Rally by Duquesne women falls short
A furious second-half rally by the Duquesne women’s basketball team fell short Friday night in a 66-60 nonconference loss at Temple. Trailing by 18 points with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter, the Dukes clawed their way back and were within four points with 1:43 to play.
Forced to foul, Duquesne (8-3) sent the Owls to the line where they scored five points to hold their lead till the buzzer.
Junior forward Ayanna Townsend scored 19 points to lead Duquesne, which saw its three-game winning streak end.
Senior guard Aleah Nelson scored 33 points, shooting 7-for-17 on 3-point attempts, to lead Temple (5-6).
•The Robert Morris women scored a big win against visiting St. Bonaventure, winning 63-39 behind a balanced scoring effort led by sophomore forward Phoenix Gedeon, who added 10 rebounds.
The win ended a threegame losing streak for the Colonials (7-4). The Bonnies fell to 3-9.
More college basketball
The NCAA denied a waiver for immediate eligibility for guard Jose Perez at West Virginia. Perez transferred from Manhattan after his coach, Steve Masiello, was fired by the Jaspers on Oct. 25, two weeks before the start of the season. Perez enrolled at West Virginia in November for the spring semester. Huggins said West Virginia plans to appeal the NCAA’s decision.
• Louis Orr, a star forward at Syracuse who played eight NBA seasons before going into a lengthy career in coaching, has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 64.
Baseball
The Philadelphia Phillies finalized their $72 million, four-year contract with right-hander Taijuan Walker.
•All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi and the Chicago White Sox agreed to a $75 million, five-year contract, according to sources.
• The Boston Red Sox designated veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer for assignment to make room for right -hander Wyatt Mills, who was acquired from Kansas City.
Pro basketball
Washington Wizards guard Kyle Kuzma said he does not expect to sign an extension with the Wizards and will decline his option for the 2023-24 season to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Story of the year
The return of WNBA star Brittney Griner to the United States in a dramatic prisoner swap with Russia was named the top sports story of 2022 in a poll of Associated Press sports editors.