Silver Stars first to top Sparks at home
Sophia Young scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as the San Antonio Silver Stars handed the Los Angeles Sparks their first defeat at home, 91-71 Sunday. The Silver Stars (5-5) led wire to wire and broke a fourgame road losing streak. They won consecutive games for the first time this season and improved to 2-0 against Los Angeles. The Sparks (10-4) were trying to start 7-0 at home. They had won eight home games in a row dating to last season. Candace Parker led the Sparks with 15 points and 15 rebounds after sitting out Saturday with a sore knee.
-Ann Wauters had 14 points and seven rebounds as the Seattle Storm beat the Washington Mystics 72-55 Sunday. Sue Bird added 14 points for the Storm (5-7), winners of four consecutive games. ... Angel McCoughtry scored 23 points in her return after missing two games with a knee injury to lead the Atlanta Dream to a 74-64 victory against the New York Liberty.
ODU’s Evans charged in sexual assault
Old Dominion wide receiver Reid Evans, who will be a senior this fall, was suspended from the team after he and another ODU student were arrested and charged with two counts each of rape, sodomy, abduction, conspiracy to commit sodomy and conspiracy to commit abduction. Evans, the team’s second-leading receiver last season, and ODU student Jack Ly are scheduled to appear in court today in connection with the charges. Old Dominion football coach Bobby Wilder announced Evans’ suspension Sunday. The university did not comment on the charges but said the alleged victims were not students.
-North Carolina State said men’s basketball guard Lorenzo Brown would have surgery on his right knee Tuesday to determine why it has bothered him. Brown will enter his junior season as one of the key players for the resurgent Wolfpack after helping them reach the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament in March. He averaged 12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in his first full season at point guard.
Bo Jackson to coach college All-Stars
Former MLB and NFL star Bo Jackson will help coach the hitters at this year’s College Home Run Derby in July. The event will be July 3 at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park, which is home to the College World Series. Eight of the top hitters in college baseball will compete. Jackson played baseball and football for Auburn University in the 1980s and won the Heisman Trophy in 1985. He went on to play for the Los Angeles Raiders in the NFL and the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and California Angels in MLB. The College Home Run Derby is July 8 (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
Timbers get first win vs. MLS rivals
Kris Boyd scored his fifth goal of the season and David Horst converted a header as the Portland Timbers took a much-needed 2-1 win against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday. Portland (4-6-4) jumped ahead of its archrival early and held off a late attack for its first win vs. Seattle since joining Major League Soccer last year. The Timbers went up in the 16th minute when Boyd slipped past the defense and sent home a cross from Steven Smith. Horst scored nine minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Seattle (7-5-4) saw its winless streak extend to seven games, its longest since joining MLS four seasons ago.
-Defender Brandon Barklage knocked in the first two goals of his MLS career Sunday, leading the New York Red Bulls into a first-place tie with loser D.C. United with a 3-2 win before a franchise-record crowd of 25,187 in Harrison, N.J. Barklage, waived by United after the 2011 season and picked up by the Red Bulls shortly thereafter, put New York up 2-1 in the second minute of first-half stoppage time with his second goal of the half. United forward Chris Pontius scored the fastest goal in team history 31 seconds into the match off a header.
Blue clay going away in Madrid
The blue clay that made Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic feel, well, blue in last month’s Madrid Open tennis tournament is going away. In a posting on the tour’s website Saturday, ATP President Brad Drewett said he decided blue clay courts would not be allowed at tour events next season. While the new color, in place of the traditional red clay, gave TV viewers better contrast, he said, “There were clearly issues with the quality of the courts in Madrid this year, which were not acceptable.” The ATP gave the Madrid tournament permission to test the blue courts in 2012. After losses, Nadal and Djokovic said they didn’t like the way the courts played and vowed not to return in 2013 unless a change was made.
Rachel Alexandra expecting second foal
Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 horse of the year who gave birth to her first foal in January, is expecting again. “IT’S A GIRL!!!!” Stonestreet Farm tweeted, announcing the news. The tweet says Rachel Alexandra is in foal to Bernardini with a filly. She had a bay colt in January after being bred to two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. Rachel Alexandra was the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness Stakes in 2009. She had 13 wins and five second-place finishes in 19 starts.