Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: Mikayla Blakes, No. 5 Vandy take down No. 4 Texas
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) celebrates after defeating Florida at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Mikayla Blakes scored 34 points for her fourth consecutive 30-point performance and Aubrey Galvan added 18 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 5 Vanderbilt to a convincing 86-70 victory over No. 4 Texas on Thursday night in Southeastern Conference play at Nashville, Tenn.
Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda had 11 points and four steals and Sacha Washington added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Commodores (24-2, 10-2 SEC). Vanderbilt shot 50.9% from the field and has won four straight contests since its first two setbacks of the campaign.
Madison Booker recorded 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Longhorns (23-3, 8-3). Breya Cunningham tallied 14 points and Jordan Lee added 11 for Texas, which had a five-game winning streak halted.
Vanderbilt sailed to a 47-30 halftime lead and led by as many as 26. The Commodores were 21 of 25 from the free-throw line — Blakes was 13 of 15 — while the Longhorns had just nine attempts, making seven.
No. 7 Michigan 80, Northwestern 58
Down by seven points in the third quarter, the Wolverines went on a 14-0 run and pulled away from the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill.
Ashley Sofilkanich scored six of her eight points in the decisive surge as Michigan (21-4, 12-2 Big Ten) bounced back from a loss to No. 2 UCLA on Sunday. The Wolverines’ Olivia Olson compiled 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Syla Swords added 16 points and Kendall Dudley scored 12.
Caroline Lau amassed 16 points and six assists for Northwestern (8-16, 2-11), which lost its sixth game in a row. Grace Sullivan also scored 16 points while Tayla Thomas had 13. The Wildcats committed 20 turnover that led to 23 points for Michigan.
No. 9 Louisville 86, Wake Forest 67
Laura Ziegler scored 13 points and Tajianna Roberts added 12 on four 3-pointers as the host Cardinals defeated the Demon Deacons in ACC play.
Elif Istanbulluoglu added 10 points for Louisville (23-4, 13-1), which led 43-18 at halftime and never trailed. Reyna Scott contributed eight points, eight assists and six rebounds as the Cardinals won for the 16th time in the past 17 games.
Grace Oliver recorded 20 points and nine rebounds for Wake Forest (13-13, 3-11), which lost for the 10th time in the past 11 games. Milan Brown and Aurora Sorbye added 12 points apiece for the Demon Deacons.
No. 10 Oklahoma 81, Florida 74
Zya Vann made four 3-pointers while recording 18 points and four steals to help the Sooners pick up the SEC victory over the Gators at Norman, Okla.
Payton Verhulst had 16 points and nine rebounds and Aaliyah Chavez registered 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals for Oklahoma (18-6, 6-5). The Sooners rallied from a 13-point, second-quarter deficit and outscored Florida 27-17 in the fourth quarter to end a two-game slide.
Liv McGill had 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Gators (15-12, 3-9), who lost for the ninth time in the past 12 games. Me’Arah O’Neal had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots and Jade Weathersby had 11 points off the bench.
No. 14 Ole Miss 80, Arkansas 57
Cotie McMahon scored 21 points as the Rebels cruised past the Razorbacks in Oxford, Miss.
Denim DeShields hit one of her four 3-pointers in the final seconds of the first quarter to put Ole Miss on top 26-16, and Arkansas never got within single digits the rest of the way. Latasha Lattimore logged 17 points and 11 rebounds, DeShields scored 12 points and Sira Thienou had 11 for the Rebels (20-5, 7-3 SEC), who recovered from a loss to then-No. 21 Alabama in their previous game.
Arkansas (11-15, 0-11) took its 12th straight loss despite getting 16 points from Taleyah Jones plus 14 points and eight rebounds from Bonnie Deas.
No. 17 TCU 83, No. 12 Baylor 67
Olivia Miles established career highs of 40 points and 10 3-pointers to fuel the Horned Frogs past the Bears in Big 12 play at Waco, Texas.
Miles had seven 3-pointers and 23 points in her team’s 25-point third quarter as TCU (22-4, 10-3) won for the fourth time in six games. Marta Suarez added 27 points and made three 3-pointers as the Horned Frogs made 15 of 29 from distance.
Taliah Scott scored 22 points as the Bears lost for just the second time in 12 games. Jana Van Gytenbeek and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 14 points apiece for Baylor (21-5, 10-3).
