Sports Briefs April 4, 2011
Stacy Lewis held off defending champion Yani Tseng to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship by three strokes Sunday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., earning her first LPGA Tour title in the year's first major.
Lewis shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 13-under 275, rallying from an early two-stroke deficit while going head-to-head with the world's top-ranked player.
• Phil Mickelson outdueled Scott Verplank to win the PGA Houston Open in Humble, Texas, his first victory since last year's Masters.
The win moved Mickelson's world ranking to No. 3, while Tiger Woods dropped to No. 7.
Mickelson shot a 65 in the final round to finish 20-under par, three ahead of Verplank (68) and second-round leader Chris Kirk (67).
• Tom Lehman held off Jeff Sluman and Nick Price for his second Champions Tour victory of the season with a final-round 69 at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic at Fallen Oak in Saucier, Miss.
Basketball
The University of Utah hired New Jersey Nets assistant Larry Krystkowiak as their coach, picking him to lead the Utes into the Pac-12 Conference.
The move came three weeks after athletic director Chris Hill fired Jim Boylen following consecutive losing seasons. Krystkowiak, a former Montana standout, will be introduced today.
Krystkowiak played for the Jazz in 1992-93 as part of nine injury-plagued NBA seasons after being drafted in the second round (28th overall) in 1986 by the Chicago Bulls.
Spurs 114, Suns 97: George Hill scored 29 points and host San Antonio stopped the longest skid of Tim Duncan's 14-year career, beating Phoenix to end a six-game losing streak.
Nuggets 95, Lakers 90: Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points and visiting Denver posted its sixth straight win, beating Los Angeles.
Celtics 101, Pistons 90: Kevin Garnett scored 23 points to lead host Boston over Detroit.
Heat 108, Nets 94: At Newark, N.J., LeBron James had 31 points and 11 rebounds and Miami beat New Jersey.
Raptors 102, Magic 98: DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points to help host Toronto over Orlando.
Knicks 123, Cavaliers 107: Amare Stoudemire scored 28 points to lead host New York past Cleveland.
Wizards 97, Bobcats 91: Andray Blatche had 25 points and visiting Washington beat Charlotte.
Kings 106, Jazz 97: Tyreke Evans had 24 points to help lift host Sacramento over New Orleans.
Rockets 114, Hawks 109: Kevin Martin scored 35 points to help host Houston past Atlanta.
Hornets 108, Pacers 96: Trevor Ariza scored 19 points to help host New Orleans over Indiana.
Trail Blazers 104, Mavericks 96: Gerald Wallace scored 19 points and host Portland beat road-weary Dallas.
Sabres 2, Hurricanes 1, OT: Marc-Andre Gragnani scored in overtime to lift the Buffalo over Carolina in Raleigh, N.C.
Blues 6, Blue Jackets 1: Patrik Berglund scored twice to lead visiting St. Louis past Columbus.
Red Wings 4, Wild 2: Jimmy Howard made 27 saves, helping host Detroit beat Minnesota.
Rangers 3, Flyers 2 SO: Wojtek Wolski's shootout goal lifted visiting New York over Philadelphia.
Lightning 2, Blackhawks 0: Backup Mike Smith made 31 saves in visiting Tampa Bay's win over Chicago.
Flames 2, Avalanche 1: At Denver, Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 34 shots and Calgary beat Colorado.
Stars 4, Ducks 3: At Anaheim, Calif., Mike Ribeiro scored twice to help Dallas past Anaheim.
Tennis
Novak Djokovic won his fourth consecutive tournament, beating top-ranked Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in a grueling final at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.
Skiing
Colby Granstrom broke up Tommy Ford's monopoly at U.S. championships, winning the slalom in Winter Park, Colo.
- The Associated Press