Long Reach grad Williams earns MEAC hoops honor
Bethune- Cookman’s Kiana Williams (Long Reach) was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week. Williams, a 5-foot-6 freshman guard from Columbia, averaged 9.0 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in two games for the Wildcats last week – including a 14-point, eight-assist effort in a win over FIU, a game in which she also had five rebounds and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Against Georgia Southern, she had five assists to just one turnover and grabbed four rebounds.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASEKTBALL: Host BASEBALL: OF Lonnie Chisenhall agreed to a $2.75 million, one-year contract with the Pirates, leaving the Indians after eight seasons. The Pirates need help while RF Gregory Polanco recovers from surgery. Polanco is expected to be out until May after dislocating his left shoulder during an awkward slide into second in September.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: North Carolina officially announced that it hired Mack Brown, who led the school to a strong 1990s run before winning a national championship at Texas, to coach the Tar Heels. He reached a five-year deal that will pay him $3.5 million annually to replace Larry Fedora, who was fired Sunday after seven seasons. ... Offensive coordinator Tee Martin is one of three USC assistants who are not being retained by coach Clay Helton following the Trojans’ first losing season in 18 years. The school announced the departures of Martin, defensive line coach Kenechi Udeze and Ronnie Bradford (defensive backs). USC also said quarterbacks coach Bryan Ellis has left the staff to pursue another opportunity. Helton took away play-calling responsibility from Martin during the season. The Trojans were 83rd in the FBS in total offense and 91st in scoring. ... The family of Central Florida quarterback McKenzie Milton says he has nerve damage in his right leg, but “blood flow has been restored” and he is recovering from the injury suffered Friday against South Florida. ... Western Kentucky hired former Tennessee offensive coordinator Tyson Helton as its head coach. ... Florida DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is leaving school early and entering the NFL draft.
SOCCER: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich put aside their domestic worries to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League as both Manchester clubs, Roma, Ajax and Juventus also advanced to the last 16 with one game to spare. Following a humiliating 3-0 loss in the Spanish league over the weekend, three-time defending European champion Madrid recovered with a 2-0 win at Roma that secured first place in its group, and Bayern demolished Benfica 5-1 in the wake of yet another disappointing result in the Bundesliga. Ajax moved into the last 16 for the first time in 12 years with a 2-0 win over 10-man AEK Athens in a game marred by fan violence in and around the stadium. ... Fearing more fan violence, organizers decided the postponed Copa Libertadores final between two Argentine rivals should be played in another country. The second leg of the final — the biggest game in South American club soccer — had to be called off on Saturday when visiting Boca Juniors’ bus was attacked en route to River Plate’s stadium and at least six players were injured. South American organizer CONMEBOL announced that the game will now be played outside Argentina on Dec. 8 or 9, although a new venue has yet to be picked. The first leg finished 2-2. Miami has been touted as a possible host for the game, while Paraguay and Brazil have also offered to stage the highly anticipated matchup between Argentine archrivals. ... A German court convicted a man of 28 counts of attempted murder in last year’s attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. The Dortmund state court found the defendant, who has been identified only as Sergej W. in line with German privacy rules, guilty of 28 counts of attempted murder.