U.S. Soccer and the women's national team have settled the players' legal claim over inequitable working conditions, putting to rest a part of the team's gender discrimination lawsuit. The parties filed notice of the settlement in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The settlement allows the players to appeal their claim that the men's team is paid more, which a federal judge dismissed earlier this year. As a result of the settlement, U.S. Soccer has agreed to equitable working conditions related to such things as travel, accommodations, venues and staffing.
NBA
Celtics point guard Kemba Walker will be sidelined until at least the first week of January after receiving a stem cell injection in his left knee. Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Tuesday the decision was made after Walker consulted with multiple specialists in early October. Walker was then put on a 12-week strengthening program for the upcoming season. He is expected to resume on-court activities in early December.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Justin Moore led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and No. 12 Villanova bounced back from its first loss of the season to rout Hartford 87-53. Eric Dixon had 14 points and 10 rebound for the Wildcats, who had six players score in double figures.
In other college basketball action Tuesday:
Matt Coleman III scored 16 points to help No. 17 Texas beat Indiana 66-44 in Tuesday's semifinals of the relocated Maui Invitational in Asheville, North Carolina. That sent the Longhorns to the tournament's championship game for the first time. Courtney Ramey added 13 points for Texas, which locked down to force a rough offensive performance for the Hoosiers. Indiana shot just 24%. The Hoosiers also finished with more turnovers than field goals. Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 17 points. But Race Thompson managed just four points a day after posting his first double-double.
Rocket Watts scored 20 points and Julius Marble had a career-high 12 to help No. 8 Michigan State beat No. 6 Duke 75-69 on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic. The Spartans trailed by 10 early in the game but closed the first half with a 13-4 surge to take a 37-33 lead at halftime. The Blue Devils rallied late and pulled within five in the final minute.
Leaky Black had a big driving basket at the 1:02 mark followed by a clinching free throw with 5.5 seconds left to help No. 14 North Carolina hold off Stanford 67-63 in the semifinals at the relocated Maui Invitational. Freshman Caleb Love scored 16 points to lead the Tar Heels. Daejon Davis scored 18 points to lead Stanford. The Cardinal shot 39% for the game and made just 5 of 20 3-point tries.
Jay Huff scored 13 points and No. 15 Virginia rebounded from a stunning loss to San Francisco with a 76-51 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.). Kadin Shedrick had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won their 24th consecutive home opener. Sam Hauser added 11 points and Trey Murphy had 10. Bryce Laskey led the Red Flash with 12 points.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
No. 2 Notre Dame wrapped up a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game by virtue of the league shuffling its schedule Tuesday to create an open date for the Fighting Irish and No. 4 Clemson before their likely rematch on Dec. 19. The ACC announced Notre Dame's game against Wake Forest, which was rescheduled for Dec. 12 after being postponed in late September, will not be played. The first-place Irish host Syracuse on Saturday to complete their regular season. Clemson's postponed game at Florida State will also not be made up. The Tigers can clinch a spot in the championship game with a victory at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
In other college football news:
The Ohio State football team is resuming full practices in preparation for Saturday's game at Michigan State. Ohio State said in a one-sentence statement that the team would "resume organized team activities" Tuesday afternoon. The Buckeyes will do so while managing COVID-19 issues, and will be without coach Ryan Day, who tested positive last week. No. 3 Ohio State chose to cancel its game at Illinois last week because of an unacceptable number of COVID cases among players and staff in the program.
No. 17 USC has resumed conditioning workouts and coach Clay Helton has expressed cautious optimism the Trojans will be able to play Washington State on Sunday. Four USC football players tested positive last week and another seven are in quarantine because of contact tracing. Those absences put USC under the minimum number of scholarship players established by the Pac-12, leading to its first cancellation of the abbreviated season last week.
Michigan's football team did not meet in person for a second straight day after coach Jim Harbaugh said there had been an increased number of presumptive positive COVID-19 tests. Michigan is scheduled to host Maryland on Saturday.
Kentucky starting safety and Southeastern Conference interceptions leader Kelvin Joseph has become the first Wildcat to opt out and will focus on preparing for the NFL draft. The redshirt sophomore, whose four pickoffs rank fourth nationally, announced his decision on social media.
Stanford's football team is heading for a long trip to the Pacific Northwest because of new COVID-19 protocols in California's Santa Clara County. The new rules prohibit practices and games for contact sports for three weeks. The Cardinal will travel to Seattle on Wednesday to begin preparing for Saturday's game at Washington. They will then spend the following week in Corvallis, Oregon, before playing Oregon State on Dec 12.
Vanderbilt has one kicker on the two-deep chart for this weekend's game at No. 11 Georgia, and it's Sarah Fuller, the first woman to play in a Power Five game. Interim coach Todd Fitch says Fuller will be with the Commodores on their trip to Georgia. None of the kickers who were out last week after COVID-19 issues kept them away from the team is back yet, which could change before Saturday.
Tennessee has dismissed outside linebacker Kivon Bennett from the football team, hours after he was arrested during a traffic stop. Bennett was stopped Tuesday morning by campus police for speeding. Police reported finding more than 44 grams of marijuana, a scale, 58 plastic baggies and a loaded handgun. Bennett is the son of former NFL player Cornelius Bennett.