No. 18 Kentucky 75, Texas A&M 55
Tonie Morgan had 19 points and eight assists and Asia Boone also scored 19 points as the Wildcats knocked off the Aggies in SEC play at Lexington, Ky.
Clara Strack added 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots for Kentucky (19-7, 6-6), which prevailed for just the second time in the past seven contests. The Wildcats owned a 52-32 rebounding advantage but shot just 36.1% from the field in a contest in which they never trailed.
Ny’Ceara Pryor recorded 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals for Texas A&M (9-11, 2-9), which lost for the seventh time in its last eight games. Janae Kent had 13 points and Fatmata Janneh added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies.
No. 20 Maryland 81, Penn State 62
Yarden Garzon made five 3-pointers and scored 19 points and Oluchi Okananwa added 15 points, six assists and matched her career best of six steals as the Terrapins outclassed the Nittany Lions in Big Ten action at College Park, Md.
Addi Mack scored 13 points as Maryland (20-6, 8-6) won its third straight game. Saylor Poffenbarger had 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and Mir McLean added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Kiyomi McMiller scored 30 points for her third straight effort of 30 or more points for Penn State (8-17, 1-13). Gracie Merkle added 13 points off the bench for the Nittany Lions, who have dropped 16 of their last 18 contests.
No. 21 North Carolina 94, SMU 42
Lanie Grant scored 15 points and Indya Nivar added 14 while making all five of her shots to help the Tar Heels cruise past the Mustangs in ACC play at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Taliyah Henderson tallied 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and Laila Hull added 11 points for North Carolina (21-5, 10-3). The Tar Heels shot 57.6% from the field and held a 50-20 rebounding advantage while notching their eighth consecutive victory.
Zahra King scored 15 points for SMU (8-17, 1-12), which shot just 23.1% from the field. The Mustangs have lost six straight games, including a 59-point loss to Duke on Sunday in the first contest of the two-game North Carolina trip.
No. 22 Tennessee 98, Missouri 53
Janiah Barker registered 22 points and eight rebounds to help the Lady Volunteers roll to the easy SEC win over the Tigers at Knoxville, Tenn.
Talaysia Cooper added 17 points and four steals and Alyssa Latham had 15 points for Tennessee (16-6, 8-2), which had lost three of its previous four games. Nya Robertson scored 14 points and Deniya Prawl added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Volunteers, who held a 49-30 rebounding advantage.
Grace Slaughter scored 20 points for Missouri (16-11, 4-8), which lost two straight games and eight of its past 12. Shannon Dowell had 11 points for the Tigers, who shot 29.6% from the field and committed 21 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ilia Malinin making history with skating's first Olympic backflip in decades
Feb 10, 2026; Milan, Italy; Ilia Malinin of the United States of America competes in men’s singles short program during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images MILAN, Italy — When Ilia Malinin launched himself into a backflip at the Milan Cortina Olympics, it detonated through the crowd like a firecracker and even brought tennis great Novak Djokovic to his feet with his hands on his head in disbelief.
The 21-year-old double world champion landed the first legal Olympic backflip since American Terry Kubicka in 1976, when he helped clinch gold for the U.S. in the team event in Milan on Sunday.
The crowd will get another chance to see Malinin’s maneuver when he takes the ice for Friday’s men’s free program as the favorite for gold.
The backflip was banned for safety reasons after Kubicka did one at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics.
The maneuver became known as the “Bonaly flip” after Surya Bonaly of France famously thumbed her nose at the International Skating Union’s restrictive rules at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Bonaly had sustained a groin injury the day before the free program and knew her quest for a medal was over, and so defiantly unleashed the jump with a one-footed landing.
The ISU removed the somersault ban in June 2024, saying in their meeting agenda: “Somersault type jumps are very spectacular and nowadays it is not logical anymore to include them as illegal movements.”
AERIAL SHOWMANSHIP
Malinin, the self-named “Quad God,” has drawn global attention for his aerial showmanship. He became the first skater to land seven quadruple jumps in a program at the Grand Prix Final in December. He is also the first to land the quadruple Axel in competition, considered the toughest jump in the sport.
The backflip carries no set point value, but it can contribute to Malinin’s component score – known under the old judging system as “artistic impression”.
It also gets a bigger roar from the crowd than his more technically demanding jumps because it plays to pure spectacle in a way quads simply cannot.
