BASKETBALL

Connecticut’s Ogwumike is WNBA rookie of the year

Connecticut forward Chiney Ogwumike is the WNBA rookie of the year, joining her sister Nneka, who won in 2012, as the first set of siblings to earn the honor.

Ogwumike, the No. 1 pick in the draft last April, averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Sun this season.

She received 23 votes from a national panel of 38 sportswriters and broadcasters. Tulsa’s Odyssey Sims finished second with 12 votes.

SOCCER

Advertisement

U.S. NATIONAL TEAM: Coach Jurgen Klinsmann selected 10 players from this year’s World Cup team to play the Czech Republic next Wednesday.

Such stars as Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley are not on the roster as Klinsmann will bring a mixture of youngsters and veterans to Prague for the team’s first game since losing 2-1 to Belgium in the second round of the World Cup.

Players who represented the United States in Brazil and were chosen Thursday are goalkeepers Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando; defenders John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, Tim Chandler and Fabian Johnson; midfielders Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud and Julian Green; and forward Jozy Altidore.

FIFA: Michel Platini will not challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency.

Iceland football association president Geir Thorsteinsson said Platini, the UEFA president, told officials at a closed-door UEFA meeting that he will not be a candidate in FIFA’s election in May.

• Platini also said Europe proved “it’s the leader” with Germany’s World Cup victory and that he will ask FIFA to give Europe another team at the next World Cup.

Advertisement

• The Russian Football Union says it will attend UEFA and FIFA-mediated talks next month to resolve a dispute with Ukraine over the clubs in Crimea.

Three clubs from Crimea, a region in Ukraine annexed by Russia in March, debuted in Russian league and cup competitions this month, but UEFA has refused to recognize any matches they play.

AFRICAN CUP: Despite a deadly Ebola outbreak in a fifth country, the Confederation of African Football said qualifiers for the continent’s top tournament will go ahead as planned next month, sweeping aside protests from a number of fearful teams.

CAF’s decision that there would be no more venue changes forces the Cameroon and Republic of Congo squads to travel to countries where people have died from the virus, and compels Ivory Coast – with big names like Manchester City’s Yaya Toure – to host players and officials from Ebola-affected Sierra Leone.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Alejandro Valverde of Spain surged forward to win the sixth stage and take the overall lead.

Advertisement

The 31-year-old Movistar rider climbed to the finish line at La Zubia in 4 hours, 35 minutes, 27 seconds, just ahead of Christopher Froome of Britain and Spain’s Alberto Contador.

Valverde took the overall lead on 22 hours, 48 minutes, 8 seconds, ahead of Nairo Quintana of Colombia who is 15 seconds behind and Contador who is 18 seconds back.

COLLEGES

BASKETBALL: Boston Celtics forward Jeff Green is donating $1 million to Georgetown’s new athletic center, a project that will be completely supported through philanthropy.

Green helped lead Georgetown to the Final Four in 2007 and was the No. 5 overall pick in the NBA draft that year.

– From staff and news services


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.