Briefs for print
Women’s field hockey
Savannah Elpers’ unassisted goal in overtime gave Centre a 3-2 victory over Washington & Jefferson in the first round of the NCAA Division III women’s field hockey tournament Wednesday afternoon in Danville, Ky.
W&J concludes its season with a 13-5 record.
The game-winning score came just four minutes into overtime as the shot found room just inside the near post.
The Presidents had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but the Colonels battled back and forced overtime after Brookly Bell scored almost 47 minutes into the match.
Alana Boyd gave W&J a the 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal in the 11th minute. After a 1-1 tie at halftime, the Presidents regained the lead in the 45th minute, when Rachel sent a pass off a penalty corner to Gabby Karr at the top of the circle. Karr passed inside to Clair Shaak, put the ball past the goalkeeper.
Centre (16-4) scored the tying goal less than two minutes later.
“I’m really proud of this group,” W&J coach Jamara Coghlan said. “This was going to be a rebuilding year because of all the firepower we lost from last season. This group earned everything this year. They worked really hard and we had some amazing leadership from our senior class.”
Riske playing in Fed Cup final
Sloane Stephens is back in the United States team for the Fed Cup final, and Victoria Azarenka is missing for Belarus.
That alone gives the early advantage to the Americans.
Stephens, who won the U.S. Open this year for her first major title, missed the opening two rounds of the international team competition because of a foot injury. But she is back and will be playing alongside CoCo Vandeweghe, Shelby Rogers and Peters Township native Alison Riske in the best-of-five series this weekend in Minsk.
“I’m happy to be back playing and happy the team made the finals,” the 13th-ranked Stephens said Wednesday. “It’s awesome I can be on this team.”
The United States is looking to win the Fed Cup for the first time in 17 years, while Belarus is playing in the final for the first time.
In the NBA
Tobias Harris scored 23 points and the first-place Detroit Pistons won for the sixth time in seven games, beating the Indiana Pacers 114-97 Wednesday night.
• Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points and Evan Fournier added 23 to help Orlando beat New York.
Jonathon Simmons scored 15 of his 16 points in the second half. He had 11 straight points early in the fourth quarter to push the Magic’s lead back to double figures.