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Mystics' hopes hinge on clash with first-place Liberty

WNBA: New York Liberty at Los Angeles SparksAug 15, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) shoots the ball against LA Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon (25) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In Tuesday’s penultimate regular-season game for both teams, the Washington Mystics are trying to hang on to the final WNBA playoff spot as the visiting New York Liberty close in on the No. 1 seed.

Washington (13-25) started the season 0-12 but has rallied to a three-way tie with the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream for the final playoff spot. At least one team will drop from that No. 8 spot Tuesday since the Sky and Dream face each other at Atlanta.

First-place New York (31-7) holds a two-game lead over the second-place Minnesota Lynx, with two games remaining for each team. Red-hot Minnesota holds the tiebreaker over New York and is set to play at third-place Connecticut on Tuesday.

Washington narrowly missed a chance to enhance its playoff chances with a 76-73 overtime home loss to Atlanta on Sunday. The Mystics’ Ariel Atkins scored 16 points, but Washington went cold after drawing a 73-70 lead early in the extra period.

Atkins and Brittney Sykes each missed potential game-tying 3-point tries in the final 34 seconds as Washington failed to gain an upper hand on the final playoff spot.

Before the loss, Washington coach Eric Thibault announced that the Mystics would be without starting center Shakira Austin for the remainder of the season. Austin averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds, but only played in 12 games (11 starts) due to hip and ankle injuries.

“Along with medical staff consulting with Shakira, we’ve made the decision to shut her down for the remainder of the season,” Thibault said. “She just needs time to rehab and strengthen that ankle and surrounding area.”

New York comes in off an 88-79 home loss to the Lynx. Breanna Stewart had 38 points and 18 rebounds, but Minnesota shot 53.0 percent to keep alive its slim hopes of the top playoff seed.

“We didn’t come out with the urgency that I would have liked or would have expected,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “The only great thing about it is that hopefully, we meet them again, and it should be fresh, and we can learn a lot from that.”

–Field Level Media

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No. 7 Florida drubs No. 20 Arkansas, wins SEC regular-season title

Syndication: Gainesville SunFlorida forward Alex Condon (21) drives on Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile (7) during the first half of an NCAA basketball game at Steven C. O’Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, February 28, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]

Thomas Haugh scored 22 points, Ruben Chinyelu had 12 points and 16 rebounds for his 17th double-double, and No. 7 Florida clinched the Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a 111-77 rout of No. 20 Arkansas in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.

Alex Condon scored 17 points, Urban Klavzar and Boogie Fland scored 14 apiece and Xaivian Lee added 13 as the Gators (23-6, 14-2 SEC) placed seven players in double figures in their highest scoring game of the season.

The defending champion Gators lead second-place No. 17 Alabama (22-7, 12-4) by two games with two games left, and they own the tiebreaker after a 100-79 victory in their lone regular-season meeting.

Florida has won a season-high nine in a row — eight by at least 13 points — and is a projected No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Billy Richmond scored 22 points and Darius Acuff Jr. added 17 for the Razorbacks (21-8, 11-5), who had won five of six. They are a projected No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Acuff, the SEC’s leading scorer at 22.2 points per game, had a streak of nine straight 20-point games broken. He was 6 of 19 from the field.

Florida led by at least 24 in the final 15 minutes and stretched its advantage to 37 on Condon’s layup in the final three minutes.

The Gators secured their first regular-season title since 2013-14, when they also won the SEC tournament.

Florida shot 56.5% from the field and had a 51-31 rebounding advantage. Condon had six rebounds and Haugh had five. The Gators led the nation with a plus-14.1 rebound margin.

The Razorbacks shot 40.0% from the field.

Florida coach Todd Golden and Arkansas coach John Calipari were hit with double technical fouls with 17:27 left with the Gators holding a 23-point lead.

Klavzar kickstarted the Gators with two 3-pointers and Condon added a dunk in a 12-0 run to give Florida a 23-16 lead nine minutes in.

Lee made three layups later in the first half and Isaiah Brown (11 points) hit two 3-pointers and a transition dunk to push the Gators’ lead to 51-27 with 2:33 left in the first half.

