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Lewis makes LPGA news in desert heat

Stacy Lewis leads by three and is halfway to victory at the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (Associated Press)
Stacy Lewis leads by three and is halfway to victory at the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (Associated Press)

Golf: Stacy Lewis persevered through 100-degree desert heat to shoot a 3-under-par 69 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Friday, opening a three-stroke lead over Yani Tseng, Brittany Lincicome and Jane Park.

Lewis finished at 9 under after several big putts during the second round at Rancho Mirage, Calif., coolly reaching the halfway point of the LPGA Tour’s first major in strong position to chase her first victory.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a second-round 71 and is six shots back, tied with Michelle Wie, among others.

Tseng, the defending champion and the world’s top-ranked player, shot a 68.

• Rookie out front at Houston Open: PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Anthony Kim and 2008 winner Johnson Wagner after two rounds at the Houston Open in Humble, Texas.

Kirk was 9 under and played his last few holes just as the wind picked up in the afternoon and made scoring more difficult. Kim shot a 64, the lowest round of the day, and Wagner had a 67.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh shot a second-round 78 and missed the cut at 147.

• Sluman goes low at Champions event: Jeff Sluman tied a course record with a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Tom Lehman at the Champions Tour’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic at Fallen Oak in Saucier, Miss.

Sluman tied the course record set last year by David Frost and Gary Halberg.

Fredette named player of year

College basketball: Jimmer Fredette is the Associated Press’ player of the year after leading the nation in scoring and BYU to one of its best seasons.

Fredette, who averaged 28.5 points per game, received the award Friday. He drew 48 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. The voting was done before the NCAA tournament.

Kemba Walker of Connecticut was second with 11 votes. Nolan Smith of Duke had five and Jared Sullinger of Ohio State one.

• Brey tabbed top coach: Mike Brey is the Associated Press coach of the year after guiding Notre Dame to second place in the Big East and a No. 5 ranking in the final poll.

The Fighting Irish had a 27-7 record, their second-most wins in a season. Brey drew 28 votes from a 65-member panel, with Steve Fisher of San Diego State second with 14 points.

Oregon edges Creighton for CBI title: E.J. Singler hit a bank shot from just inside the lane with 2 seconds left to give Oregon a 71-69 win over Creighton in the deciding game of the College Basketball Invitational at Eugene, Ore.

Joevan Catron scored 29 points to lead the Ducks (21-18), earning tournament MVP honors.

Antoine Young had 21 points and seven assists for the Bluejays (23-16).

• Kruger headed to Oklahoma: Lon Kruger has told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he accepted an offer to leave UNLV and become the head coach at Oklahoma.

76ers roll, clinch playoff spot

NBA: Thaddeus Young scored 22 points, Elton Brand had 21 and the Philadelphia 76ers clinched a playoff spot with a 115-90 victory over the New Jersey Nets at Philadelphia.

Jrue Holiday scored 17 points and Andre Iguodala had 14 to lead the Sixers back to the postseason after missing out last year. The Sixers won 27 games last season under Eddie Jordan, but have won 40 games under new coach Doug Collins.

• Lakers rally, eliminate Jazz: Kobe Bryant scored 21 points, Lamar Odom added 16 and the Los Angeles Lakers erased a 17-point first-half deficit to defeat Utah 96-85 at Salt Lake City and eliminate the Jazz from the playoff race.

Utah (36-40) becomes the first team in NBA history to start as well as 15-5 and 27-13 and not make the playoffs.

• Rockets send Spurs to sixth straight setback: Kevin Martin scored 33 points, including nine in overtime, and Houston extended San Antonio’s losing streak to six games by defeating the Spurs 119-114 in overtime at Houston.

The Spurs hadn’t dropped six in a row since April 10-20, 1997.

• Blazers slow streaking Thunder: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 32 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped Oklahoma City’s five-game winning streak with a 98-91 victory over the Thunder at Portland.

Iginla reaches milestone in win

NHL: Jarome Iginla scored his second goal of the game with 5:03 left to reach 1,000 points and help the Calgary Flames rally to defeat the Blues 3-2 at St. Louis.

Iginla became the 77th player in league history to record 1,000 points.

• O’Reilly delivers in clutch for Colorado: Ryan O’Reilly tied it late in regulation, then had the only score in the shootout to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes at Glendale, Ariz.

Nadal drops Federer in straight sets

Miscellany: Rafael Nadal has advanced to the final at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis event by beating rival Roger Federer 6-3, 6-2 at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Nadal won with surprising ease, holding every service game and converting five of six break-point chances.

Nadal’s opponent Sunday will be No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who stretched his winning streak to 25 consecutive matches by beating Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-1.

• Mancuso wins giant slalom: Julia Mancuso added to her national record with her 12th win at the U.S. ski championships, turning in a swift second run to beat Sarah Schleper in the giant slalom at Winter Park, Colo.