The Kansas City Current acquired forward Penelope Hocking from Bay FC on Wednesday.

The Current sent $350,000 in intra-league transfer funds to complete the deal for Hocking, 26.

“We are very excited to welcome Penelope to Kansas City,” general manager Ryan Dell said in a statement. “Penelope’s aptitude for scoring goals from anywhere on the field, combined with her ability to create chances for those around her, will only strengthen our attack. Above all, she is a great person and teammate who will positively impact our club on and off the pitch.”

Hocking recorded a team-high six goals and one assist in 18 regular-season matches (10 starts) last season with Bay FC. She scored seven goals with the Chicago Red Stars from 2023-24.

“I’m extremely excited to be joining the Kansas City Current,” Hocking, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, said in the team’s news release. “This is a club with high expectations and high standards, and I’m excited to bring my energy, compete every day and help the team win trophies.”

–Field Level Media

CHARLOTTE — Quadir Copeland collected 24 points and eight assists in North Carolina State’s 98-88 victory over Pitt in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

Ven-Allen Lubin racked up 18 points, Paul McNeil Jr. had 15, Tre Holloman notched 14 and Darrion Williams and Matt Able both scored 12 as the Wolfpack shot 60.8% from the field. NC State made 13 of 23 shots from 3-point range.

Seventh-seeded NC State (20-12), which won for only the second time in eight games, will meet No. 10-ranked and second-seeded Virginia in Thursday’s first quarterfinal.

Cameron Corhen poured in 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting for No. 15 seed Pitt (13-20), which had won four of its previous six games. Nojus Indrusaitis, who hit five 3-point shots, and Omari Witherspoon each scored 19 points and Barry Dunning Jr. added 11 points, but the Panthers’ 57.1% shooting wasn’t enough.

The Wolfpack scored 22 of the first 30 points of the second half to create a 73-58 lead on a Pitt team that pulled off an upset of Stanford a day earlier on a last-second shot off a rebound.

Pitt used an 11-3 run to close the gap and later trailed 78-72 with more than 10 minutes to play before Terrance Arceneaux’s 3-point shot resulted in his only basket of the game.

By the game’s eight-minute mark, NC State had five players with double-figure point totals and soon after Williams joined them by bagging his fourth 3-pointer on four attempts. Later, Copeland made a nifty move to the lane to score and expand on NC State’s 88-83 edge.

Both teams shot over 61% in the first half, which ended with NC State holding a 51-50 edge. The teams combined to make 16 of 25 shots from 3-point range prior to the break.

As a result of the shooting success, there were only three offensive rebounds in the opening half. NC State held a 16-7 scoring edge from the free-throw line.

Pitt made 12 of its first 18 shots from the field, including 8-for-12 on 3s, and led 34-25. But the Wolfpack got rolling, with McNeil’s three 3-pointers contributing to a surge of less than four minutes that produced a 10-0 run on the way to a 43-40 lead.

–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media

New York Giants co-owners Steve, Jonathan and Laurie Tisch have requested to transfer their ownership stakes in the franchise to their children’s trust, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

The move by the siblings comes less than two months since Steve Tisch’s name appeared approximately 440 times in the Epstein Files. The trio own 23.1% of the team but would no longer have any interest if the transfer is approved, according to a memo dated March 11 that was obtained by both ESPN and The Athletic.

“Prior transfers to these Trusts were completed pursuant to 2023 and 2024 Finance Committee approvals,” the memo states. “The Sellers now propose to transfer their entire remaining interests, totaling 23.1% of the Club, to the Trusts. … Following the transactions, the Sellers will no longer own any interest in the Club.”

The Giants told ESPN on Wednesday that they had “nothing to add” in response to the proposal.

Steve Tisch came under heavy scrutiny when documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice displayed numerous emails between Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August of that year and his death was ruled a suicide.’

Epstein was charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008 and became a register sex offender. A heavy amount of Tisch’s interactions with Epstein came in 2013, according to documents.

Tisch and Epstein often conversed about different women with Tisch expressing interest in meeting some of them.

Tisch released a statement in January admitting he corresponded with Epstein but said he never went to the “Epstein Island” location in the Caribbean.

“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Tisch said. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”

The late Preston Robert Tisch purchased 50% of the franchise in 1991 to co-own the team with the Mara family.

–Field Level Media