Ex-Baylor All-American Smith wins Athletes Unlimited title

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Ex-Baylor All-American Smith wins Athletes Unlimited title DALLAS (AP) — Former Baylor All-American NaLyssa Smith has won the Athletes Unlimited individual championship in a unique women’s pro league that awards player performance over team results.Smith, a two-time All-American with the Bears, scored an AU-record 50 points for a come-from-behind victory in the final game of the league’s second season Saturday night.The second overall pick by the WNBA’s Indiana Fever last year, Smith finished with 6,811 points to edge Naz Hillmon. Odyssey Sims, a three-time All-American at Baylor, was third, followed by Allisha Gray.Smith was 20 of 27 from the field and had 13 rebounds in the finale, finishing with a single-game record of 863 leaderboard points.Nine-year WNBA veteran Tianna Hawkins was the inaugural individual champion last year in Las Vegas.Sims, who started her WNBA career with a Tulsa franchise that later moved to Dallas, sustained an injury in the final. There were no further details on the injury. Sims played for the ...

STORY REMOVED: ATH–Boston Marathon-Sponsor

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

STORY REMOVED: ATH–Boston Marathon-Sponsor BOSTON (AP) — The Associated Press has withdrawn its March 26, 2023, story about the Boston Marathon, which moved in error. A substitute will not be filed.Source

Volpe wins Yankees’ opening day shortstop job

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Volpe wins Yankees’ opening day shortstop job Anthony Volpe is getting an opportunity to live a lifelong dream.The 21-year-old who grew up idolizing Hall of Famer Derek Jeter will be the New York Yankees’ opening day shortstop after winning the job in spring training.Manager Aaron Boone, general manager Brian Cashman, hitting coach Dillon Lawson and bench coach Carlos Mendoza delivered the news after Sunday’s 6-2 Grapefruit League win over the Toronto Blue Jays.The Yankees open the regular season at home Thursday against the San Francisco Giants.Volpe, who lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to nearby New Jersey, shared the news with his parents and other family members at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.“It was pretty emotional,” Volpe said. “It was just an unbelievable moment to share with them.”Rated one of baseball’s best prospects, Volpe is hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 spring training games. He won the starting shortstop job over Oswald Peraza and ho...

Elias Pettersson’s 2 goals lifts Canucks over Blackhawks 4-2

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Elias Pettersson’s 2 goals lifts Canucks over Blackhawks 4-2 CHICAGO (AP) — Elias Pettersson scored twice, Phillip Di Giuseppe scored, Brock Boeser got an empty-netter, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday night.The Canucks won their third straight and sent the Blackhawks to their fifth straight defeat.The Blackhawks celebrated Pride night, honoring the city’s gay community, without the rainbow-colored Pride night warmup jerseys nor colored stick tape used in previous seasons. On Thursday, the team announced they wouldn’t wear them, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was the only Russian-born Blackhawk in the lineup on Sunday. Injured center Philipp Kurashev holds dual Swiss-Russian citizenship.Pettersson scored his 34th and 35th goals of the season in the third period. His first, a deep-angle shot from the right side, broke the tie at 12:06. His second, on a power-play, came fro...

Avalanche edge Coyotes 4-3 in shootout

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Avalanche edge Coyotes 4-3 in shootout TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored a power-play goal in the third period and was the only scorer in the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 Sunday.Nichushkin was the 14th player in the shootout and was the only one to score, poking the puck past Connor Ingram as Colorado moved into a tie for second place with Dallas in the Central Division, one point behind Minnesota, which leads with 93 points.Alexandar Georgiev stopped 27 shots and Mikko Rantanen scored his 48th goal of the season for Colorado. Bowen Byram also scored for the Avalanche.Clayton Keller scored his 36th goal for Arizona, which extended its points streak at home to eight games. Matias Maccelli and Christian Fischer also scored for Arizona.“I thought our first 40 minutes was outstanding,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We looked like we were standing around in the (defensive) zone. Obviously they came out with another level of intensity and I don’t think we responded real w...

