In brief: Williams wins in straight sets at Aussie Open
Tennis: Venus Williams won her second-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne early today, beating Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-2, 7-5.
Williams fell behind 2-0 in the second set before pulling even at 3-3 and then trading breaks again. Williams broke Bammer’s serve in the final game of the match, which was the first half of a Williams family doubleheader at Hisense Arena, the tournament’s second show court.
Defending champion Serena Williams was playing the next match against Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic.
In men’s action, third-seeded Novak Djokovic took a while to get untracked but won his second-round match, beating Marco Chiudinelli 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
The Serbian player was outclassed by Chiudinelli, the No. 3 Swiss player behind Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, in the opening set before dominating the next three to advance.
Djokovic will next play Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, who beat Michael Berrer of Germany 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
N.C. State upsets 7th-ranked Duke
College basketball: Tracy Smith scored 23 points, Dennis Horner added 20 and North Carolina State (13-6, 2-3 ACC) rolled to an 88-74 upset victory over No. 7 Duke (15-3, 3-2) in Raleigh, N.C.
•Georgetown cools off Pittsburgh: Chris Wright scored 27 points and No. 12 Georgetown (14-3, 5-2 Big East) held No. 9 Pittsburgh (15-3, 5-1) scoreless for four minutes while taking control with a late 9-0 run and the Hoyas ended the Panthers’ eight-game winning streak with a 74-66 victory in Pittsburgh.
•UTEP snaps Memphis’ conference streak: Jeremy Williams scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and UTEP (12-5, 3-1) beat Memphis (13-5, 3-1) 72-67 in Memphis, Tenn., ending the Tigers’ Conference USA winning streak at 64 straight.
•Georgia Southern on probation: The NCAA placed the Georgia Southern men’s basketball program on probation for two years after finding major academic violations.
•No timetable for Calhoun’s return: Connecticut men’s coach Jim Calhoun’s medical condition is not career threatening, according to Huskies athletic director Jeff Hathaway, but there is no timetable for the coach’s return.
Hathaway would not say what is ailing Calhoun, 67, but said it has nothing to do with his previous bouts with cancer and is not related to his heart.
Blazers win game, but lose Roy
NBA: Former 76ers guard Andre Miller scored 24 points and Jerryd Bayless had 14 of his 18 in the fourth quarter, leading the visiting Portland Trail Blazers to a 98-90 victory over Philadelphia.
Portland played the second half without two-time All-Star guard Brandon Roy, who left with a strained right hamstring.
•Mavericks masters of one-point wins: Shawn Marion blocked Caron Butler’s jump shot with 1.9 seconds to play, and the visiting Dallas Mavericks beat the Washington Wizards, 94-93.
Dallas extended its streak of victories in one-point games to nine, tied for second longest in NBA history.
Spurs can’t solve Jazz: Carlos Boozer had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and the visiting Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs for the fourth time this season, 105-98.
The Jazz hadn’t won in San Antonio in a decade entering this season.
Leach’s lawsuit can go forward
Football: A judge ruled that fired Texas Tech coach Mike Leach’s lawsuit against the university can go forward but not as quickly as his attorneys wanted.
State District Judge William Sowder denied a motion by Leach’s attorneys to speed up taking depositions from school administrators and obtaining documents relevant to the case.
•Browns add Gilbertson: New Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert has hired Keith Gilbertson as director of pro personnel.
Gilberston, formerly head coach at Idaho and Washington, spent four seasons in multiple capacities with the Seattle Seahawks, where he worked with new Cleveland president Mike Holmgren.
•Dolphins’ stadium gets new name: Beginning this week, the Miami Dolphins’ home is Sun Life Stadium.
A five-year naming rights agreement with Toronto-based Sun Life Financial was confirmed.
Vancouver will truck in snow at Cypress
Olympics: Olympic organizers plan to truck in snow for the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events at Cypress Mountain.
The forecast for the week ahead suggests there will be no new snow for the mountain on Vancouver’s north shore.
•Lenders threaten ski resort auction: The Whistler ski resort, home to next month’s Olympic downhill, could be auctioned off in the middle of the games after creditors moved to auction off the assets of Intrawest LLC.
Hurler Pineiro, Angels agree to contract
Miscellany: Right-hander Joel Pineiro agreed to a $16 million, two-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels, a person familiar with the negotiations told the AP. The deal is subject to a physical.
•Plushenko on top: Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia won the short program at the European skating championships in Tallinn, Estonia, despite a three-year layoff.
Plushenko scored 91.30 points, beating the world record he set at the Turin Games.
•New Orleans pulls out of Sun Belt: The University of New Orleans will end its affiliation with the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, part of a move from NCAA Division I to Division III.