NOTEWORTHY

Walker’s goal propels St. Cloud State to final

PITTSBURGH — Nolan Walker scored on a redirection with 53.2 seconds left and St. Cloud State held off Minnesota State 5-4 on Thursday night to advance to the program’s first national championship game.

St. Cloud State (20-10-0) led 3-1 early in the second period and trailed 4-3 with 15 minutes remaining before winning its 10th onegoal game of the season.

David Hrenak made 25 saves for the Huskies. Minnesota State (22-5-1) goaltender Dryden Mckay, made 17 saves.

LSU: In a $50 million federal racketeering lawsuit, an associate athletic director at Louisiana State University accuses university officials of retaliating against her for reporting racist remarks and inappropriate sexual behavior by former head football coach Les Miles. Sharon Lewis’ lawsuit said she was denied pay raises and subjected to verbal abuse after going to officials with the allegations against Miles — including her accusation that he told her there were “too many Black girls” employed in athletics and an incident when a female student accused him of “getting on top of her” on his office couch.

Colleges: Mick Cronin has been rewarded for UCLA’S surprising run to the Final Four with a two-year contract extension worth a guaranteed $4 million per year through the 2026-27 season . ... Speedy Claxton is taking over as basketball coach at Hofstra . ... Texas Tech sophomore Terrence Shannon Jr. declared for the NBA draft without hiring an agent . ... North Carolina State is adding Mississippi State transfer Madison Hayes.

Tennis: The French Open said it will push back the start of this season’s event by one week because of surging virus cases in France . ... Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens reached the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open, beating Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-4.