Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Sparks have signed guard Yang Liwei, who will become the second China-born player to suit up for the team. Zheng Haixia was drafted by the Sparks in 1997 and played one season for them, leading the league in field-goal percentage. Yang recently led China to a silver medal

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer South Carolina remained No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll after topping Mississippi in overtime on Sunday. The Gamecocks have been No. 1 for 35 straight weeks, the third-longest streak of all time. They received 27 of the 28 first-place votes from the national media panel,

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer Major League Soccer is set to open its 2023 season. LAFC won the 2022 Supporters Shield and went on to lift the MLS Cup, defeating the Philadelphia Union on penalties. Coach Steve Cherundolo heads into his second year with those lofty expectations now in place. Gareth Bale, who

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Forward Stephanie Talbot will miss the upcoming WNBA season after getting hurt in her native Australia. The Los Angeles Sparks say they learned that Talbot suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the Adelaide Lightning of the WNBL. Three weeks ago, Talbot signed a two-year deal with the Sparks.

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer PHOENIX (AP) — It’s a brand new day in the major leagues — potentially an even brighter one for base-stealers like Trea Turner and Ronald Acuña Jr., and most definitely a change of pace for veteran aces like Gerrit Cole or Yu Darvish. The bases are bigger, and the

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Mets owner Steve Cohen cautions the team’s record spending won’t necessarily lead to a World Series title this year. He says “the only thing you can do is put yourself in position where good things can happen.” New York won its only World Series titles in 1969 and 1986.

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Basketball Writer Houston returned to No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketball poll on Monday for the third time this season, while Northwestern and Texas A&M barged into the rankings after each had a pair of impressive wins last week. The Cougars, riding a seven-game winning streak, jumped over Alabama

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry will start when Pittsburgh hosts the New York Islanders. Jarry hasn’t played since Jan. 22 due to an upper-body injury. He was scheduled to start on Jan. 24 against Florida but was scratched less than an hour before the opening face-off due to the injury. The Penguins

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The New York Islanders say center Mat Barzal is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. His absence is devastating news for the Islanders in the middle of their playoff chase. Barzal was injured on a hit from Boston’s Craig Smith early in a 6-2 loss at the Bruins on Saturday. Barzal appeared

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi has been ruled out for about three weeks with a left ankle injury. Dortmund says the 21-year-old Adeyemi tore a muscle fiber in his ankle during the team’s 4-1 win over Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Adeyemi scored the opening goal with his heel

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Aston Martin says Lance Stroll has been ruled out of pre-season Formula One testing this week after he was injured in a bicycle accident. Aston Martin says the Canadian driver was hurt while training in Spain. The team didn’t give any more details of how the incident happened or the nature

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiger sightings are rare these days on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods at Riviera played 72 holes for the first time in 10 months. And there’s no telling for sure when Woods will compete again. That might be in the Masters in April. This is

By FRANCIS KOKUTSE Associated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — The body of Ghana soccer player Christian Atsu has been repatriated after he was found dead in his collapsed apartment building in the Turkey earthquake. Atsu’s remains arrived in the Ghanaian capital of Accra late Sunday and Ghana Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia led a government delegation

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer The governments of 34 nations signed a statement calling on the IOC to clarify the definition of “neutrality” as it seeks a way to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes back into international sports and next year’s Paris Olympics. The statement said the countries do not agree Russian and Belarusian

By MAURICIO SAVARESE Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides that have killed 36 people on the northern coast of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, officials said Monday, while fatalities could rise. Sao Paulo’s state government said in a statement that 35 died in the city of Sao Sebastiao and a

By CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writer BERLIN (AP) — Pressure is building on Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann. The German soccer federation has opened a case against Nagelsmann for his outburst toward referee Tobias Welz and his match officials following Bayern’s 3-2 loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday. Nagelsmann apologized for his “choice of words,”