SPORTS ITEMS

Lady 'Cats go on the road to batter Northwood 16-4

Posted

SUMMERVILLE - McKenzie Truett drove in five runs and scored three runs to lead Laurence Manning Academy to a 16-4 varsity softball win over Northwood Academy on Monday at the NA field.

Truett was 3-for-5 with two doubles. RandiLynn Holcombe had a double and a triple, two RBI and a run, Elizabeth Hussey went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI, and Brooke Reed was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

Madison Truett had a double.

Hussey went the distance in the circle, striking out 14 and allowing just four hits.

Pee Dee 14

Wilson Hall 0

MULLINS - Wilson Hall lost to Pee Dee Acadey 14-0 on Monday at the PDA field.

Andi Grae Wingate had a double and a walk to lead the Lady Barons. Ellie Stone walked twice and was hit by a pitch.

West Florence 17

Sumter 0

FLORENCE - Sumter High School lost to West Florence 17-0 in five innings on Monday at the WF field.

Josie Self, Braelynn Durham, Kathryn Moore and Kadyn Dickerson each had a hit for SHS.

JV SOFTBALL

Laurence Manning 16

Northwood 0

SUMMERVILLE - Laurence Manning Academy improved to 8-1-1 on the season with a 16-0 win over Northwood Academy on Monday at the NA field.

Haley Truett had two hits and three RBI to lead LMA. Jayden Peyton and Malorie Spiegel both had two RBI.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Ex-Lady Vol Kellie Harper returns to her alma mater as coach

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Kellie Harper is returning to Tennessee with hopes of rejuvenating one of the biggest brand names in women's college basketball, two decades after playing on three consecutive Lady Vols national championship teams.

Tennessee announced Tuesday it has hired Harper as coach. She will make $750,000 per year.

Harper, who just coached Missouri State to a surprise Sweet 16 appearance, was known as Kellie Jolly when she played for Tennessee from 1995-99. She helped the Lady Vols win national titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

She replaces Holly Warlick, who was fired March 27 after going 172-67 in seven seasons. Warlick was an assistant on Pat Summitt's Tennessee staff when Harper was playing for the Lady Vols.

Harper led Missouri State to a 25-10 record and a regional semifinal berth as a No. 11 seed this season. She owns a 118-79 record in six seasons at Missouri State.

UCLA hires Cincinnati's Mick Cronin as basketball coach

LOS ANGELES - Mick Cronin has been hired as UCLA's basketball coach, ending a months-long search to find a replacement for the fired Steve Alford.

The university says Cronin agreed to a $24 million, six-year deal Tuesday.

He leaves his alma mater Cincinnati after 16 seasons, having led the Bearcats to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last nine years.

The 47-year-old coach will be introduced at a campus news conference Wednesday.

Cronin's only other head coaching stint was at Murray State from 2003-06. He was associate head coach at Louisville from 2001-03 and worked as an assistant and video coordinator from 1996 to 2001 at Cincinnati.

Alford was fired on Dec. 31.

Woman sues Astros for $1M, says T-shirt cannon broke finger

HOUSTON - A woman has sued the Houston Astros for more than $1 million, saying that a T-shirt cannon by the team's mascot at a game last season broke her finger.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Jennifer Harughty alleges that the mascot, who is named Orbit, "shattered" her left index finger during a game last July when a T-shirt fired from a "bazooka style" cannon into the stands struck her finger.

The Astros said in a statement Tuesday the team is "aware of the lawsuit with allegations regarding Orbit's T-shirt launcher. We do not agree with the allegations. The Astros will continue to use fan popular T-shirt launchers during games. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment on this matter."

Auburn point guard Harper to leave school, enter draft

AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn point guard Jared Harper says he will leave school at the end of the spring semester to enter the NBA Draft.

Harper helped lead the Tigers to their first Final Four appearance before a 63-62 loss to eventual national champion Virginia Saturday. He said Tuesday he plans to sign with an agent.

The 5-foot-11 junior ranks fifth in Auburn history in career assists, including a school-record 231 last season while averaging 15.3 points a game.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl says Harper came to Auburn "on a promise that together we could help make Auburn basketball relevant."

Pearl calls Harper "a special player with speed, quickness, power and a skill level that is unmatched by virtually any player his size" and predicts he will succeed in the NBA.

Harper was the Midwest Regional Most Valuable Player.

From staff and wire reports