted Ann Li 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3, while Maria beat Belarus’ Iryna Shymanovich 7-6 (5), 6-2.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Illinois G Andrej Stojakovic announces return for 2026-27 season
Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) shoots against Connecticut Huskies guard Silas Demary Jr. (2) in the second half during a semifinal of the Final Four of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Illinois standout guard Andrej Stojakovic said Friday he is returning to the Fighting Illini for the 2026-27 season.
Stojakovic posted the news on his Instagram account, asking, “Did I make you nervous?” In an attached video, he lowers a newspaper then lowers his sunglasses and says, “I’m back.”
His return is a crucial one for an Illini squad that reached the Final Four before losing to UConn. Illinois went 28-9 this season and figures to be among the top five ranked teams in next season’s preseason poll, depending how the transfer portal and NBA declarations shake out nationally in upcoming weeks.
The 6-foot-7 Stojakovic averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 34 games despite missing some time with an ankle injury.
It was his first season at Illinois after one-season stints with Stanford (2023-24) and Cal (2024-25). Stojakovic averaged 17.9 points in his one season with the Golden Bears before transferring again.
Stojakovic has career averages of 12.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 95 games (59 starts). He has made 95 3-pointers to go with 53 blocked shots and 49 steals.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rockets-Lakers series 'much deeper' than LeBron James-Kevin Durant tilt
Mar 16, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) dribbles the ball as Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) defends during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images A pair of NBA legends will square off once more when the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets face off in a first-round series starting Saturday in Los Angeles.
Kevin Durant led the Rockets to the No. 5 seed in his first season with the team, while LeBron James has helped guide the Lakers to the No. 4 seed. But Los Angeles will be without significant firepower.
Guards Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) could end up missing the series entirely after both were injured in a 139-96 blowout loss at Oklahoma City on April 2.
The situation will thrust James back to the forefront at age 41, while in his record 23rd NBA season. Even while starting the season with a sciatica injury, it did not appear as if James lost a step, with averages of 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 60 games.
“He had not a good season, not a great (one), he had a remarkable season,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “All things considered, you take away the fact that he’s in his 23rd year and he’s 41 years old, he had a remarkable season.”
After three consecutive losses when Doncic and Reaves went down, the Lakers rebounded to win their final three games of the regular season to clinch the fourth seed. It was James who pulled the group together in a team meeting to make the late push.
“He’s very vocal,” the Lakers’ Rui Hachimura said. “… It’s big time for him.”
At age 37 and in his 18th season, Durant averaged 26.0 points with 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Perhaps most impressive of all was his 78 regular-season games played, his most since 2018-19.
“Of course, from the outside looking in, casual folks who are not in the life with us every day, yeah, the (playoff) matchup is definitely fun,” Durant said, according to The Sporting News. “Two great players who have been in the league for a long time, but everybody who’s involved in this series knows it’s much deeper than that.”
The rebounding total was Durant’s lowest since he was a rookie with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007-08, but staying out of the fray inside likely helped to keep him fresh. The Rockets had plenty of rebounding, leading the NBA at 48.1 per game and 15.0 on the offensive end.
“It’s the best rebounding team in the last 25 years,” James said, anticipating the challenge ahead.
And it might have been even better had Steven Adams not gone down with an ankle injury in January.
While scoring can be a challenge for the Rockets at times, the focus on extending possession with offensive rebounds has served them well. While the Lakers led the NBA at 50.2% shooting from the floor, the Rockets were 10th at 47.9% and 18th at 115.2 points per game.
Alperen Sengun was as much of an all-around threat as Durant with 20.4 points, to go along with team bests in rebounding (8.9) and assists (6.2). Sengun’s passing ability helped to make up for the loss of Fred VanVleet, who tore his ACL in the preseason.
Amen Thompson added 18.3 points with 7.8 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. had 15.8 points with 6.9 rebounds.
Houston closed out the regular season by winning nine of its last 10 games, but it lost twice to the Minnesota Timberwolves since March 25 and dropped consecutive games to the Lakers in March at home.
–Field Level Media
WTA roundup: Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek both upset at Stuttgart
Illinois G Andrej Stojakovic announces return for 2026-27 season
