Connecticut’s Joneses, Miller sweep major WNBA awards

UNCASVILLE, CONN. » Jonquel Jones led a sweep of three major WNBA awards for Connecticut, earning MVP honors hours before the Sun opened their bestof-five playoff series against Chicago on Tuesday.

She averaged 19.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots to earn her first MVP award. Jones received all but one of the 49 first-place votes.

Connecticut’s Curt Miller was chosen as the league’s coach of the year.

It’s the second time he’s won the award, also receiving it in 2017.

SKY 101, SUN 95 (2OT) » Courtney Vandersloot had the second triple-double in WNBA playoff history with 12 points, a league playoffrecord 18 assists and 10 rebounds to help Chicago beat Connecticut in double overtime in the opener of their best-of-five semifinal series.

Pro football

ALL-PRO CORNERBACK SHERMAN VISITING BUCS » The Bucs, whose depth issues at cornerback have grown from significant to dire, are bringing five-time all-pro Richard Sherman in for a visit, the Tampa Bay Times has confirmed.

The Bucs already have lost starting corner Sean Murphy-Bunting (elbow) for an indefinite period, and watched his replacement, Jamel Dean, exit in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Rams with a knee injury.

But days before Dean was injured, coach Bruce Arians acknowledged the team was exploring the possibility of signing Sherman, whose last full season was with the 49ers in 2019.

Soccer

NEWCOMER SHERIFF STUNS MADRID » Sébastien Thill scored a 90th-minute winner as Moldovan club Sheriff stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to continue its strong start to its first Champions League campaign.

Sheriff leads Group D with six points, three more than Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, which drew 0-0 in Ukraine in the other group match.