“It gets that audience applause, feels really suspenseful and I really just like doing it,” Malinin said last season when he began doing the maneuver.
His programs also include one-handed cartwheels and a “raspberry twist,” another zero-points move in which his body, much like a break dancer’s, rotates in the air horizontally to the ice.
However, the young skater has so far resisted the temptation to land the first quadruple Axel on Olympic ice, saying he is choosing caution over showmanship.
“I’m hoping that I’ll feel good enough to do it (on Friday),” he told reporters on Tuesday. “But of course, I always prioritize health and safety, so I really want to put myself in the right mindset where I’ll feel really confident to go into it and not have that as something that I’m going to risk.”
Malinin takes a score of 108.16 from the short program into Friday’s free skate. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama is second on 103.07, Adam Siao Him Fa of France is third (102.55).
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
NBA suspends Suns F Dillon Brooks 1 game after 16th technical foul
Jan 2, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) reacts after being issued a technical foul during the first half against the Sacramento Kings at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images The NBA suspended Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks on Thursday for one game without pay after he received his 16th technical foul this season.
A player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game after a 16th technical foul in the regular season, per league rules. Every additional two technical fouls during that season results in the player or coach suspended without pay for another game.
Brooks, 30, was whistled for a personal foul and then a technical with 6:37 remaining in the second quarter of the Suns’ 136-109 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
He will serve the suspension after the All-Star break on Feb. 19 when Phoenix visits the San Antonio Spurs. He previously served one-game suspensions in May 2022, February 2023m, March 2023 (twice) and April 2025.
Brooks is in his first season with Phoenix and is averaging a career-high 21.2 points and career-high-tying 3.7 rebounds as well as 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 31.1 minutes in 49 games (all starts).
For his career, Brooks is averaging 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 29.6 minutes in 541 regular-season games (514 starts) for the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-23), Houston Rockets (2023-25) and Suns.
He was All-NBA Defensive second team with the Grizzlies in 2022-23.
Houston selected Brooks in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft out of Oregon and traded him the same day to Memphis for a second-round pick that became guard De’Anthony Melton.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Italy under no pressure ahead of uphill battle against US women’s hockey
Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics – Ice Hockey – Women’s Preliminary Round – Group B – Italy vs Germany – Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, Milan, Italy – February 10, 2026. Justine Reyes of Italy celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates MILAN, Italy — Italy is prepared for an uphill battle after unexpectedly reaching the women’s Olympic ice hockey quarterfinals, but go into a clash with the heavily favored United States feeling no pressure.
The underdog hosts defied the odds and the doubters by winning two games, against France and Japan, which was enough to finish third in Group B and set up Friday’s meeting with the Group A winners.
The U.S. are two-time gold medalists and strolled to top their group on maximum points, beating defending champions Canada 5-0 along the way.
Italy coach Eric Bouchard was asked how difficult it was to prepare for the task ahead.
“It’s not difficult. I mean, it’s a challenge, but it’s a great one,” Bouchard told reporters after a practice session on Thursday.
“You have the chance to face the best hockey team in the world, and there’s no pressure on our shoulders right now. The only thing we can do is just go out there and perform,” he said.
“They might have a lot of talent, they have depth, but there’s something we control, and that’s the work ethic and the willingness to leave everything we have out there. That doesn’t require talent, and I think that’s the focus we have right now.”
Bouchard praised his players’ attitude in the days leading up to the game.
“They’re dialed in, honestly, this was our best practice so far,” he said.
“They were focused, they were on task, they wanted to prepare for tomorrow. They know it’s a huge challenge, but everybody’s excited.
“We’re playing for our country, and we want to make sure we play with pride for everyone who’s going to be watching out there.”
Italy was never supposed to make it this far, and goes into what most believe will definitely be its final contest of the Milan Cortina Games knowing that it will take something extraordinary in order to survive.
“We knew that we were coming in as the underdogs, the lowest-ranked team, but we also believed in ourselves,” Italy defender Jacquie Pierri said.
“It’s really cool to be here now a week later with what we’ve accomplished. And the next challenge we have tomorrow, we know we’re facing a huge uphill battle.
“Anything can happen on any given day,” Pierri said, “and we’re going to try our best to take advantage of whatever luck we get and make it as hard for them as possible, physically and mentally.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Ilia Malinin making history with skating's first Olympic backflip in decades
NBA suspends Suns F Dillon Brooks 1 game after 16th technical foul
