AP National Sports

By The Associated Press The battle for the national championship in women’s basketball is on. The top seeds are South Carolina, Indiana, Stanford and Virginia Tech. Stanford was the first of that quartet to lose, followed by Indiana a day later. Sweet 16 weekend brings a twist this year for the women’s teams: There will

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charisma Osborne scored a career high 36 points in her final game at Pauley Pavilion and fourth-seeded UCLA rallied in the fourth quarter after blowing an 18-point lead to defeat No. 5 seed Oklahoma 82-73 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Monday night.

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer MIAMI (AP) — Shohei Ohtani sparked a ninth-inning rally with a leadoff double, and Munetaka Murakami hit a walk-off, two-run double to lift Japan over Mexico 6-5 and into the World Baseball Classic final. Japan will face the defending champion United States in Tuesday night’s championship game. Ohtani went

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle scored 57 points to tie the third-highest game in Knicks history, but the Minnesota Timberwolves rode a sizzling start and a steady finish to beat New York 140-134. Taurean Prince scored a season-high 35 points and went 8 for 8 from 3-point range

NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle scored 57 points, matching the third-highest total in New York Knicks history during a 140-134 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Randle tied Richie Guerin behind the only two 60-point games in Knicks history, Carmelo Anthony’s 62 on Jan. 24, 2014, and Bernard King’s 60 on Christmas Day in 1984.

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer MIAMI (AP) — Shohei Ohtani sparked a ninth-inning rally with a leadoff double, and Munetaka Murakami hit a walk-off, two-run double to lift Japan over Mexico 6-5 and into the World Baseball Classic final. Japan will face the defending champion United States in Tuesday’s championship game. Ohtani went 2

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 30 points and Klay Thompson added 29 as the Golden State Warriors snapped an 11-game road skid with a 121-108 win over the Houston Rockets. The game was close most of the way before the Warriors used a 12-2 spurt early in the

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dylan Ferguson stopped 48 shots in his first NHL start, and the Ottawa Senators topped the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1. Drake Batherson’s power-play goal with 2:09 left in regulation helped the Senators end a five-game losing streak. Thomas Chabot scored his 10th goal for Ottawa, which

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Destiny Harden wanted the ball in her hands. After losing to eventual national champion South Carolina on the road last March, after helping her team complete a historic comeback two days earlier and after seeing top-seeded Indiana tie the score on a 3-pointer with 6.6

By CLAY BAILEY Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 28 points, including a key layup with 17 seconds left as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Dallas Mavericks 112-108 in Ja Morant’s first game back with the team after an eight-game league suspension. Santi Aldama added 22 for Memphis and Desmond Bane

By DANA GAURUDER Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Aleksander Barkov set the Florida franchise record for most career points, Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals, and the streaking Panthers beat the Detroit Red Wings for the ninth consecutive time, 5-2. Barkov recorded a second-period assist, giving him 614 points, breaking a tie with Jonathan Huberdeau for

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Louisville rarely opens the NCAA Tournament away from home. The Cardinals could learn to love these early road trips. Faced off with No. 4 Texas on the Longhorns’ home court, Hailey Van Lith and the No. 5 Cardinals delivered a swaggering, smothering, romping 73-51 victory

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell has been suspended from the team following his arrest on a drug charge. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said after the first practice of spring that Mitchell was suspended from the team “and all team activities until we gather more information about the situation and

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Maddy Siegrist scored 31 points and sent the winningest team in Villanova history into the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history with a 76-57 win over the 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night. The fourth-seeded Wildcats won their record 30th game

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer Cam Newton is looking for another shot. The 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player announced on social media that he’ll be working out for pro scouts at Auburn’s Pro Day on Tuesday. Newton, a free agent, led the Tigers to a national championship in 2011 and was the No. 1

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Joshua Dobbs is back with the Browns as a backup. The free agent quarterback, who spent most of last season with Cleveland, agreed to a one-year contract and will be the team’s No. 2 quarterback behind Deshaun Watson next season. Dobbs’ agent, Mike McCartney, congratulated his

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have bolstered their group of cornerbacks by signing Mike Hughes to a two-year deal and re-signing Cornell Armstrong. The 26-year-old Hughes set a career high with 51 tackles, including three for losses, while starting six of 16 games in 2022 with Detroit. Hughes started in five of

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Sports Writer KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Reserves Sara Puckett and Jillian Hollingshead led five Lady Vols in double figures with 13 points apiece as fourth-seeded Tennessee beat No. 12 seed Toledo 94-47 Monday night to advance to their second straight Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 Regional. This is the

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have optioned left-handers Bruce Zimmermann and Nick Vespi and reassigned infielder Lewin Díaz, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez and catcher Mark Kolozsvary to minor league camp. Baltimore’s spring training roster now has 46 players. Zimmermann made 13 starts last season. He went 2-5 with a 5.99 ERA. The competition for

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer The Atlanta Braves have apparently decided who will replace the departed Dansby Swanson as their starting shortstop. It’s not who most people expected it to be. Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake have been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. That leaves utility infielder Orlando Arcia as the likely replacement for Swanson