Sports category, Page 626
South Carolina, Iowa, USC and Texas top women’s AP Top 25; they are also 1 seeds in NCAA TournamentVideo
South Carolina, Iowa, USC and Texas are the top four teams in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, a day after all four were chosen as the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament that begins later this week. The undefeated Gamecocks remained the unanimous No. 1 choice...
Oneil Cruz crushes 2 home runs, 6 RBIs as Pirates pound Phillies for 16 hitsVideo
Oneil Cruz continues to crush home runs, as the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop hit a pair that traveled a combined 822 feet in going 3 for 4 with six RBIs on Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cruz got some company from Rowdy Tellez, as both hit three-run shots in a six-run...
Duquesne finally reaches NCAA Tournament, but there’s plenty of work to do at home, too
For years, Duquesne athletic director Dave Harper expressed to anyone willing to listen how desperately he wanted to see his men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament. “I said, ‘I’m not going to rest until our name is on a (bracket) line on Sunday on that selection show,’ ” he...
Kenny Pickett talks about exit from Steelers, getting fresh start with Eagles
After signing veteran quarterback Russell Wilson to a one-year contract last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t waste time trading two-year starter Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. It turns out Pickett was just as anxious to move across the commonwealth as the Steelers were sending him there, cementing the deal...
Robert Morris hires UCF assistant Chandler McCabe as new women’s basketball coach
Robert Morris has a new women’s basketball coach. Athletic director Chris King announced Chandler McCabe as the seventh head coach in program history Monday. McCabe joins the Colonials from Central Florida, where she served as an assistant for the 2023-24 campaign. Previously, she spent two years at George Mason as...
UConn back at No. 1 in AP Top 25 ahead of repeat bid in March Madness
Reigning national champion Connecticut is back at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll a day after being named the top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies moved up from No. 2 in Monday’s poll, trading spots with Houston after the Cougars’ lopsided...
Vouchers for missing Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads for sale on eBayVideo
The mystery of the stolen Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads remains, but fans have already taken to eBay to try and sell vouchers for the figurines — and they’re pricey. Last week, 18,500 tiny likenesses of No. 68, complete with hand raised in a salute, had disappeared after being shipped by boat...
Remaining schedule offers Penguins chance to make up ground, but time is running out
It’s hard to make an official tally of every moment this season when all hope of making the playoffs evaporated for the Pittsburgh Penguins. There have been many such instances and games, plenty of them still fresh in mind. Off the ice, the pre-deadline trades of star winger Jake Guentzel...
Duquesne’s Dambrot announces his retirement after 7 years
Keith Dambrot announced his retirement as basketball coach at Duquesne on Monday, one day after the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 47 years. ”Dambrot led the Dukes into the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, defeating VCU, 57-51, in the championship of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Duquesne won four games in...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot to retire after 7 seasons of sharing AD Dave Harper’s vision for programVideo
In March 2017, Dave Harper set out on a solo journey, seeking to hire a coach for the struggling men’s basketball program at Duquesne. “A man on an island,” he said. “I was trying to sell a job where the perception was coaches go to die.” Yet, after 17 months...
Belle Vernon grad Hannah Seitzinger hopes new workout regimen leads to healthy outdoor track season at Duquesne
“Load management” is a term that has become part of the sports lexicon in recent years. It refers to coaches holding healthy players out of practices and games with the idea of preserving them for the latter part of the season and/or the playoffs. The practice mostly is looked upon...
Knoch grad Angelo DeLeonardis emerging as key player in 2nd year with Chatham baseball
When Angelo DeLeonardis arrived at Chatham last fall, he was eager to contribute during his freshman baseball season. Coach Nic Rush saw enough in DeLeonardis that convinced him he could be a catcher at the college level right away. But here’s the rub. The Cougars were returning two experienced catchers....
