Rapinoe scores twice, leads U.S. to tournament title
Megan Rapinoe scored twice and the United States won the SheBelieves Cup title with a 6-0 victory over Argentina on Wednesday night in Orlando, Fla.
The U.S. is undefeated in 37 games in a row overall and 53 on American soil.
Carli Lloyd, Kristie Mewis, Alex Morgan and Christen Press also scored, and the U.S. women also become the first team to have three straight shutouts in the SheBelieves Cup, which is in its sixth year.
The United States shut out Canada in the roundrobin tournament opener and then downed Brazil 2-0 on Sunday. Earlier Wednesday, Brazil beat Canada 2-0 at Exploria Stadium. Brazil finished second.
Argentina, which did not win a match, was a late addition after Japan dropped out because of coronavirus concerns.
Rapinoe scored in the 16th minute with a welltimed strike on a through ball from Rose Lavelle for the early lead.
Rapinoe added another in the 26th minute, tapping in a cross from Lloyd. Rapinoe is the top all-time SheBelieves scorer with seven goals, including three in this edition.
College basketball
HAYES, FUNDERBURK HELP
NC STATE UPEND NO. 15 VIRGINIA >> DJ Funderburk scored nine of his 14 points in the second half, and the North Carolina State men opened a big lead and held off No. 15 Virginia 68-61 for its fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference road victory.
Cam Hayes led the Wolfpack with 16 points and Shakeel Moore had 12 for N.C. State (11-9, 7-8 ACC).
Sam Hauser led Virginia with 21 points, but the Cavaliers (15-6, 11-4) lost their third straight for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
MARQUETTE HANDS NORTH
CAROLINA RARE HOME NONCONFERENCE LOSS >> Dawson Garcia had 24 points and 11 rebounds, D.J. Carton added 17 points with five assists, and Marquette (11-12) beat North Carolina 83-70 in a game scheduled
just four days ago. It was just North Carolina’s 18th nonconference defeat in the 35-year history of the Dean E. Smith Center.
Garrison Brooks led North Carolina (14-8) with 18 points. The loss leaves coach Roy Williams still seeking his 900th career victory.
SAN JOSE STATE SUSPENDS
SEASON UNTIL CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT >> San Jose State has suspended team activities because of COVID-19 concerns within the program. The Spartans’ three remaining regular season-games against Wyoming (today and Saturday) and Nevada (March 3) have been canceled.
SJSU will look to resume basketball-related activities prior to the Mountain West Tournament, which is slated to be played March 10-13 in Las Vegas.
PAC-12 TO ALLOW PLAYERS’
FAMILY AT TOURNAMENTS >> The Pac-12 will allow players’ family members to attend its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas next month. The policy still must be approved by Las Vegas health authorities. No fans will be allowed to attend.
The women’s tournament is March 3-7 at Mandalay Bay. The men’s tournament is March 10-13 at TMobile Arena.
Tennis
ORIGINAL 9, HEWITT IN HALL
OF FAME’S NEWEST CLASS >> Billie Jean King and the other members of the Original 9 who laid the groundwork for the women’s professional tour are the first group elected together to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, joining Lleyton Hewitt and Dennis Van der Meer in the Class of 2021.
Hewitt was the only one of five nominees in the Player Category who was voted in. He won Grand Slam singles titles at the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, reached No. 1 in the ATP rankings and helped Australia win a pair of Davis Cup championships.
Van der Meer, who died in 2019, advocated for a universal teaching method in tennis and was elected in the Contributor Category, as were the Original 9.
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of when King, elected to the Hall in 1987 for her accomplishments on the court, and eight other players — Peaches Bartkowicz, Rosie Casals, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Kerry Melville Reid, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey and Valerie Ziegenfuss — took a stand
against the disparity in prize money between men and women in the sport at the time.
Track and field
HOLLOWAY BREAKS INDOOR
60-METER HURDLES RECORD >> American Grant Holloway broke the world indoor 60-meter hurdles record that had endured since 1994 on Wednesday, finishing in 7.29 seconds to shave 0.01 seconds off the previous mark set by Briton Colin Jackson.
Holloway, the 110m hurdles world champion, won the race at Spain’s Villa de Madrid by 0.22 seconds, extending his victory streak in indoor sprint hurdles to 54 races. World indoor champion Andrew Pozzi of Britain finished second in a time of 7.51 seconds.
Olympics
TORCH RELAY PLANS TO
KICK OFF IN ONE MONTH >> The torch relay for the postponed Tokyo Olympics is to start in a month, which should be a sign that the troubled Olympics are on track to begin on July 23. It was at this stage at the start of the torch relay just under a year ago — just after the Olympic flame arrived from Greece — that the Olympics were postponed because of the coronavirus.
Organizers on Thursday read out a list of rules regarding health measures for the 10,000 torchbearers and others who are to take part, including fans. They also cautioned that changes to the route or runners could come without much notice.