OLYMPICS
The U.S. women's hockey team has ended Canada's run of Olympic gold medals, but it took a shootout to do it.
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored in the first extra round of the first shootout tiebreaker in Olympic women's hockey history to give the Americans the gold medal with a 3-2 victory over their arch-rivals. Lamoureux's twin sister, Monique Lamoureux-Morando extended the game by scoring with about six minutes left in regulation.
It was the second straight overtime in the gold medal game for these two teams, but the first shootout in Olympic women's hockey history.
Canada had won the previous four gold-medal games since the United States took the title in 1998 at Nagano, the first time women's hockey became an Olympic event.
In other news from the Winter Games:
Mikaela Shiffrin came away with a silver medal in the women's combined, which was won by Michelle Gisin of Switzerland. Lindsey Vonn led after the downhill portion, but she skied out in the slalom.
American David Wise has successfully defended his gold medal in the men's halfpipe, edging teammate Alex Ferreira. Wise wiped out on his first two runs before sneaking past Ferreira on his third with a score of 97.20. Five of the first seven U.S. gold medals have come at Phoenix Snow Park.
Reigning world champion Anna Gasser edged two-time gold medalist Jamie Anderson to win gold in the Olympic debut of women's Big Air snowboarding. Gasser stomped the last of her three jumps, a double cork 1080 that saw the Austrian flip twice while spinning three times. Anderson led going into the final round, but the American sat down while trying to land her last jump.
Sweden's Andre Myhrer captured gold in the men's slalom after heavy favorites Marcel Hirscher and Henrik Kristoffersen failed to finish the race. The 35-year-old Myhrer finished 0.34 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Ramon Zenhaeusern, who took an unexpected silver medal.
Russian state TV reports that curler Alexander Krushelnitsky will give back his Olympic bronze medal after failing a drug test. Krushelnitsky tested positive for the banned substance meldonium after he and his wife won bronze in mixed doubles. The Court of Arbitration for Sport had been due to hear Krushelnitsky's case Thursday.
TOP 25 MEN'S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Top-ranked Virginia struggled for most of its game Wednesday night before clinching the ACC regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament.
The Cavaliers led just 31-30 at halftime and didn't open a double-digit lead until the latter stages of a 65-54 win against visiting Georgia Tech. Ty Jerome scored 18 points for the Cavs, who are 25-2 overall and 14-1 in the conference. Mamadi Diakite had nine points, including a dunk that put Virginia up by 60-49 with 5:14 left.
The regular-season title is the eighth in Virginia's history and third in five years.
Meanwhile, No. 7 Texas Tech suffered its second straight loss as Kendall Smith dropped in 21 points to lift Oklahoma State past the Red Raiders, 79-71. Lindy Waters added a career-high 18 points and Jeffrey Carroll had 14 to help the Cowboys earn their fourth win of the season against teams that were ranked among the top-20 at the time.
Zhaire Smith had a team-high 18 points for Tech, but Keenan Evans finished with just two on 1-for-7 shooting after entering the game as the No. 2 scorer in the Big 12.
Checking out Wednesday's other top-25 finals:
Mikal Bridges provided 27 points and third-ranked Villanova improved to 25-3 with its 16th straight win over De Paul, 93-62. Eric Paschall had 16 points for the Wildcats, while Phil Booth added 14 in just 16 minutes after missing the previous seven games with a broken right hand.
Naji Marshall's career-high 21 points carried No. 4 Xavier past Georgetown, 89-77. J.P. Macura nailed four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, while Quentin Goodin had 19 points in the Musketeers' 25th win.
Fifth-ranked Duke had no trouble with Louisville as Grayson Allen contributed 28 points to an 82-56 rout of the Cardinals. Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 18 points and a season-high five assists to help the Blue Devils earn their fourth straight win, all with leading scorer Marvin Bagley III out of the lineup with a sprained knee.