NFL
The Cleveland Browns got their most valuable defensive player back Tuesday but lost another vital one. Myles Garrett was activated from the COVID-19 list and cleared to return to practice as the 8-3 Browns get ready to play at Tennessee. Garrett has been out since testing positive for the virus on Nov. 20 after he was isolated for two days while having symptoms. He was leading the NFL in sacks when he got sick. But Cleveland will be without hard-hitting safety Ronnie Harrison, who was placed on injured reserve after tests showed he suffered a severe shoulder injury on Sunday against Jacksonville. Harrison will miss at least three games, and probably more. The Browns have five games left in the regular season.
In other NFL news:
Two of four women charged in a South Florida prostitution sting that also involved New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft have taken plea deals this week. Court records show 41-year-old Lei Wang and 60-year-old Shen Mingbi each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count in Palm Beach County circuit court. Records show two others who worked at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter had previously reached deals with prosecutors. A misdemeanor charge against Kraft was dropped earlier this year after courts blocked their use of video that allegedly shows him paying for sex. Kraft had pleaded not guilty but issued a public apology for his actions.
The San Francisco 49ers are set to embark on an unusual three-week road trip after being kicked out of their stadium and practice facility because of strict new COVID-19 protocols in their home county in Northern California. The Niners will fly to Arizona, where they will practice, live and play their next two games after Santa Clara County imposed a three-week ban on games and practices for contact sports. Coach Kyle Shanahan says he expects some "bumps in the road" but that his team is prepared for the journey.
Indianapolis Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez says surgery to remove a cancerous tumor "went well." The four-year veteran who doubles as the Colts' kickoff specialist made the announcement in a Twitter post, one day after he revealed the diagnosis on social media. Sanchez first learned he had a cancerous tumor late last week, and after consulting with doctors decided to play Sunday in a key AFC South showdown with Tennessee. Sanchez punted five times, but turned over his usual kickoff chores to rookie Rodrigo Blankenship.
MLB
The New York Mets have reached their first agreement with a free agent since Steven Cohen bought the team, a deal with 31-year-old right-hander Trevor May, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person tells The Associated Press that the agreement is subject to a successful physical. May had a 3.86 ERA in 24 relief appearances for the Minnesota Twins last season, striking out 38 and walking seven in 23 1/3 innings while allowing 20 hits with a career-high fastball velocity averaging 96.66 mph. May is 23-21 with a 4.44 ERA in his big league career.
In other MLB news:
Joe Ross and the Washington Nationals have agreed to a $1.5 million contract, one day before the deadline for teams to offers deals to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters. The 27-year-old right-hander, who had been eligible for salary arbitration, was 4-4 with a 5.48 ERA in nine starts and 18 relief appearances during the pandemic-shortened season, striking out 57 and walking 33 in 64 innings.
The Red Sox and left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $8.3 million. The agreement was announced Tuesday, a day before the deadline to offer contracts to unsigned players on 40-man rosters. Rodríguez missed all of last season because of heart inflammation caused by COVID-19.
With the future of the team unclear, Troy Mayor Patrick Madden is going to bat for the Tri-City ValleyCats. Madden, a Democrat, wrote to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred Tuesday, urging continued big league affiliation for the Class A Houston Astros farm team. The ValleyCats have been with the Astros since their 2002 debut, but their future at Joe Bruno Stadium is murky amid a nationwide restructuring of the minor league baseball landscape. Meanwhile, major league players are giving $500,000 to support minor leaguers whose season was canceled because of the pandemic. The MLB Players Association says the money will be donated through the MLB Players Trust to More Than Baseball, a not-for-profit that benefits minor leaguers. The big league season was cut from 162 games to 60 because of the pandemic, causing a prorated reduction in pay.
Right-hander Burch Smith agreed to a $705,000, one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics a day before Wednesday's deadline. Smith went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a save in six outings spanning 12 innings for Oakland but was lost for the season in mid-August because of a strained forearm on his pitching side.
Indians rookie reliever Cam Hill has had surgery on his right wrist after being involved in a car accident in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hill shared details of the incident on Instagram account, saying he only "banged up" his wrist. He expressed thanks others in the accident were OK. The team said surgery went "as expected."
Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda has been moved out of intensive care, although he remains hospitalized in Southern California. Los Angeles Dodgers spokesman Steve Brener said Tuesday that the team's 93-year-old former manager is doing rehab at the hospital in Orange County. Lasorda has been hospitalized since Nov. 8, although the team didn't make it public until a week later.
Major League Baseball's number of drug tests dropped sharply during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Independent program administrator Thomas M. Martin said in his annual report Tuesday that there were 3,733 urine samples and 412 blood samples for human growth hormone testing collected during the year ending with the World Series. That was down from 9,332 urine samples and 2,287 blood samples in the year ending with the 2019 World Series.
Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa is scheduled to change his plea to misdemeanor charges stemming from his drunken driving arrest nine months ago on a freeway in Phoenix. The Hall of Fame manager has previously pleaded not guilty to the two drunken driving charges. Authorities say La Russa blew out a tire on the grey Lexus he was driving in a collision with a curb that left the vehicle smoking.
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