U.S./World Sports category, Page 31

NEW YORK — ESPN’s broadcast of the Connecticut Sun’s game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever had the highest viewership for a WNBA game on the network. The Sun’s 92-71 win over the Fever in Clark’s WNBA debut on the league’s opening night on Tuesday drew an average of...

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — With the future of the Atlantic Coast Conference in question, commissioner Jim Phillips expressed optimism Wednesday that the league can still be salvaged. The path forward is unclear but not without hope. “You have to stay optimistic, and you work through these things,” Phillips said at...

This space predicted three months ago that women’s basketball would blow it with phenom Caitlin Clark. That’s already started. Her first WNBA game wasn’t played on the big stage of, say, New York City. It was played Tuesday night at an arena in a Connecticut casino. Clark’s Indiana Fever lost...

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Caitlin Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut before finishing with 20 points and 10 turnovers as the Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 on Tuesday night. Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, registering the 12th triple-double of...

GENEVA — FIFA moved Wednesday toward ending decades of soccer tradition by ordering a review of its policy that currently blocks domestic league games being played in other countries. Fans are likely to object to their teams’ home matches potentially being moved thousands of miles away, though it has become...

The countdown is on for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, when a field of 33 cars will cross the famed yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend for what is regarded as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Josef Newgarden is the defending champion after...

BALTIMORE — Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan drew the No. 5 post position in the Preakness on Monday looking to sweep the first two legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown, though he’s not favored to do so. Bob Baffert-trained Muth, just inside Mystik Dan in the No. 4 post, opened...

NBA teams were told Monday that Bronny James, the son of the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, has been medically cleared to play in the league, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press. Teams were told of the clearance in a memo sent Monday morning, according...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy has a full head of steam heading into the PGA Championship. McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship for a record fourth time Sunday with another dominating performance at Quail Hollow, easily overcoming a two-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by five shots. No other player...

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Brad Keselowski moved to the front when leaders Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick hit battling for first with nine laps left and held on to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday for his first NASCAR win in three years. It was Keselowski’s 36th career...

CHICAGO — The Atlanta Hawks won the NBA Draft lottery Sunday, landing the No. 1 pick and a potential cornerstone player in a year where there’s no clear-cut choice. The Hawks hit the jackpot despite just 3% odds after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference at 36-46. They dropped their...

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Larson made one thing clear: He’s no Swiftie, even if he did surprise his daughter with a birthday trip to Paris this week to see Taylor Swift in concert. Yes, Larson wore a Swift-themed T-shirt and a couple of friendship bracelets given to him by wife...

Spencer Lee’s 83-year old grandmother lives in France and never has seen him wrestle in person. She will this summer. The Franklin Regional and Iowa graduate qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris by reaching the finals Saturday at the Last Chance Olympic qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey. Lee went...

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — A New York judge on Friday struck down a Long Island county’s order banning female transgender athletes after a local women’s roller derby league challenged it. Judge Francis Ricigliano ruled Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman didn’t have the authority to issue his February executive order, which...

Missouri State will move up to the highest tier of Division I college football and join Conference USA in 2025, the league announced Friday. Missouri State will become the 12th full member of CUSA and the third school to move up from the Championship Subdivision to the Bowl Subdivision and...

While conversations about the WNBA’s growth may start with Caitlin Clark, any talk about the 2024 championship begins with the star-studded Las Vegas Aces led by A’ja Wilson and their quest to three-peat. The Aces have been dominant on the court the past two seasons, becoming the first team to...

Nikola Jokic did it all again. And the MVP trophy is his again. Jokic, the Denver Nuggets star from Serbia, was announced Wednesday night as the NBA’s MVP — his third time winning the award in the past four seasons, a feat that just six other players in league history...