AP Sports SummaryBrief at 11:06 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press
Updated: April 7, 2025 - 3:24 AM
Published: April 6, 2025 - 4:00 AM

UConn returns to top of women’s basketball, dominates South Carolina 82-59 to capture its 12th title

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — UConn is back on top of women’s basketball, winning its 12th national championship by routing defending champion South Carolina 82-59 behind Azzi Fudd’s 24 points. Sarah Strong added 24 points and 15 rebounds while Paige Bueckers had 17 points in her final game at UConn. She capped her stellar career with the Huskies’ first championship since 2016, ending a nine-year title drought for the team. That was longest for coach Geno Auriemma and his Huskies since the team won its first championship in 1995. Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team was trying for a third title in four years and fourth overall

Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record by scoring his 895th

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history by scoring the 895th of his career. Ovechkin made hockey history on Sunday in a game against the New York Islanders. He scored on countryman Ilya Sorokin for the first time, doing it a power play with 12:34 left in the second period. The 39-year-old Russian superstar did it even after missing 16 games in November and December because of a broken leg. Sorokin became the record-extending 183rd different goaltender Ovechkin has beaten during his two-decade career in the league.

Houston, Florida play for title and put a different spin on the underdog role to wrap March Madness

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Whoever said there were no great underdog stories left in March Madness, or that the title would go to whoever spends the most money — or amasses the best collection of big names from the transfer portal — clearly never checked out Houston. Coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad of defenders and deniers face Florida for the national title Monday night. They wrap up a front-runner’s Final Four that featured all No. 1 seeds but left the two top ones — Auburn and Duke — sitting at home.

A healthy Azzi Fudd stars as UConn wins women’s NCAA Tournament

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — This time, Azzi Fudd was healthy. And she made a big difference for UConn. Fudd was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after leading the Huskies to the program’s 12th national championship. The dynamic guard scored 24 points during UConn’s 82-59 victory over South Carolina in the title game. UConn also reached the Final Four last season, but Fudd was sidelined by a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. She could only watch as the Huskies were eliminated by Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the semifinals. Fudd was ready to go this time around. She scored 19 points in Friday’s 85-51 victory over UCLA.

UConn’s Geno Auriemma gives no indication of slowing down after winning 12th NCAA title

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Geno Auriemma has accomplished more than just about anyone in college basketball. The 71-year-old UConn coach passed former Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer as the winningest coach in Division 1 earlier this season. He won his 12th NCAA title on Sunday, 30 years after winning his first one. He has done it all in his 40 years at UConn, and while celebrating his latest championship gave no indication that he he’s slowing down just yet.

Manfred says torpedo bats are ‘good for baseball’ and he hopes to see robot umps in MLB by 2026

Torpedo bats are all the rage this season, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says he believes all that chatter is good for the game. In a Q&A published by The New York Times, Manfred also praised the testing of robot umpires during spring training. He said he’d like to see their use expanded to the regular season by 2026. Torpedo bats drew attention recently when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers in one game. With several players using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel toward the label, shaping the end a little like a bowling pin, the bat has become baseball’s latest fad.

Hamlin takes the lead out of pits and holds off Byron in overtime to win at Darlington Raceway

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin took his last lead out of the pits right before an overtime finish and then held off William Byron to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Hamlin got his chance when Kyle Larson spun out after Ryan Blaney had taken the lead with three laps left to force the extra laps. Hamlin came out of the pits in front then took off on the restart for his fifth career win at Darlington and second straight after winning at Martinsville a week ago.

Brian Harman handles the wind and cold at Texas Open for his first win since British Open

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brian Harman is a winner for the first time since the British Open in the summer of 2023. He had to battle the chill and the wind at the Texas Open. Harman shot a 75 in the final round and still won by three shots. He had a couple of birdies on the back nine that gave him some breathing room over Andrew Novak. Harman still only had a two-shot lead with two holes to play but made it easy on himself two pars. Ryan Gerard shot 69 and was runner-up. Novak and Maverick McNealy tied for third.

Sagstrom beats Coughlin 1-up in T-Mobile Match Play to end 5-year drought on LPGA Tour

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Madelene Sagstrom ended more than a five-year LPGA Tour victory drought, overcoming the loss of a four-hole lead at difficult Shadow Creek in a 1-up victory over Lauren Coughlin on Sunday in the T-Mobile Match Play final. Sagstrom took the lead for good with a par at the par-5 16th hole. Coughlin made a double bogey on the hole. Perhaps it was a fitting when the world’s top-ranked players fell one after another at the picturesque but demanding course that a ranked 67th claimed the $300,000 winner’s share. The Swede’s other win came in 2020 at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio. The final match reached the 18th green for the first time the 5-year-old event.

Alex Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal count. Here are other ‘unbreakable’ sports records

Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal-scoring record is no longer considered unbreakable — because Alex Ovechkin just broke it. Ovechkin scored his 895th goal for the Washington Capitals on Sunday in a game against the New York Islanders. That gives the 39-year-old Russian winger one more goal than Gretzky scored before retiring in 1999. There are other marks in various sports that are thought to be unsurpassable. That includes Cy Young’s 511 pitching wins and the 762 home runs Barry Bonds hit in Major League Baseball, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in the NBA, and American swimmer Michael Phelps’ 23 Olympic gold medals.