NASCAR settles lawsuit filed by former official

NASCAR has settled a $225 million lawsuit filed by a former official who said she was subjected to racial discrimination and sexual harassment during her two-plus years working for the stock-car organization, the Associated Press has learned.

The suit was settled during a Dec. 3 mediation held in New York between Mauricia Grant and NASCAR. Settlement terms were confidential.

Grant, who is black, worked as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series from January 2005 until her October 2007 termination. In the lawsuit filed in June in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Grant alleged 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination during her employment.

Football

Romo plans to play

Dallas quarterback Tony Romo finished his last game with a sore back, so he doesn’t anticipate any problem being ready for the next game, even in a shortened week.

Romo said he will be ready Saturday night when Dallas plays its Texas Stadium finale against the Baltimore Ravens.

•Cards may be short-handed: Wide receiver Anquan Boldin and running back J.J. Arrington could be sidelined for the Arizona Cardinals’ game at New England on Sunday because of injuries.

•Vikings back Jackson: The Minnesota Vikings will start Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback Sunday against Atlanta. Jackson was benched after the Vikings started the season 0-2, but he has played well for injured Gus Frerotte.

•Kmic heads Little All-America Team: Mount Union’s Nate Kmic, college’s career rushing leader, and quarterback Ted Schlafke from Division II national champion Minnesota Duluth highlight the AP Little All-America Team.

Kmic has 7,986 career yards rushing, topping the mark set by Danny Woodhead of Chadron State.

The Little All-America Team is comprised of the top players in Division II, III and NAIA.

The receivers included Central Washington’s Johnny Spevak, who had 1,442 yards and 20 touchdowns. Teammate Jared Bronson was the first-team tight end and CWU quarterback Mike Reilly was a third-team selection.

Basketball

No. 1 UConn swamps UW

Tina Charles scored 29 points on 13-for-15 shooting from the floor, leading women’s No. 1 Connecticut (8-0) to a 109-51 rout of Washington at the Caribbean Classic at Cancun, Mexico.

Sara Mosiman scored 11 points for Washington (3-4), which has lost all three of its meetings with UConn. Each time, Connecticut has been undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

•No. 5 Texas stops ASU: Kathleen Nash scored a career-high 27 points, propelling fifth-ranked Texas (10-0) to an 81-71 victory over No. 21 Arizona State (7-3) at Austin, Texas.

ASU’s Briann January (Lewis and Clark) had nine points and seven assists.

•Cardinals thwart Rebels: Earl Clark had career highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds and the No. 9 Louisville Cardinals (7-1) notched a 77-68 men’s win over the Mississippi Rebels (7-4) at Cincinnati.

•Magic retain hot hand: Jameer Nelson scored 24 points, and Dwight Howard had 13 rebounds to help the Orlando Magic (20-6) win for the seventh time in eight NBA games, 90-78 over the San Antonio Spurs at Orlando, Fla.

•Sixers lose Brand for month: Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand will be sidelined for a month because of a dislocated shoulder.

•Warriors make way for Ellis: Monta Ellis has been transferred from the suspended list to the inactive list by the Golden State Warriors, who waived second-round draft pick Richard Hendrix to make room on their roster.

Ellis was suspended for 30 games without pay after he seriously injured his left leg in an off-season crash on a motorized scooter.

Baseball

Judges ponder seizure

Federal appeals judges in Pasadena, Calif., voiced skepticism that prosecutors had the right to seize urine samples of more than 100 major league players not originally involved in the BALCO drug investigation.

In a case dealing with the government’s search-and-seizure power in the digital age, an 11-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must decide whether prosecutors legally seized the names and urine samples of 104 players during a raid in April 2004.

•Ex-Dodgers pitcher dies: Nick Willhite, 67, a left-hander whose five-year baseball career was highlighted by the shutout he threw in his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963, died of cancer Sunday in Alpine, Utah.

Hockey

Malkin adds to lead

Evgeni Malkin, the NHL leader with 53 points, had two goals and two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers 6-3 in Atlanta.

•Avs win on disputed call: Milan Hejduk was awarded the lone goal in a shootout when Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith was penalized for throwing his stick, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Lightning 2-1 at Tampa, Fla.

•Anaheim goalie returns home: Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has left the Anaheim Ducks to return home to Montreal following his father’s death.

Miscellany

Stanford, Penn St. in final

Alix Klineman had 20 kills, Cynthia Barboza added 19 and second-seeded Stanford (31-3) advanced to its third straight NCAA women’s volleyball title match with a 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory over No. 3 Texas (29-4) at Omaha, Neb.

The Cardinal will face No. 1 Penn State (37-0) in the final Saturday. Nicole Fawcett and Megan Hodge combined for 47 kills as Penn State held off No. 4 Nebraska 25-17, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 15-11. Penn State had been 111-0 in games this year until Nebraska (31-3) won the third game.

•Rested Furyk takes lead: Jim Furyk surprised himself with a 4-under-par 68 that gave him a two-shot lead after the first round of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Furyk has not played a competitive round since winning the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on Oct. 15.