Theo Pinson scored a career-high 23 points and Joel Berry II added 18, including the tiebreaking layup with 1:36 left in 10th-ranked North Carolina's 78-74 triumph at Syracuse. The Tar Heels overcame Tyus Battle's game-high 26 points and won their sixth in a row to move to 22-7 overall.
Jared Harper had 21 points and No. 12 Auburn took command with a 17-2 run in the second half of a 90-71 rout of Alabama. Chuma Okeke had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Tigers improved to 24-4 overall and 12-3 in the SEC.
No. 13 Wichita State got past Tulane, 93-86 behind 25 points and nine rebounds from Shaquille Morris. Conner Frankamp scored six of his 18 points in the final four minutes to help the Shockers close out their 22nd win.
Virginia Tech knocked off another ranked team as Justin Robinson and Kerry Blackshear Jr. delivered 14 points apiece in a 65-58 downing of No. 15 Clemson. The Hokies trailed by four before going on a 10-0 run that put them ahead to stay, 11 days after they stunned Virginia in overtime.
Duncan Robinson scored 19 points and Mo Wagner added 18 to help No. 17 Michigan beat Penn State 72-63. The 23-7 Wolverines took control with a 25-12 run midway through the first half of their fourth straight win.
Grant Williams bounced back from one of his worst performances of the season to score 23 points on 8-for-13 from the field in No. 19 Tennessee's 62-57 victory against Florida. Williams had a season-low five points in Saturday's 73-62 loss at Georgia.
Kendall Stephens scored a career-high 30 points and 20th-rated 20 Nevada hit 14 3-pointers in knocking off San Jose State, 80-67. Jordan Caroline and Hallice Cooke had 15 points apiece as the Wolf Pack moved to 24-5 overall and 13-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
NCAA
In men’s college basketball, Vermont wrapped up its second straight regular season America East crown with a 75-54 victory over Binghamton. Hartford topped New Hampshire 65-56, UMass Lowell beat Maine 88-76, Stony Brook defeated UMBC 64-57 and Fairfield edged Siena 70-69.
In women’s college basketball, UConn crushed the Tulane Green Wave 91-47 in New Orleans.
LOUISVILLE-PITINO-NCAA
Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino believes the school should consider taking legal action against the NCAA after the governing body ordered the Cardinals' 2013 men's basketball championship vacated as part of sanctions for a sex scandal.
Pitino said Wednesday from attorney's offices in New York that the NCAA's decision was unfair. He did take responsibility for his assistant coaching hires and said he was defenseless, but he added that Louisville's Board of Trustees should consider legal action "because the players deserve it."
The penalties handed down by the NCAA also include vacating 123 victories and the return of about $600,000 in conference revenue from the 2012-15 NCAA Tournaments.
NBA-NEWS
The NBA has fined outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $600,000 for comments about tanking during a podcast with Hall of Famer Julius Erving. Commissioner Adam Silver said the fine was for "public statements detrimental to the NBA." The podcast with Erving was posted Sunday, the day the All-Star game was played in Los Angeles. Cuban said that he met recently with some of his players and told them "losing is our best option."
Meanwhile, the Mavericks have hired outside counsel to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct by former team president Terdema Ussery. The allegations were made public in a Sports Illustrated report that described a hostile workplace for women. Ussery was accused of making sexually suggestive remarks to several women while with the team from 1997-2015.
The report said team website reporter Earl Sneed was twice accused of domestic assault while working for the Mavericks, including a guilty plea in a case that was dismissed when he met the conditions of the agreement.
In other NBA news:
Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson has been cleared to begin light workouts, although there is still no timeframe for his return to practice. Jackson hasn't played since spraining his right ankle Dec. 26 against the Pacers.
NHL-SCHEDULE
The Vegas Golden Knights' lead in the NHL's Pacific Division is back up to double digits following their rout of Calgary.
The expansion team blew three one-goal leads before Alex Tuch put the Knights ahead to stay in the second period of a 7-3 win over the Flames. Tuch was one of seven goal-scorers for Vegas, which set a record for a first-year NHL club with its 23rd home win.
