U.S. keeps lead but Woods drops to 0-2

Golf: The Americans kept the lead in the Presidents Cup at Melbourne, Australia, and they still don’t have a point from Tiger Woods.

Woods is 0-2 for the first time in this event, and the first time in any team competition since he and Phil Mickelson lost their opening two matches at the 2004 Ryder Cup.

His teammates made up for it by splitting the six four-balls matches today on a Royal Melbourne course with such vicious wind that event that some of the Australians said was as tough as they had seen it.

Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson won for the second straight day, as did Mickelson and Jim Furyk. The Americans had a 7-5 lead going into a double session Saturday with 10 points at stake.

• Choi leads two players by one shot: Na Yeon Choi shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Morgan Pressel and Karrie Webb after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s season-ending Titleholders at Orlando, Fla.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., joined top-ranked Yani Tseng with a 70. Michelle Wie opened with a 71.

Hokies move closer to ACC title game

College football: Logan Thomas threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, leading No. 9 Virginia Tech to a 24-21 victory over North Carolina (6-2, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Blacksburg, Va., and another 10-win season.

The Hokies (10-1, 6-1) won their sixth in a row since a home loss to No. 7 Clemson and remained on track for a rematch with the Tigers in the ACC championship game.

• UAB upsets Southern Miss: Ty Long kicked a 38-yard field goal with 3:04 left to lift UAB (3-8, 3-5 Conference USA) to a 34-31 upset of No. 22 Southern Mississippi (9-2, 5-2) at Birmingham, Ala.

• Rose Bowl exec fine with Penn State: The chief administrative officer of the Rose Bowl says if Penn State wins the Big Ten title, the Nittany Lions will be free to play in the top-tier postseason game as far as he’s concerned.

Kevin Ash said that the Rose Bowl would let the Big Ten decide if there is a reason its champion shouldn’t play the Pac 12 winner in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 2.

UConn collects 14th straight victory

Men’s basketball: Alex Oriakhi had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 4 Connecticut (3-0) to its 14th consecutive win, 80-60 over Maine (1-1) at Hartford, Conn.

UConn extended the longest winning streak in Division I while winning its 36th consecutive non-conference game.

• Mississippi State scores upset: Dee Bost scored 20 points, including a big 3-pointer with 3:16 to play, and Mississippi State (3-1) beat No. 19 Texas A&M (2-1) 69-60 in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at New York.

• No. 15 Arizona holds on: Solomon Hill had 15 points to lead No. 15 Arizona (4-0) to an 81-72 victory over St. John’s (3-1) in the nightcap of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

Bruins’ winning streak hits seven

NHL: Tuukka Rask made 30 saves through overtime and then stopped Columbus’ Antoine Vermette in the shootout as the Boston Bruins beat the visiting Blue Jackets 2-1 for their seventh straight win.

• Flyers win in final seconds: Matt Read knocked in a rebound with 18.6 seconds left to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 win over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes.

• Wild win defensive battle: Niklas Backstrom stopped 27 shots and Devin Setoguchi scored the game’s only goal with 2:31 left to give the Minnesota Wild a 1-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche at St. Paul, Minn.

No. 1 Baylor, No. 2 Irish will meet

Women’s basketball: Brittney Griner had 18 points with 14 rebounds and Odyssey Sims scored 22 points for top-ranked Baylor in an 83-50 victory over No. 22 UCLA (2-1) that sets up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the preseason WNIT championship game at Waco, Texas.

The Lady Bears (3-0) host No. 2 Notre Dame on Sunday, after the Irish beat Hartford 98-43 earlier in the night.

• Late play lifts Purdue: Courtney Moses scored off an inbounds play with 13 seconds left to lift No. 16 Purdue (2-0) to a 54-53 win over Bowling Green (0-2) at Bowling Green, Ohio.

Researchers will study retired players

NFL: The researchers studying a degenerative brain disease in former athletes plan to test about 100 retired NFL players to try to learn how to diagnose the condition during life.

For now, the only way to confirm Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is by examining brains after death. The Boston University center that has analyzed the brains of more than 70 former athletes is starting a three-year study of living patients.

Tribe supports North Dakota nickname

College sports: American Indians who want the University of North Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname hope to put the issue to voters, their lawyer said.

Members of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe who back the nickname say they plan to gather signatures to try to amend the state’s constitution to require that the school use the moniker.