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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Texas Southern women’s basketball team drops out of conference tournament following suspensions

Baylor’s Kristy Wallace attempts a shot over Brianna Taylor (20) and Imani McGee-Stafford (34) of Texas in Big 12 title game. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Texas Southern imposed its own penalty on its top-seeded women’s basketball team, withdrawing from the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament that begins Wednesday.

The move Monday night came hours before the conference handed out suspensions for 15 players involved in a bench-clearing fight between the Lady Tigers and Southern on Saturday night. It’s believed to be one of the most suspensions in NCAA women’s basketball history.

The conference announced later that seven players from Southern and eight from Texas Southern were suspended for their roles in the skirmish that resulted in the contest being ruled a double forfeit.

“After deliberate consultation and review with our conference office regarding the incident that transpired on March 7, 2015, we’ve come to the decision that our women’s basketball team will not participate in the upcoming 2015 SWAC Women’s Basketball Tournament, as we would not be able to successfully field a competitive team due to the number of suspensions,” Texas Southern director of athletics Dr. Charles McClelland said in release announcing the school’s decision.”

“After reviewing the video footage and conferring with our administration, our program made the decision to dismiss Keonia Parrish from the team based on her involvement in Saturday’s incident at Texas Southern,” Southern coach Sandy Pugh said in a statement. “We would like to reiterate that any behavior of this nature is extreme and completely beyond the boundaries of tolerable.”

Southern will face No. 7 seed Grambling on Wednesday.

UConn keeps rolling: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis led four UConn players in double figures with 23 points and the top-ranked Huskies beat South Florida (26-7) 84-70 in Uncasville, Connecticut, to win their second straight American Athletic Conference tournament.

Breanna Stewart had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (32-1), who have never lost an AAC regular-season or tournament game, and had never before won a conference game by fewer than 20 points.

Baylor wins fifth-straight Big 12: Nina Davis had 16 points with 11 rebounds and No. 5 Baylor (30-3) won its fifth straight Big 12 tournament championship with a 75-64 win over Texas (22-10) in Dallas.

Hawks soar past Kings, 130-105

NBA: Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll each scored 20 points as Atlanta bounced back from a rare loss by becoming the first NBA team to 50 wins, scoring a season high in beating visiting Sacramento 130-105.

Resting three starters, the East-leading Hawks (50-13) were beaten by the lowly 76ers over the weekend to snap a six-game winning streak. The Hawks led 76-54 at the break – their most prolific half of the season. They finished with 42 assists, an NBA season best.

Bosh visits teammates: Chris Bosh says he was never scared for his life after being told that he had blood clots on one of his lungs.

Bosh was back around his Miami team, the first time since he was diagnosed with the potentially career- and life-threatening condition. He’s been taking short walks and very short drives since being released from the hospital, and says positive thinking has helped.

Tavares nets 33rd in OT as Isles top Leafs

NHL: John Tavares scored 4:38 into overtime, capping the New York Islanders’ two-goal comeback in a 4-3 victory at Toronto.

Tavares, an Ontario native, went around several defenders to score the winning goal, his fourth OT goal, during a delayed Toronto penalty. With his 33rd goal and 39th assist, the Islanders captain stretched his lead in the NHL scoring race to three points.

U.S. advances to Algarve Cup final

MISCELLANY: Hope Solo had her second straight shutout, and the United States tied Iceland 0-0 at Lagos, Portugal, to advance to the Algarve Cup soccer final against France.

The U.S. (2-0-1) is seeking its 10th title in 22 Algarve Cups but first since 2013. Third-ranked France (3-0) beat Japan 3-1 earlier in the day and will play in the final Wednesday for the first time in six Algarve Cup appearances.

Video shows Hernandez with gun: Home surveillance video in the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez shows him holding what prosecutors say is a gun and leaving his house with two co-defendants hours before the killing.

Surveillance video shows him walking through the living room carrying a black object at about 12:45 a.m. A baby sitter testified that she didn’t see the object.

Kristoff wins Paris-Nice cycling stage: Alexander Kristoff of Norway sprinted to victory in the first stage of Paris-Nice while former world champion Tom Boonen retired with a broken collarbone. The Katusha rider edged Frenchmen Nacer Bouhanni and Bryan Coquard at the end of the 196.5-kilometer (122.1-mile) stage marred by Boonen’s crash.

• Mauresmo elected to tennis hall: Two-time major champion Amelie Mauresmo has been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was No. 1 for 39 weeks in her career, becoming the first Frenchwoman to reach the top of the computer rankings.