Stanford women oust No. 1 N. Carolina in NCAAs

   The North Carolina women were ranked No. 1.
   They were playing only 90 minutes from home.
   And they won the double point.
   As usual, though, none of it mattered to Stanford.
   The No. 15-ranked Cardinal ousted the Tar Heels 4-1 today to reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C. It was the Cardinal's 17th consecutive victory.
   Stanford (21-3) has won 17 of its last 20 NCAA matches when seeded lower than its opponent, according to gostanford.com. The stretch dates to 2010 and has produced three national championships (2010, 2013 and 2016).
   The Cardinal has won a record 18 NCAA team titles, 11 more than second-place Florida.
   Stanford's Michaela Gordon, a freshman from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, won at No. 1 doubles and trailed at No. 1 singles when the match was abandoned.
   No. 3 Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon defeated No. 4 Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham 6-4, and No. 2 Makenna Jones led No. 15 Gordon 7-6 (2), 1-2.
   The Cardinal will play No. 7 Georgia (18-6) on Saturday. The Bulldogs edged South Carolina, featuring two Bay Area players, 4-3 in Winston-Salem.
   No. 63 Paige Cline, a junior from Kentfield, and Hadley Berg, a senior from Greenbrae, won on Court 1 as the Gamecocks (21-7) took the doubles point. Mariana Gould beat Cline 6-4, 6-1 on Court 4 to give Georgia a 2-1 lead before No. 34 Berg beat No. 75 Kennedy Shaffer 6-2, 6-4 on Court 2 for a 2-2 tie.
   Also advancing in Winston-Salem were No. 11 Texas Tech, with junior Felicity Maltby of Sunnyvale, and No. 14 UCLA, with junior Alaina Miller of Saratoga.
   The Red Raiders (23-6) surprised No. 6 Texas 4-1, ending the Longhorns' winning streak at 19 matches. Maltby and Gabriela Talaba triumphed 6-1 on Court 2 to help Texas Tech earn the doubles point. No. 30 Anna Turati led No. 58 Maltby 2-6, 7-5, 3-2 on Court 2 when their match was halted.
   Texas Tech will face No. 3 Duke (26-3), also playing near home, on Saturday.
   UCLA knocked off No. 6 Mississippi 4-1 for the Bruins' 14th win in their last 15 matches. Miller clinched the victory with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 decision over Alexa Bortles on Court 6. Miller also won with Ena Shibahara on Court 3 as UCLA swept the doubles matches.
   The Bruins (23-5) will play No. 4 Georgia Tech (24-5) on Saturday. In the other quarterfinal, No. 2 Vanderbilt (25-3) will meet No. 21 Florida State (21-8).