Tuch, Reilly Smith, Ryan Carpenter and Luca Sbisa each had a goal and an assist as the Golden Knights moved ahead of Tampa Bay for the league's best point total.
Also in the NHL:
The Ducks have a four-game winning streak after Ryan Miller stopped 41 shots in a 2-0 whitewash of the Stars. Ryan Getzlaf scored short-handed and Hampus Lindholm had a power-play goal to back Miller's 42nd career shutout.
The Blackhawks won for just the second time in 11 games as Nick Schmaltz scored the clinching goal in the seventh shootout round to complete a 3-2 victory against Ottawa. Patrick Kane scored once in regulation and once in the shootout to help Chicago win Joel Quenneville's 1,600th game as an NHL head coach.
NHL-NEWS
Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane says he fully expects to be dealt before Monday's NHL's traded deadline.
Kane is in the final year of his contract and not considered a long-term fit for the last-place Eastern Conference team. Kane's 19 goals rank second in Buffalo. He's scored 20 or more in each of his previous two years since being acquired by the Sabres in a multi-player trade with the Winnipeg Jets in February 2015.
In other NHL news:
The Kings have acquired forward Tobias Rieder and goalie Scott Wedgewood from the Coyotes for netminder Darcy Kuemper. Rieder has 19 points in 58 games this season, while Wedgewood is 5-9-4 with a 3.45 goals-against average in 20 games. Kuemper was 10-1-3 with a 2.10 goals-against average in 19 games for the Kings.
The Canadiens traded defenseman Jakub Jerabek to the Capitals for a 2019 fifth-round pick. The 26-year-old Jerabek had a goal and three assists in 25 games this season with Montreal.
MLB-NEWS
Colby Rasmus has signed a minor league contract with the Orioles, seven months after the 31-year-old outfielder walked away from the game. The 31-year-old Rasmus was with Tampa Bay in mid-July when the Rays said he was going to "step away from baseball." He was hitting .281 with nine home runs and 23 RBIs in 37 games for the Rays when he left the team.
The Orioles also finalized their one-year, $3 million contract with Chris Tillman, a deal that includes performance bonuses. Tillman was 1-7 with a 7.84 ERA in 19 starts and five relief appearances last year, but he went 65-33 with a 3.81 earned run average in 143 starts over the previous five seasons.
In other baseball news:
Outfielder Cameron Maybin has signed a one-year contract with the Marlins, rejoining the team he played for in 2008-10. Maybin was with the Angels and Astros last year and helped Houston win the World Series. Maybin batted only .228 in 2017, but the 30-year-old is a .255 career hitter in 11 seasons with six teams.
The Pirates have signed free agent outfielder Michael Saunders to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training. The 31-year-old hit a combined .202 with six home runs and 21 RBIs in 73 games for Philadelphia and Toronto last season. Saunders was an AL All-Star in 2016 with the Blue Jays, hitting 24 homers with 57 RBIs while batting .253.
The Indians have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent reliever Carlos Torres, who recorded a 4.21 ERA in 67 games last season for the Brewers. Torres has a 4.00 ERA in 348 career major league games with the White Sox, Rockies, Mets and Brewers.
The Yankees have traded outfielder Jabari Blash to the Angels for either a player to be named or cash. Blash hit .213 with five home runs and 16 RBIs for the Padres last season.
Astros minor league pitcher Forrest Whitley has been suspended for 50 games without pay for a violation of baseball's minor league drug prevention and treatment program.
The Giants say Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda remains hospitalized in critical condition after a cardiac incident. The seven-time All-Star played in three World Series and won both the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year and 1967 NL MVP awards.
NFL-NEWS
The Carolina Panthers have re-hired Marty Hurney as their full-time general manager.
This will be Hurney's second stint as Carolina's general manager, having previously worked for the Panthers from 1998-2012, beginning as GM in 2002. Hurney also worked with the Panthers since last July as the interim general manager.
The Panthers reinstated Hurney as interim general manager last week after an NFL investigation found no wrongdoing into charges of harassment by his ex-wife. He had been on a paid leave of absence during the investigation.
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