Today in sports history: March 21

  • Monday, March 21, 2016 1:01am
  • Sports

1893 — The first women’s collegiate basketball game is played at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. In this game, each basket is worth 1 point and the freshman class beats the sophomore class 5-4. The game takes place behind locked doors and men are prohibited from watching.

1941 — Joe Louis knocks out Abe Simon in the 13th round at Olympia Stadium in Detroit to retain the world heavyweight title.

1945 — George Mikan of DePaul scores 53 points in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Mikan matches Rhode Island in offensive output and his teammates add another 44 for a final score of 97-53.

1953 — Rookie Bob Cousy sets an NBA record with 50 points and leads the Boston Celtics to a 111-105 victory over the Syracuse Nationals in a quadruple overtime playoff game.

1959 — California edges West Virginia 71-70 for the NCAA basketball championship. Jerry West scores 28 points for West Virginia.

1959 — Oscar Robertson scores the first triple-double in the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four history, tallying 39 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in Cincinnati’s 98-85 win over Louisville in the third-place game.

1964 — UCLA caps a 30-0 season with a 98-83 victory over Duke in the NCAA basketball championship. UCLA is the third team to go undefeated and win the title. The victory gives coach John Wooden the first of his ten NCAA Tournament championships.

1970 — Curtis Rowe scores 19 points and Sidney Wicks adds 17 points and grabs 18 rebounds to lead UCLA to an 80-69 victory over Jacksonville for its fourth consecutive NCAA basketball championship.

1973 — Frank Mahovlich scores his 500th goal as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.

1984 — Glenn Anderson of Edmonton scores his 50th goal of the season and helps the Oilers beat the Hartford Whalers 5-3. The Oilers become the first NHL team to have three 50-goal scorers in one season.

1990 — Brett Hull of St. Louis becomes the sixth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season with a goal in the Blues’ 8-6 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

1996 — Todd Eldredge becomes the first American in eight years to win the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships.

2002 — Missouri becomes the first 12th-seeded team to reach the round of eight by beating UCLA 82-73 in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

2008 — For the first time, four NCAA men’s basketball tournament first-round games at the same site on the same day are being classified as upsets. Two No. 12 seeds Western Kentucky and Villanova, and No. 13s San Diego and Siena win first-round games in Tampa, Fla.

2010 — Louis Dale scores 26 points, Ryan Wittman adds 24 and No. 12 seed Cornell upsets fourth-seeded Wisconsin 87-69, becoming the first Ivy League school in more than 30 years to advance to the round of 16.

2011 — Courtney Vandersloot has 29 points and 17 assists to help Gonzaga beat UCLA 89-75 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Vandersloot becomes the first player in Division I history — men or women — to record 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in a career.

2013 — Harvard earns its first NCAA tournament victory — a 68-62 upset of No. 3 seed New Mexico. Wesley Saunders scores 18 points and Laurent Rivard makes five 3-pointers to help the 14th-seeded Crimson pull off the upset.

2014 — Mercer pulls off the biggest upset in the men’s NCAA tournament by knocking off Duke 78-71 in the second round. The 14th-seeded and senior-laden Bears score 11 straight points during the late 20-5 run to clinch the biggest victory in school history.

2015 — Top-ranked Kentucky outworked eighth-seeded Cincinnati for a 64-51 victory to reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. The Wildcats improve to 36-0 — the best start to a season for any team.

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