In brief: Rookie helps rally Rangers over Coyotes

NHL: Rangers rookie Derek Stepan scored the tying goal late in regulation and Erik Christensen netted the only goal in the shootout as New York rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night in New York.
Martin Biron turned aside Lee Stempniak, Radim Vrbata and Eric Belanger in the shootout to make Christensen’s first-round tally stand up.
Jason LaBarbera, a late fill-in for Phoenix, was in line for his third straight win before Stepan tied it with 5:43 left in regulation.
• Ward helps Carolina over Atlanta: Cam Ward stopped 45 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes earned their second straight comeback win, beating the Thrashers 3-2 on Sergei Samsonov’s decisive shot in the third round of a shootout in Atlanta.
The Hurricanes played from behind after trailing 2-0 before third-period goals from Brandon Sutter and Eric Staal.
Memphis avoids upset to Austin Peay
Men’s basketball: Chris Crawford scored six of his 18 points in overtime, Charles Carmouche had 16 points and keyed a second-half rally and No. 18 Memphis beat Austin Peay 70-68 in Memphis, Tenn.
Austin Peay had the ball out of bounds with .7 seconds left in overtime but couldn’t get off a shot, although the Governors’ bench was calling for a foul on the play.
Celtics top Hawks to extend streak
NBA: Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 13 rebounds – one of three Boston players with a double-double – to lead the Celtics to their 12th straight win, 102-90 over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
Paul Pierce had 15 points and 10 assists and Glen Davis had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ray Allen scored 18 points and Nate Robinson had 14 for the Celtics.
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo will miss a couple of weeks with a sprained left ankle. He was injured in a game on Wednesday.
• More bad news for Yao, Rockets: Yao Ming has a stress fracture in his left ankle and the Houston Rockets said there is no timetable for the return of the 7-foot-6 center whose career may be in jeopardy after a series of injuries.
Yao has been out since Nov. 10 with what had been called a bone bruise in the same ankle. An MRI revealed the stress fracture.
• Bulls’ Noah sidelined: Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah will miss the next eight to 10 weeks after having surgery on his right hand to repair a torn ligament.
Penn State, California advance to finals
Women’s volleyball: Three-time defending national champion Penn State (31-5) advanced to the NCAA volleyball national title game, sweeping Texas in the semifinals.
Blair Brown had 12 kills, Deja McClendon 11 and Ariel Scott 10 in Penn State’s 25-13, 25-13, 25-22 victory.
Penn State will face California (30-3) on Saturday night in the championship match. The Golden Bears beat Southern California 25-14, 25-17, 25-20, with All-American Tarah Murrey pounding 23 kills.
LSU cuts recruiting visits, scholarships
College football: LSU will take away two football scholarships and limit recruiting visits in hopes the NCAA will accept the self-imposed discipline as its mandated punishment for rules violations discovered by the school in 2009.
“LSU took quick and thorough action when we discovered these violations and we are hopeful the NCAA will ultimately agree with our assessment of this case,” LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said.
• Paralyzed LeGrand has sensation in hands: Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, paralyzed from the neck down, has some sensation in his hands.
Rutgers spokesman Jason Baum said that the family confirmed the sensation in LeGrand’s hands, adding nothing else has changed.
The update came the same day the junior defensive tackle won the 2010 Discover Orange Bowl Courage Award.
Lochte proves no need for bodysuit
Swimming: Ryan Lochte snapped swimming’s world record drought, setting the first individual mark since high-tech bodysuits were outlawed at the start of the year. The American won the 400-meter individual medley at the short-course world championships at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 3 minutes, 55.50 seconds, smashing the previous record set by Laszlo Cseh of Hungary by nearly 2 seconds.