Thursday’s Sports In Brief

BASKETBALL

DALLAS (AP) — Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark was honored as The Associated Press women’s basketball Player of the Year, and Indiana’s Teri Moren took the AP Coach of the Year award for a Big Ten sweep. of the awards.

Clark received 20 votes from the 28-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. Voting was done before March Madness began.

Clark had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history to get Iowa to the Final Four for the first time in 30 years. She averaged 27.0 points, 8.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds during the season to help Iowa go 26-6.

South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, the winner last season, got the other eight votes. Next up for the Hawkeyes is Boston and undefeated South Carolina in the national semifinals

Clark is the second Iowa player to win the AP award in the past few seasons, joining Megan Gustafson in 2019.

AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) — Longtime Villanova assistant George Halcovage is taking over Buffalo basketball program,.

Halcovage broke into coaching as a graduate assistant on Jay Wright’s staff at Villanova in 2008 before working his way up to associate head coach in Wright’s final season in 2021-22, when the Wildcats reached the Final Four. In that time, the Wildcats won national championships in 2016 and 2018.

He replaces Jim Whitesell, who in four seasons failed to sustain the Bulls’ success as a Mid-American Conference power established by his immediate predecessors Nate Oats and Bobby Hurley.

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Tony Skinn, who helped lead George Mason to the Final Four as a player in 2006, was hired to take over the school’s program.

Skinn replaces Kim English, who left George Mason for Providence after Ed Cooley departed Providence for Georgetown. Skinn was most recently an assistant coach at Maryland.

BASEBALL

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bryce Harper was placed on the 10-day injured list by the Philadelphia Phillies, who avoided the 60-day list and left open the opportunity that he could return before the end of May.

Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies president of baseball operations, said the timeline on Harper’s return from reconstructive elbow surgery hasn’t really changed. After Tommy John surgery in November, the National League champions said they expected their two-time NL MVP back in the lineup as their designated hitter by the All-Star break in July. If on the 60-day IL, he would have been out until at least May 29.

Harper is starting the fifth season of a $330 million, 13-year contract with the Phillies. He hasn’t played right field since last April 16, had a platelet-rich plasma injection on his elbow in May and became a full-time designated hitter to finish the season. He had Tommy John surgery in November after helping lead Philadelphia to its first World Series appearance since 2009.

SEATTLE (AP) — The Cleveland Guardians signed All-Star second baseman Andrés Giménez to a seven-year contract and completed a four-year deal with reliever Trevor Stephan before their opener against Seattle.

Giménez’s $106.5 million deal runs through the 2029 season and includes a $23 million club option for 2030. Stephan’s contract goes through 2026 and includes club options for 2027 and 2028.

GOLF

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Padraig Harrington and Matt Kuchar each shot 4-under 68 to share the early lead with MJ Daffue and Roberto Diaz in the weather-delayed first round of the Valero Texas Open.

Daffue eagled the par-5 18th hole at TPC San Antonio and Diaz made birdie to join the 51-year-old Harrington — who has played on the PGA Tour, European tour and PGA Tour Champions this year — and the 44-year-old Kuchar atop the leaderboard.

Play was delayed by fog in the morning, which prevented the afternoon half of the field from finishing their rounds.

Matt Wallace — a winner last week in the Dominican Republic — was one shot back along with Garrick Higgo, Harry Higgs, Chez Reavie and Nick Taylor.

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (AP) — Mi Hyang Lee shot a 6-under 65 in her first LPGA Tour event of the year for a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the DIO Implant LA Open.

Lee, a South Korean who earned a spot in the field as a Monday qualifier, hit all 18 greens in regulation, played bogey-free and closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole in challenging conditions at Palos Verdes. Players endured intermitted rain and hail with temperatures in the 40s.

Megan Khang and Hyo Joo Kim — a close friend of Lee’s — each shot 66. Nasa Hataoka, Lucy Li and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc were another shot behind.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Rose Zhang extended her lead to five shots in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, leaving her one round away at the home of the Masters from another big title.

Zhang opened with a 6-under 66 on Wednesday at Champions Retreat to set the tournament record and went one better Thursday with a 65. Zhang, the 19-year-old Stanford sophomore and reigning NCAA champion, broke the 36-hole record set by Jennifer Kupcho in 2019 by eight strokes.

Andrea Lignell of Sweden, a senior at Ole Miss, was second after a 69.

The final round is Saturday.

FOOTBALL

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met with Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the field after making a tackle during an NFL game in January.

Biden tweeted a photo of him with Hamlin in the Oval Office and said it was an honor to meet Hamlin and his family. In the photo, Hamlin is seen holding a Bills jersey in his lap.

Hamlin collapsed while playing against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2 during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Hamlin has had a remarkable recovery, according to doctors, and the team’s general manager said last month that Hamlin’s “end game” is to resume playing so long as he receives the necessary medical clearance.

TENNIS

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the Miami Open semifinals, beating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2.

Alcaraz faced only two break points against the 10th-ranked Fritz and turned away both, improving his match record this year to 18-1.

On the women’s side, Elena Rybakina beat Jessica Pegula 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a match delayed twice by rain to reach the final.

PRO BASKETBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Julius Randle will miss the rest of the regular season because of a sprained left ankle, and his availability for the playoffs — if the New York Knicks make it — is in doubt.

Randle was hurt Wednesday night in a victory over Miami, and the Knicks said Thursday that the All-Star forward would be re-evaluated in two weeks.

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