Florida led 53-34 at half, when it totaled 32 points in the paint.

–Field Level Media

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Thomas Muller's first-half brace leads Vancouver to rout of Toronto

MLS: Toronto FC at Vancouver Whitecaps FCFeb 28, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Thomas Muller (13) celebrates scoring on a corner kick from midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (16) (not pictured) against Toronto FC goalkeeper Luka Gavran (1) during the first half at BC Place. Mandatory Credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images

Thomas Muller scored a first-half brace, leading the Whitecaps to a 3-0 victory over visiting Toronto FC on Saturday night in Vancouver.

Brian White also scored a first-half goal, while keeper Yohei Takaoka made three saves for his second consecutive clean sheet to open the MLS season.

With the victory, Vancouver (2-0-0, 6 points) improved to 4-0-1 in its last five regular-season matches against Toronto.

The Reds (0-2-0, 0 points) are now 6-9-4 in 19 MLS meetings against their Western Canadian rivals.

Trailing 3-0, Toronto had an excellent chance to cut into the lead early in the second half. Djordje Mihailovic thought he’d put Toronto on the board in the 55th minute, but the midfielder was caught offside.

Then in the 74th minute, Takaoka made a diving save off Toronto midfielder Jose Cifuentes – the Reds’ first shot on target of the match.

Vancouver controlled possession in the first half with five shots on target.

Aziel Jackson was awarded a penalty kick after being taken down in the area by Walker Zimmerman in the 24th minute. On the ensuing penalty kick, Muller opened the scoring, putting his right-footed strike in the bottom-left corner past Luka Gavran.

Muller added his second of the half 12 minutes later as Sebastian Berhalter’s corner was headed across to Muller by Mathias Laborda, and the German midfielder ripped his left-footed shot into an open goal.

In first-half stoppage time, off another Berhalter corner, Gavran was caught out of position, allowing White to score on a right-footed strike.

Up next, Vancouver travels to Portland for its first away match of the season next Saturday. Toronto visits Cincinnati next Sunday to wrap up a three-game road trip to open the season.

–Field Level Media

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Pelicans close 1st half strong to beat Jazz for 4th straight win

NBA: New Orleans Pelicans at Utah JazzFeb 28, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (2) dunks the ball during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Saddiq Bey scored 24 points and the visiting New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Utah Jazz for the second time in three nights on Saturday, 115-105.

Bey, who scored a season-high 42 points in the Pelicans’ 129-118 victory Thursday night, was joined in double figures by rookie Jeremiah Fears (18), who added a season-high 11 rebounds, Bryce McGowens (18), Herb Jones (17), and Jordan Poole (11) as New Orleans won its fourth consecutive game.

Leading scorer Trey Murphy III missed his fifth consecutive game because of a right shoulder contusion, and second-leading scorer Zion Williamson had just four points in 11 minutes before leaving the game with a right ankle injury.

New Orleans still had plenty of firepower, leading by as many as 27 points just as it did two nights earlier.

Isaiah Collier scored 21, Keyonte George (ankle) returned from a six-game absence to score 17, Elijah Harkless added 14, Ace Bailey had 13, Kyle Filipowski had 12 and Brice Sensabaugh 10 to lead the Jazz, who lost their fifth straight game.

The Pelicans pushed their 25-point halftime to 27 with 3:57 left in the third quarter, but the Jazz climbed within 89-73 at the end of the period. Utah got as close as seven points early in the fourth quarter, but New Orleans scored the next eight points and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

The Pelicans scored the first nine points of the game as the Jazz went nearly five minutes before making their first field goal. Utah pulled even at 17 and 19 before New Orleans held a 27-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Yves Missi, returning from a five-game absence due to a calf strain, made a dunk to start the second-quarter scoring and Poole followed with a 3-pointer to expand the lead to 10 points.

Jones made two 3-pointers and Bey had five points during a 15-0 run that completed a 20-2 surge, giving New Orleans a 65-40 halftime lead. The Jazz didn’t make a field goal in the final 4:55.

–Field Level Media

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