Madden Monday: Steelers ‘did themselves a favor’ by trading Kenny Pickett to Philadelphia
The Steelers have been criticized at times for simply releasing or trading players who were pouty and didn’t want to be in Pittsburgh anymore. Specifically, guys like Melvin Ingram, James Harrison and LeGarrette Blount weren’t happy with their roles and just wanted out of town. The same could potentially be...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe grad Landon Butler enters transfer portal
Landon Butler’s two brothers have experienced the NCAA transfer portal. Now, he will, too. Butler, a 6-foot-4 freshman, is leaving Montevallo, a Division II school in Alabama, after one season on the basketball team. A Latrobe graduate, Butler played in 28 games, starting seven, and averaged 3.8 points and 2.3...
Duquesne women’s basketball headed to WNIT
The Duquesne women’s basketball team has accepted an at-large selection to the WNIT. The 48-team field includes 11 automatic qualifiers and 37 at-large bids. Matchups, sites and times will be released Monday. Duquesne is in the WNIT for the 10th time. The Dukes lost to Richmond in the Atlantic 10...
Penn State, James Madison, Villanova and Washington State top seeds in new WBI Tournament
Penn State, James Madison, Villanova and Washington State will play in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament as the No. 1 seeds after just missing the NCAAs. The NCAA is sponsoring this tournament, an equivalent to the men’s NIT. In the past, the secondary women’s tournament was the WNIT and...
Mark Madden: Steelers have had a perfect offseason, choosing progress over saving face
This much should be made clear about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ reconstructed quarterback room: There’s a pecking order. Russell Wilson is the starter. He’s not on a short leash or any leash. Justin Fields didn’t come to Pittsburgh to compete with Wilson. He’s clearly the backup and in a position to...
Duquesne stars from yesteryear celebrate Dukes’ return to NCAA Tournament
The voice on the other end of the line was faint, and there was a dinging sound in the background. “Oh, wait, I need to buckle up my seat belt.” It was Penn Hills resident Moe Barr, the Duquesne basketball star from yesteryear, multi-tasking while talking on his cell phone....
Pirates GM Ben Cherington addresses decisions to reassign Paul Skenes, sign Domingo German
The Pittsburgh Pirates were preemptive with Paul Skenes, informing the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick that he wasn’t going to make the Opening Day roster and would start the season in the minor leagues. So their roster move to reassign the right-hander to minor league camp Sunday came as...
First Call: Steelers have interest in veteran receiver; Kenny Pickett posts farewell to Pittsburgh
Monday’s “First Call” features Kenny Pickett’s farewell to Pittsburgh. Jerome Bettis’ son has made his college football destination known. It looks like the Steelers want to add another veteran wide receiver. Jake Guentzel has scored his first goal for the Carolina Hurricanes. And Duquesne had a rough trip back to...
NCAA Tournament presents Pittsburgh homecoming for Kentucky’s John Calipari, 2 playersVideo
Results for the past three years have been substandard for John Calipari and the Kentucky basketball team. The NCAA’s winningest men’s basketball program of all-time, Kentucky has been in a funk since going 9-16 during the covid-impacted 2020-21 campaign. But the Wildcats will look to get back to the elite...
West Virginia women will meet Princeton in 8/9 NCAA Tournament game
The West Virginia women’s basketball team will make its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament when it meets Princeton (25-4) of the Ivy League at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Albany 2 region in Iowa City, Iowa. The winner could meet Iowa and college basketball’s all-time leading scorer, Caitlin Clark,...
Tim Benz: Selection Sunday results are an ultimate contrast for Duquesne and Pitt
Duquesne freshman Jakub Necas slipped behind his school’s Atlantic 10 championship backdrop away from the rest of his celebrating team and sat down in a bed of confetti on the Barclays Center floor. The 20-year-old hung up the FaceTime call with his parents back home in the Czech Republic, bowed...
South Carolina, Iowa, USC, Texas top seeds for women’s NCAA Tournament
Undefeated South Carolina is the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season. They had a chance last season before falling just short against Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Final Four....
Penguins remain in playoff contention by beating Red Wings
If the Penguins are going to salvage anything out of a 2023-24 regular season that supplied more aggravation than assurance, virtually all of their remaining games are “must-wins” with regard to their postseason aspirations. It’s been that way for more than a month (and probably a lot longer). And Sunday’s...
