Sports
Redemption: Austria's Janine Flock wins women’s skeleton singles
Feb 14, 2014; Krasnaya Polyana, RUSSIA; Janine Flock (AUT) competes in women’s skeleton during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Sanki Sliding Center. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Austria’s Janine Flock finally erased her Pyeongchang pain on Saturday when, at the age of 36, she won the Olympic women’s skeleton singles with a performance of masterful consistency and iron nerve.
Flock, who led going into the final run eight years ago but slipped to fourth to miss a medal by two hundredths of a second, made no mistake this time to win a first women’s skeleton medal for her country.
Germany’s Olympic debutant Susanne Kreher took silver, three-tenths adrift but ahead of compatriot Jacqueline Pfeifer, who added bronze to her silver from 2018.
Another German, Hannah Neise, who won gold in Beijing as a 21-year-old, finished fourth.
Flock is the country’s second skeleton medalist after Martin Rettl took a men’s silver in 2002. She is also the oldest winner of the women’s event that joined the Games in the same year.
“I stayed with myself the whole time. I felt incredibly comfortable from the very beginning and never doubted that I could win here,” said Flock, who either side of Pyeongchang 2018 finished ninth and 10th in Sochi and Beijing, respectively.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to cross the finish line, to hear the cheering, to see the red white red flags and to be able to embrace all the team members and my family.
“I couldn’t tell what my time was (on the final run). I just knew I put down four really consistent runs and hoped that it was enough.”
FLOCK ENJOYS DREAM START
Flock had a dream start to the night as she went out first on the third run and posted the same time as on her second on Friday – 57.26 seconds – marginally behind the track record set on her first run and a level of consistency nobody could match.
She then sat back and watched the three Germans who had been breathing down her neck overnight all lose ground with scruffy third runs and suddenly she had a 0.21 cushion over Kreher, with Pfeifer and Neise looking out of the fight for gold.
Flock could have been forgiven for being nervous as she contemplated her final run. In Pyeongchang, she somehow found herself leading despite not managing a top-two finish in any of her three runs.
She had a scratchy run then, slipping agonizingly to fourth, but now, a more mature athlete with three overall World Cup titles to her name, she was bang on the money with a 57.28 – making all four runs within six hundredths of a second of each other.
Her times were all the more impressive given her shocking starts, where she was regularly among the very worst of the 25-woman field this week but routinely made up the time with her calm, smooth negotiation of the technically challenging upper half of the new Cortina course.
Overall World Cup champion Kim Meylemans of Belgium had a disappointing week, finishing sixth, but might perhaps find some Valentine’s Day comfort from her wife, Nicole Silveira, who came in 11th representing Brazil in a rare example of a married couple competing against each other at the Olympics.
The skeleton programme comes to a close on Sunday with the first Olympic outing for the two-person, mixed team relay, where Germany and Britain, boasting newly crowned men’s singles champion Matt Weston, will expect to battle it out for gold.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
Seton Hall looks to regain ground in rematch vs. Butler
Feb 11, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Seton Hall Pirates guard Adam Clark (0) drives to the basket in the second half against the Providence Friars at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Shaheen Holloway’s makeover of Seton Hall after a dismal 7-25 season has been an unquestioned success. The Pirates rolled to a 14-2 start and achieved a Top 25 ranking for the first time since 2022.
Since then, however, the Pirates (17-8, 7-7 Big East) have labored. They’ve fallen to No. 53 in the NET Rankings and seen their hopes fade for an NCAA Tournament berth.
In the midst of playing four straight games against teams in the bottom six of the Big East, Seton Hall has a chance to put together a late resume-building winning streak.
Next up is a matchup with struggling Butler (13-12, 4-10) on Sunday in Indianapolis.
It is a chance for the Pirates to avenge perhaps their worst loss this season, 77-66, at home four weeks ago as they surrendered 25 points to Finley Bizjack.
That defeat came amid a four-game losing streak. Since then, Seton Hall has won three of five behind Adam Clark. During the run, Clark has averaged 22.4 points and 5.0 assists per game.
His best performance of the year came Wednesday in an 87-80 victory at home over Providence, as he scored 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting and delivered eight assists and five steals.
“Just being more confident, being more efficient,” Clark said. “Just trying to find ways to win.”
While Seton Hall has found a second gear, Butler has been riddled by injuries and lost five straight, each by double-digit margins.
In an 80-70 defeat Wednesday at home against No. 6 UConn, the Bulldogs’ two most productive players were ineffective.
Bizjack took just six shots from the floor and scored a season-low five points. Meanwhile, Big East rebounding leader Michael Ajayi provided seven points and a season-low five rebounds.
