Sports Briefs March 26, 2012
Golf
Top-ranked Yani Tseng won the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif., on Sunday for her second straight LPGA Tour title and third in five events this year, closing with a 2-under 70 for a six-stroke victory.
The 23-year-old Taiwanese star became the second-youngest player to reach 15 LPGA Tour victories. Nancy Lopez was 22 when she reached the mark.
Tseng led wire-to-wire and finished at 14-under 274 on La Costa's Legends Course.
• Fred Couples made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Champions Tour Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier, Miss.
Couples started the day tied for the lead with Jeff Sluman, but moved ahead with a birdie on the first hole. He led the rest of the day until the 17th, when his bogey dropped him into a tie with Michael Allen.
But Couples was perfect on the final hole, hitting his drive in the middle of the fairway and then sticking the approach 8 feet from the hole.
Baseball
Chase Utley will miss the entire exhibition schedule for the second straight year and will not be in the Philadelphia Phillies' opening-day lineup due to his injured knees.
The five-time All-Star, limited to 103 games last year when he didn't play his first game until May 23, said he will not have season-ending surgery and does not have plans to retire.
NBA
Hawks 139, Jazz 133, 4 OT: Zaza Pachuila had 20 rebounds and 15 points to help host Atlanta edge Utah.
Timberwolves 117, Nuggets 100: At Minneapolis, Kevin Love followed up his 51-point game with 30 points and 21 rebounds to lead Minnesota over Denver.
Suns 108, Cavaliers 83: Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris scored 22 points apiece to lead Phoenix at Cleveland.
Celtics 88, Wizards 76: Avery Bradley scored a career-high 23 points, and Paul Pierce added 21 points and eight rebounds to help host Boston beat Washington.
Trail Blazers 90, Warriors 87: Raymond Felton scored 24 points to lead host Portland past Golden State.
Thunder 103, Heat 87: Kevin Durant had 28 points, nine rebounds to help host Oklahoma City over Miami.
Spurs 93, 76ers 76: Tony Parker scored 21 points to lead host San Antonio past Philadelphia.
Grizzlies 102, Lakers 96: Rudy Gay scored 18 points and O.J. Mayo had 12 of his 16 in the fourth quarter, and visiting Memphis beat Los Angeles.
• Denver Nuggets guard Aaron Afflalo has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for throwing an elbow to the head of Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward during Utah's 121-102 win over Denver on Friday.
NHL
Penguins 5, Devils 2: Sidney Crosby scored in his second straight game to help host Pittsburgh beat New Jersey.
Bruins 3, Ducks 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Boston got second-period goals from Zdeno Chara and Benoit Pouliot less than 1 1/2 minutes apart to beat Anaheim.
Capitals 3, Wild 0: Alex Ovechkin scored his ninth goal in seven games, and host Washington beat Minnesota.
Predators 6, Blackhawks 1: Pekka Rinne made 24 saves to lift Nashville at Chicago.
Islanders 3, Panthers 2, OT: At Sunrise, Fla., Frans Nielsen scored the only goal to lift New York past Florida.
Oilers 6, Blue Jackets 3: At Columbus, Ohio, Ryan Jones had a goal and two assists to help Edmonton beat Columbus.
Boxing
Bert Sugar, an iconic boxing writer and sports historian who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar, died in Mount Kisco, N.Y., of cardiac arrest. He was 75.
Tennis
Venus Williams erased a match point and rallied to outlast Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.
Auto racing
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won a dramatic Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia, giving the Italian team one of its more unlikely victories in its long history.
- The Associated Press