UConn still atop women’s basketball
SAN ANTIONIO – The Final Four has been determined for NCAA women’s basketball and UConn, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Duke are set for San Antonio.
UConn, the No. 1 seed in the Mideast, defeated Old Dominion 85-64 Monday. UConn’s Sue Bird scored a career-high 26 points, while Asjha Jones collected seven rebounds.
No. 1 Duke defeated No. 3 South Carolina 77-68 Monday in the East region final. Alana Beard had 24 points for the Blue Devils and Iciss Tillis had seven rebounds.
No. 1 Oklahoma downed No. 3 Colorado 94-60 Monday in the West final. LaNeishea Caufield had 25 points for the Sooners and teammate Caton Hill collected seven rebounds.
In the Midwest final, No. 2 Tennessee triumphed over No. 1 Vanderbilt 68-63 Monday. Gwen Jackson led the Lady Vols with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
In the Final Four, Tennessee will face undefeated UConn Friday at 6 p.m. Duke and Oklahoma will first meet up at 4 p.m. Both games will be in San Antonio, Texas.
Final Four set to meet up Saturday
ATLANTA – The Elite Eight has been narrowed down to the Final Four, and Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Maryland are set to battle.
In the East region, No. 1 Maryland defeated No. 2 Connecticut 90-82 Sunday to advance to the Final Four. Lonny Baxter had 29 points and nine rebounds for Maryland.
In the South region, No. 5 Indiana downed No. 10 Kent State Saturday 81-69. Dane Fife had 17 points to led the Hoosiers, while teammate Jared Jefferies collected seven rebounds.
No. 1 Kansas defeated No. 2 Oregon 104-86 in the Midwest region Sunday to advance to the Final Four. Nick Collison led Kansas with 25 points and teammate Drew Gooden had a team-high 20 rebounds.
In the West region final, No. 2 Oklahoma defeated No. 12 Missouri 81-75 Saturday. Hollis Price led the Sooners with 18 points.
The Final Four will match Maryland against Kansas at 3:07 p.m. and Indiana against Oklahoma at 5:47 p.m., both on Saturday. The games will take place at the Atlanta Georgia Dome.
Martin receives fifth suspension of season
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – New Jersey Nets forward Keynon Martin received his fifth suspension this season Monday for a flagrant foul.
He was suspended for two games for throwing his elbow at Atlanta’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim in a game Sunday.
Martin tried to back in on Abdur-Rahim, and when the ball came loose, it appeared that Martin elbowed him.
The two games bring his total to seven suspended games on the season.
The length of the penalty was decided on because Martin scored eight points off of flagrant fouls.
Martin says that his last two fouls have been during normal basketball plays and have not been flagrant fouls.
NASCAR issues fines after wild race in Fla.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick received fines from NASCAR Monday after a wild day Sunday at the Food City 500 in Tennessee.
Gordon received a $10,000 fine and probation until Aug. 28. Earnhardt was fined $5,000.
Gordon and Earnhardt ran into each others’ cars at the finish of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt finished fourth and Gordon completed the race in 20th place.
Harvick was fined $15,000 and was put on probation until Aug. 28. He and Greg Biffle were involved in an argument after the race as a result of an accident during the race.
Harvick was fined for his actions in Saturday’s Channellock 250, at the same track as the Food City 500.
Harvick finished 10th Sunday at the Food City 500 race.
Manley arrested after missing court hearing
HOUSTON – Former NFL defensive lineman Dexter Manley was arrested Monday after missing his court date for a conviction of evidence tampering.
Manley was arrested in a Houston hospital that he had checked into after he missed the meeting.
A jury found Manley guilty March 20 of trying to swallow about a gram of cocaine in a hotel drug bust. On Jan. 10 of last year, Manley was stopped by police as he left a hotel room that they were about to search. He tried to swallow the cocaine as police attempted to arrest him.
Manley is set to be sentenced April 5, but he was first required to meet with a probation officer Thursday. He never showed up, leading to his arrest.
He was set free on $20,000 bail.
Manley retired from the NFL in 1991 after a failed drug test while playing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also failed a drug test in 1989 while he was a member of the Washington Redskins.
March 28, 2002