After suffering an apparent arm injury late in the game, Bizjack’s status is uncertain, though Friday on 107.5 The Fan, coach Thad Matta ruled out a broken wrist.
“We’ll go with what we got, which is nine guys right now. The other night against UConn, I think we used six different guys at the point guard position,” Matta said. “We’ve got to be creative.”
Seton Hall lost the first meeting with Butler despite a 45-27 edge on the boards, led by Najai Hines (11 points, 16 rebounds).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Micah Robinson hits game-winning layup, TCU sinks Oklahoma State in OT
Feb 14, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; TCU Horned Frogs guard Brock Harding (2) guards the ball during the first half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Micah Robinson scored a game-winning layup with 18 seconds left in overtime, as TCU held off Oklahoma State 95-92 in a Big 12 game Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
David Punch led the Horned Frogs (16-9, 6-6) with 19 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 27 seconds left in overtime.
Parsa Fallah led the Cowboys (16-9, 4-8) with 27 points and six rebounds in the battle of two NCAA Tournament bubble teams.
The Cowboys trailed through the whole second half, but Fallah was able to tie it at the buzzer and force overtime.
Liutauras Lelevicius made one of two free throws with six seconds left to give TCU an 84-82 lead.
Jaylen Curry took a 31-foot shot that missed the rim, but rebounded right to Fallah, who went straight back up for the layup as the horn sounded.
Anthony Roy had 16 points for the Cowboys; Kayne Clary had 13 points and nine assists before fouling out in the closing minute of regulation.
Jayden Pierre also had 16 points and six rebounds for TCU.
The Horned Frogs led by as many as nine in the first half, but Fallah completed a three-point play with 50 seconds left to cut the lead to five at halftime.
TCU led 22-13 with 12:48 left but went scoreless for more than three minutes and didn’t hit a field goal for nearly five minutes as the Cowboys climbed back within three.
The Horned Frogs only shot 35.3% from the floor (12-of-34), but they were 7-for-13 from beyond the 3-point line to build the lead.
Five different players nailed 3-pointers for TCU, led by two each from Pierre, who led the Horned Frogs with eight first-half points, and Brock Harding.
Fallah led the Cowboys with 11 points, hitting 4-for-5 shots from the floor.
The Cowboys made 40% of their field goals (12-of-30) in the first half.
Punch only had two points in the first half and left the game with 4:54 left in the half when he took an inadvertent shot to the face from Fallah on a loose ball. He returned in the final minute of the first half.
Roy hit a 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the half to cut the TCU lead to 36-31, but Harding answered with a 3-pointer to give TCU an eight-point lead in the final two minutes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 2 Michigan blows out UCLA in second half
Feb 14, 2026; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) is defended by Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara (15) in the second half at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Yaxel Lendeborg had 17 points and eight rebounds as No. 2 Michigan ran away in the second half to earn an 86-56 Big Ten win over UCLA on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Michigan (24-1, 14-1), which led 40-38 at halftime, maintained a two-game lead in the conference standings and figures to be the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 2013 when the Associated Press poll comes out Monday as Arizona lost to Kansas earlier this week.
Morez Johnson Jr. posted 15 points, L.J. Cason scored 13 points, Nimari Burnett had 12 points and UCLA transfer Aday Mara added nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Michigan, which never trailed while winning its 10th in a row.
Trent Pery scored 14 points while Donovan Dent and Tyler Bilodeau each added 10 points for UCLA (17-8, 9-5), which had won five of its last six. Senior guard Skyy Clark, who had been out since Jan. 3 with a hamstring injury, contributed eight points in 16 minutes off the bench.
Leading 43-40 early in the second half, Michigan went on a 13-4 spurt to take a 56-44 lead with 13:22 remaining in the game after layup by Trey McKenney.
Michigan continued to grow its lead as Cason scored five points in a 9-0 run to seize a 68-47 lead with 8:17 to play.
During that Michigan spree, UCLA went nearly six minutes without a field goal and 4:06 without scoring.
UCLA had a brief flurry to cut Michigan’s lead to 70-54 with 6:34 left after a 3-pointer by Clark. But Michigan answered with six straight points – highlighted by Mara’s reverse alley-oop dunk of an Elliot Cadeau lob — to take a 76-54 lead with 5:09 remaining and all but put the game away.
Michigan got off to a strong start, taking a 22-12 lead on Cason’s deep 3-pointer with 10:54 remaining in the first half.
Michigan held a 39-28 lead with 2:39 to go until halftime, but UCLA ended the half on a 10-1 run to make it 40-38 Michigan at intermission. Bilodeau started the spree with a 3-pointer and a layup.
–Field Level Media
Seton Hall looks to regain ground in rematch vs. Butler
Micah Robinson hits game-winning layup, TCU sinks Oklahoma State in OT
