AP National Sports

HOUSTON — Max Fiedler had 22 points as Rice beat UTSA 91-78. Carl Pierre had 19 points for Rice (13-8, 6-4 Conference USA). Travis Evee added 16 points. Quincy Olivari had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jacob Germany had 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Roadrunners (8-15, 1-9). Isaiah Addo-Ankrah added 15

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Savion Flagg had 26 points as Sam Houston extended its home winning streak to eight games, easily beating Dixie State 77-53. Hunter Schofield led the Trailblazers on Thursday night with 15 points and seven rebounds.

LORETTO, Pa. — Charles Pride had 44 points plus 12 rebounds as Bryant won its seventh consecutive game, beating St. Francis (Pa.) 89-82. Ramiir Dixon-Conover led the Red Flash on Thursday night with 22 points, six rebounds and five steals.

NEW YORK — Patrick Emilien and Michael Cubbage scored 20 points apiece as St. Francis (N.Y.) topped Fairleigh Dickinson 81-64. Brandon Rush led the Knights on Thursday night with 17 points.

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S., Britain and a handful of others aren’t sending dignitaries to the Beijing Winter Games as part of a diplomatic boycott, but the Chinese capital is still attracting an array of world leaders for Friday’s opening ceremony.  Russia’s Vladimir Putin is meeting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, underscoring closer ties between Beijing

DETROIT (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 25 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 14 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Detroit Pistons 128-117 on Thursday night. Taurean Prince added 23 points to help Minnesota win its third straight and fifth in six games. Saddiq Bey had 21 points and 13 rebounds for

ATLANTA — Efe Odigie recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds to lift Troy to a 67-63 win over Georgia State. Justin Roberts led the Panthers on Thursday night with 17 points.

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer The WNBA received $75 million from a group of investors that includes Michael Dell, Nike, Swin Cash and a few NBA owners in its first-ever capital raise _ the largest ever for women’s sports. The capital raise was funded by selling equity in the WNBA and will be used

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Brenden Tucker had 21 points as Charleston routed William & Mary 84-61. Connor Kochera led the Tribe on Thursday night with 17 points.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michael Akuchie totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds to lift Youngstown State to a 61-55 win over IUPUI. Dwayne Cohill had 14 points for the Penguins (13-10, 7-6 Horizon League). B.J. Maxwell scored a career-high 22 points for the Jaguars (1-18, 0-9), who have now lost 13 straight games.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Nicolas Timberlake had a career-high 26 points as Towson defeated Hofstra 78-68. Aaron Estrada led the Pride on Thursday night with 22 points and seven assists.

NEW YORK — Eral Penn had 22 points as Long Island Brooklyn defeated Sacred Heart 79-75. Nico Galette led the Pioneers on Thursday night with a career-high 20 points.

EMMITSBURG, Md. — Dakota Leffew had 15 points off the bench to lift Mount St. Mary’s to a 69-53 win over Merrimack. Ziggy Reid led the Warriors on Thursday night with 16 points.

By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Kiki Smith scored 25 points, Nina Rickards added 16 and Florida stunned No. 7 Tennessee 84-59, giving the Gators their fifth victory in 59 meetings between the teams. It was Florida’s biggest win in the series. None of the previous four had been by more

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Stafford got a call this week from a childhood friend who knows a little something about waiting a long time to win his first championship. Clayton Kershaw is hoping to be at SoFi Stadium next Sunday when Stafford leads the Los Angeles Rams in

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) — Tishara Morehouse scored 19 points, Kendall Spray added 12 points and No. 22 Florida Gulf Coast made 17 3-pointers in beating Central Arkansas 71-44 for coach Karl Smesko’s 600th career win. Smesko reached the milestone in just 726 games, faster than Pat Summitt (734 games), Tara VanDerveer (767), and C. Vivian

NEWARK, Del. — Melik Martin had 21 points as Drexel topped Delaware 76-68. Andrew Carr led the Blue Hens on Thursday night with a career-high 21 points.

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Tom Hoge enjoys being at Pebble Beach in any weather. Give him sunshine and little wind, and it’s even better, especially with a 63 on his card. Hoge had nine birdies and a one-shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That’s his best

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Julian Champagnie had 27 points as St. John’s beat Georgetown 90-77. Joel Soriano had 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for the Red Storm (12-9, 4-6 Big East Conference). Donald Carey scored a career-high 23 points and had seven rebounds for the Hoyas (6-14, 0-9), whose losing streak stretched to

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Jomaru Brown came off the bench to score 15 points and he made the second of two foul shots with 3 seconds remaining in the third overtime to lift Eastern Kentucky over Kennesaw State 82-81. Michael Moreno had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Colonels (11-12, 3-6 Atlantic Sun Conference).