Miller comes back strong for Oaks

Dante Miller’s missed most of the season for the Menlo College men’s basketball team because of injury, but he made a grand return last week.

Over two games, the former Falcon for Fairfield HIgh and Solano Community College drained seven straight 3-pointers. In a 75-60 win over La Sierra, he had 13 points and was 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. He then had nine points and was 3 for 5 on treys in an 85-71 downing of UC Santa Cruz.

Malik Dunbar (Fairfield resident) had one point and 11 rebounds over the two games for the Oaks (4-11).

Alaska won twice in Great Northern Athletic Conference play, defeating Central Washington 82-75 and Northwest Nazarene 74-55. Ronnie Baker (Rodriguez) had nine points and six rebounds in the first game, 12 points and two rebounds in the second for the Nanooks (8-4, 3-1).

Sacramento State dropped to 1-2 in the Big Sky Conference with a 57-50 loss to Northern Arizona. The Hornets got 12 points and three rebounds from John Dickson (Fairfield).

Robbie Herndon (Fairfield resident) scored five points to help San Francisco State (6-4, 4-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association) top Cal State Stanislaus 80-73 and then had two points and five rebounds in a 72-50 loss to Chico State.

Mike McChristian (Wood) showed his versatility in a pair of games for Idaho (6-7, Western Athletic Conference). He got 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a 64-55 win over San Jose State, 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in an 82-75 overtime loss to Utah State.

Likewise, Bennie Murray (Wood) did a little bit of everything in helping Chaminade (4-7, 1-2 Pacific West Conference) quiet Holy Names 94-65, amassing 18 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.

Webster (4-7, 2-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) lost to Lindenwood 96-65 and Eureka 72-64, but got 16 points and three rebounds from Roman Robinson (Rodriguez) in the former, six points four rebounds and two steals in the latter.

Women’s basketball

In arguably the best outing of her career, Khristina Hunter (Rodriguez) had 11 points, 14 rebounds and two steals in San Diego State’s 72-51 sinking of Savannah State. Erimma Amarikwa (Vanden) also had a solid game, getting 10 points and two steals for the Aztecs (9-4).

After fouling out without being able to do much in Holy Names’ 77-68 loss to Chaminade, Renique Fitzpatrick (Armijo) made the most of the rest of the Hawks’ trip to Hawaii.

The former Indian had 16 points, 10 rebounds in an 87-65 rematch victory with the Silverswords, 25 points and eight rebounds in a 115-98 win over BYU Hawaii, and nine points, 17 rebounds and four assists in yet another game with Chaminade, a 102-80 victory. Fitzpatrick had four fouls in each of the latter three games.

Amnesty Bradley (Fairfield) had a combined four points and eight rebounds in the four games for the Hawks.

Nebraska-Kearney got 12 points from Ivy Jones (Solano) in both a 62-43 loss to Pittsburg State and an 85-57 loss to Northeastern State. She also had four steals and two rebounds in the former, five assists and two rebounds in the latter. The Lopers are coached by former Solano assistant Kevin Chaney.

Denisha Lundy (Vanden) earned Cal State Dominguez Hills Athlete of the Week honors by scoring 16 points, with all five of her baskets 3-pointers, and adding four assists and three rebounds for the Toros (3-7, 2-4 CCAA) in a 54-53 edging of Cal State East Bay. She also had seven points, five assists and three rebounds in a 78-66 loss to Cal State Monterey Bay.

Chico State (10-0, 6-0 CCAA) remained unbeaten on the season as Jazmine Miller (Vanden) rolled up 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 70-48 blitzing of Sonoma State and six points, eight rebounds and two assists in a 76-60 stuffing of San Francisco State.

Shannon Rankin had one point, one assist and one rebound in San Francisco State’s 69-45 ripping of Cal State Stanislaus. She didn’t play for the Gators (6-4, 3-3 CCAA) against Chico State.

UC Riverside (7-6, 0-2 Big West) was defeated by Cal State Northridge 65-49 and Hawaii 65-50 with Tahvia Morrison (Vanden) getting two points and one rebound in the two games.

Eastern Nazarene (6-3, 2-1 Commonwealth Coast Conference) lost big and won small as Presley Neufeld (Solano) had six points and seven boards in a 68-39 loss to Massachusetts-Dartmouth and 11 points, three assists and two rebounds in a 61-51 win over Gordon.

Goli Tavassoli (Vanden, Solano) stood tall for Waldorf by getting 15 points, four assists, two rebounds, one block and one steal in a 73-57 dumping of Southwestern Christian, adding 13 points and two rebounds in a rematch of the two teams, won by the Warriors (11-6, 2-2 Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference) 67-58.

Lourdes, coached for former Fairfield HIgh standout Zareth Gray, got its first January win in its two-year history by topping Marygrove College 63-57. The Gray Wolves (5-12, 2-7 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference) also lost to Siena Heights 72-37.

Our Lady of the Lake (13-1, 6-1 Red River Athletic Conference) suffered their first loss of the season by falling to Wiley 90-87. The Saints, led by former Vacaville and Vacaville Christian coach Chris Minner, also nailed Northwood 102-72.

Swimming

Alex Mendoza (Rodriguez) won the 200-yard freestyle  in 1 minute, 46.77 seconds and the 500 free in 4:47.41 to help Claremont Mudd Scripps lap La Verne La Verne 191-85. He also swam the anchor for the fourth-place 200 free relay team (1:31.58).

In Merchant Marine Academy’s 176-117 win over Scranton, Ben Gabbard (Vacaville) was third in the 200 butterfly  in 2:11.86. Then in a 166-65 dunking of Marywood, Gabbard swam the third leg for the second-place 400 medley relay team (3:52.97) and the third leg for the second-place 200 medley relay relay team (1:36.65).

Fresno State defeated Cal State Bakersfield 173-125 and lost to UNLV 168-126 with Britney Vogel (Armijo) placing third in the 100 breast (1:08.18) and 200 breast (2:29.76), and seventh in the 400 individual medley (4:52.52).

In Tulane’s 67-58 loss to San Diego State, Laura Turpen (Vacaville ) was fifth in the 50 breast (33.81) and 14th in the 50 free (28.90).

Hawaii took fifth in a home invitational with USC, Boise State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Natalie Garger (Vacaville) was 15th in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:11.23) and swam the fourth leg in the 200 medley relay (10th, 1:52.95).

Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646, ext. 264, or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pfarmerdr.