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Women's World Cup Update
United States 2-0 Germany
In case you somehow missed it, the United States managed to crack open the Germans yesterday evening to advance to the final. The first half was a relatively boring one, but the second was arguably the most exciting in years. The real action kicked off when Celia Sasic, Germany's vaunted forward, failed to convert a penalty after being handed the game on a platter during a wild Julie Johnston tackle. Carli Lloyd wouldn't choke when given the same opportunity a few minutes later, and the United States went up 1-0. Lloyd's penalty would be the winner, but the dagger came in the 83rd minute when Lloyd froze German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer with a perfectly placed pass to Kelley O'Hara, who fired in the second goal and ended all controversy over the legitimacy of Lloyd's earlier penalty.
The win means that both the men's and women's national teams have defeated a top-ranked German team in the last month.
England vs. Japan Tonight
The United States' opponent will be determined at 6 p.m. CDT on Fox Sports 1 when Japan plays England. Despite being the sixth-ranked team in the world, no one expected England to reach this point in the tournament (especially the always-pessimistic British media, many of whom predicted that the women would copy the men and fail to make it out of the group stage). Meanwhile, Japan is right where most of us assumed they would be after cruising quietly through the group stage and quarterfinal.
England has gained momentum throughout the tournament, starting off with a whimper during a 1-0 loss to France but beating Mexico and Colombia to make it out of their group. The English pulled off a comeback victory over Norway and ended things for Canada in the knockout rounds. Now they find themselves in the semifinal, the closest they have ever been to taking home the cup.
Who are England's key players? The English have thrived off of goals from their defenders, especially captain Steph Houghton and right back Lucy Bronze. Karen Carney has been a scoring threat from the left wing as well.
Japan has been more or less what everyone expected. There were no massive speed bumps in the group stages, and their most recent game, a quarterfinal win over Australia, was a scrappier affair than many anticipated. That game likely would have gone to a penalty shootout if super-sub Mana Iwabuchi hadn't been in the right place at the right time to score a wild goal in the 87th minute. Nahomi Kawasumi, one of the more imposing forwards in the world, is also expected to terrorize the English defense.
Baylor News
Nina Davis Headed to World University Games
Nina Davis is in South Korea as part of the United States' WUG roster. The United States has one the last three competitions in women's basketball at this level and Davis is set to be a featured part of the lineup. The event will be televised on ESPNU during its July 5-13 run, so expect more updates in the near future.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nina Davis to begin USA Basketball World University Games competition, ESPNU to televise. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SicEM?src=hash">#SicEM</a> <a href="http://t.co/E7GrEicKx1">http://t.co/E7GrEicKx1</a></p>— Baylor Lady Bears (@BaylorWBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaylorWBB/status/615954184777498625">June 30, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Steve Rodriguez Completes Staff
New Baylor baseball coach Steve Rodriguez has completed his full-time staff with Jon Strauss and Mike Taylor. Strauss was a longtime Rodriguez assistant at Pepperdine and should help with the transition process, and Taylor was a two-year assistant at Houston and is expected to be a recruiting leader in addition to coaching hitters and outfielders. If Rodriguez is anywhere near as successful on the field as he has been with fan interaction on social media, he'll win most fans over by the end of next season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/BaylorCoachRod">@BaylorCoachRod</a>'s full-time staff set. Welcome, coaches Jon Strauss & Mike Taylor! <a href="http://t.co/QDSbbQUKUX">http://t.co/QDSbbQUKUX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SicEm?src=hash">#SicEm</a> <a href="http://t.co/FxZ5WxRX20">pic.twitter.com/FxZ5WxRX20</a></p>— Baylor Baseball (@BaylorBaseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaylorBaseball/status/615553059356151809">June 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Campus Development
BearsTruth brought us some really cool free news on Baylor's continuing campus facility updates yesterday evening. Apparently the BANC is going to be even cooler than we thought after adding a barber shop for athletes. There is also a proposal for a campus golf practice facility in the near future. It's also been reported that the new business school came in one million dollars under budget.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BearsTruth learns that the BANC, Baylor's newest facility, will have an interesting addition > <a href="http://t.co/J49N6L2cL0">http://t.co/J49N6L2cL0</a> <a href="http://t.co/LiYDV9ryO8">pic.twitter.com/LiYDV9ryO8</a></p>— BaylorBears247 (@Baylor247) <a href="https://twitter.com/Baylor247/status/616092285894144000">July 1, 2015</a></blockquote>
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