Tavares scores twice to lead Maple Leafs over Predators 3-2

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Tavares scores twice to lead Maple Leafs over Predators 3-2 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — John Tavares scored two goals and added an assist, Joseph Woll made 22 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Sunday night.Alexander Kerfoot also scored for Toronto, which has won two of its last three. The Maple Leafs are seven points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division with Toronto having one game in hand. Auston Matthews had two assists.Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist, Cody Glass also scored and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves for Nashville, which lost back-to-back home games over the weekend. The Predators remain five points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the Western Conference’s second wild-card berth, with Nashville having played two fewer games. Tavares scored the game’s first goal at 18:06 of the opening period. With the Maple Leafs on a power play, Tavares beat Lankinen from the low slot after a slick tic-tac-toe passing sequence from Matthews and Mitchell Marner.Kerfoot doubl...

Magic overcome 44 points by Bridges, beat Nets 119-106

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Magic overcome 44 points by Bridges, beat Nets 119-106 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Cole Anthony had 21 points to lead eight Orlando scorers in double figures, and the Magic overcame Mikal Bridges’ 44 points for a 119-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.Franz Wagner added 19 points and 10 rebounds, Wendell Carter had 18 points and six rebounds and Jalen Suggs returned from an injury with 16 points to help the Magic win their third straight. Paolo Banchero finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.Bridges made six of nine 3-point shots and came up one point short of his career high of 45 points. Cam Thomas added 18 points for the Nets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games, one night after routing the Miami Heat.Bridges had 19 of Brooklyn’s 25 points in the first quarter, but Carter scored seven points on an 18-5 spurt midway through the second period that put Orlando ahead to stay.Anthony and Mo Wagner led another third-quarter run that pushed the Magic’s lead to 88-71, and the Nets never got the lead under 15 ...

Burns captures Match Play, Toms wins again on Champions Tour

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Burns captures Match Play, Toms wins again on Champions Tour AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sam Burns went on a tear Sunday afternoon with eight birdies on his final 10 holes and enough help from Cameron Young for a 6-and-5 victory to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. It was the second-largest margin in an 18-hole match in this tournament.Burns won for the fifth time on the PGA Tour. Young, who had a late rally with clutch birdies to eliminate Rory McIlroy in the semifinals, had to settle for his sixth runner-up finish in the last 18 months.Burns made it to the championship match Sunday afternoon only when defending champion Scottie Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole of their semifinal match. Given new life, Burns made birdie from a fairway bunker with a 15-foot putt to advance.Young had a brief lead early in the title match, and then Burns was unstoppable. He won five of the next six holes. Young had to make a 20-foot birdie putt to halve the 11th hole, and then Young hit into the water on each of the next two holes.Burns w...

Jaylen Brown’s 41 points helps Celtics past Spurs 137-93

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Jaylen Brown’s 41 points helps Celtics past Spurs 137-93 BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 41 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 137-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.The Celtics were without star forward and leading scorer Jayson Tatum, who was sidelined with a left hip contusion. But Boston still moved to 1½ games behind Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference’s best record with its seventh victory in nine games. Malcolm Brogdon added 20 points and nine assists for Boston, and Derrick White had 19 points with eight rebounds.Zach Collins scored 21 points with seven rebounds for San Antonio, which was without 2022 ninth-overall draft pick Jeremy Sochan (sore right knee) for the fourth time in five games. Keldon Johnson, who scored 30 in a loss Friday at Washington, was also out.Malaki Branham added 15 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili 13 for the Spurs, who lost all four games of their road trip.Brown got hit in the face late in the opening quarter and a mask he’s wearing for a facial fracture go...

Anunoby scores 29, VanVleet has 28 as Raptors rout Wizards

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:10:24 GMT

Anunoby scores 29, VanVleet has 28 as Raptors rout Wizards TORONTO (AP) — O.G. Anunoby scored 29 points, Fred VanVleet had 28 and the Toronto Raptors never trailed in a 114-104 win over Washington Wizards on Sunday.Pascal Siakam had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jakob Poeltl had 12 points and 12 rebounds.Ninth-place Toronto clinched the three-game season series with the Wizards and maintained a three-game lead over 11th-place Washington in the Eastern Conference standings. Both teams have seven games remaining.Scottie Barnes scored 13 points in his return to the starting lineup after missing two games because of a sore left wrist as Toronto won for the ninth time in 10 home games.Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 points and Corey Kispert had 19 for the Wizards, who have lost four straight road games.Deni Avdija and Johnny Davis each scored 15 points for Washington and Daniel Gafford had 10.The short-handed Wizards played without guard Bradley Beal (left knee) for the third straight game, while forward Kyle Kuzma (right ankle) sat for the fourth ...