Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: Paige Bueckers hurt in No. 7 UConn's win
UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) makes a move on Marquette guard Halle Vice (22) during the first half of their game Wednesday, January 1, 2025 at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Paige Bueckers scored 15 points before leaving the game with a knee injury in the third quarter as visiting No. 7 UConn routed Big East Conference rival Villanova 83-52 on Sunday.
Bueckers dove for a loose ball along with the Wildcats’ Jasmine Bascoe, who rolled into her left leg. Bueckers, the projected No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, returned to the bench later in the game with an ice pack on her knee. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said he’s optimistic that Bueckers isn’t seriously injured.
Sarah Strong scored a game-high 21-points for UConn (13-2, 4-0), while Villanova (7-8, 1-2) was paced by Bascoe’s 12 points.
No. 2 South Carolina 95, Mississippi State 68
Tessa Johnson came off the bench for 22 points as the Gamecocks shrugged off a slow start to earn a Southeastern Conference rout of the Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss.
Chloe Kitts added 17 points and 10 rebounds for South Carolina (14-1, 2-0), which trailed 22-13 after a quarter before outscoring Mississippi State 55-23 in the middle two quarters.
Jerkaila Jordan scored a game-high 24 points for the Bulldogs (13-3, 0-2).
No. 3 Notre Dame 76, No. 17 North Carolina 66
Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points and dished out five assists as the Fighting Irish notched an Atlantic Coast Conference win over the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Olivia Miles added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Notre Dame (12-2, 3-0), while Liatu King tallied 15 rebounds to go with eight points.
North Carolina (13-3, 1-2) got 16 points and nine rebounds from Maria Gakdeng.
No. 5 Texas 90, Arkansas 56
Six players scored in double figures as the Longhorns rolled to an SEC rout of the Razorbacks in Austin, Texas.
Aaliyah Moore scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Texas (15-1, 2-0), which earned a 46-27 advantage on the boards and forced 25 turnovers.
Arkansas (7-10, 0-2) got a game-high 23 points from Izzy Higginbottom.
No. 6 LSU 73, Auburn 63
A 27-8 second quarter burst was the difference as LSU stayed unbeaten by winning the matchup of SEC Tigers in Baton Rouge, La.
Aneesah Morrow scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for LSU (17-0, 2-0), while Kailyn Gilbert added 17 on 8-of-10 shooting off the bench.
Auburn (9-6, 0-2) got 19 points off the bench from Audia Young.
No. 9 Oklahoma 87, No. 15 Tennessee 86
The Sooners built a 16-point lead after three quarters and hung on to hand the Lady Vols their first loss in an SEC thriller in Knoxville, Tenn.
Payton Verhulst scored 16 points for Oklahoma (13-2, 1-1), including two foul shots with 50 seconds left that proved to be the difference. Raegan Beers added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Jewel Spear fired in a game-high 28 for Tennessee (13-1, 1-1), which had a chance to win but saw Sara Puckett miss a 3-pointer in the last five seconds.
No. 10 Ohio State 92, Northwestern 62
The Buckeyes raced to a 77-43 lead after three quarters en route to an easy Big Ten Conference win over the Wildcats in Columbus, Ohio.
Jaloni Cambridge scored a game-high 20 points for Ohio State (14-0, 3-0), which led by 39 at one point in the fourth quarter. Cotie McMahon had 16 points as five Buckeyes scored in double figures.
Kyla Jones tallied 15 points for Northwestern (7-8, 0-4), which has lost three in a row.
No. 14 Duke 69, Pitt 31
The Blue Devils forced 29 turnovers and allowed the punchless Panthers to hit just 11 of 45 field goal attempts in posting an easy ACC victory in Durham, N.C.
Reigan Richardson scored 13 points for Duke (12-3, 3-0), reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Khadija Faye tallied a game-high 17 points for Pitt (8-8, 0-3), which had just four other players score.
No. 16 Kentucky 96, Vanderbilt 78
Georgia Amoore finished with 24 points and nine assists as the Wildcats bombed in 15 3-pointers and scored 31 first-quarter points in an SEC win over the Commodores in Nashville, Tenn.
Amelia Hassett added 20 points (six 3-pointers), nine rebounds and five assists as five players scored in double figures for Kentucky (13-1, 2-0).
Vanderbilt (14-2, 1-1) got 24 points out of Mikayla Blakes.
No. 19 Alabama 68, Missouri 49
Zaay Green scored a game-high 23 points and the Crimson Tide started SEC play 2-0 for the first time in 21 seasons by drilling the Tigers in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Aaliyah Nye added 11 for Alabama (15-1, 2-0), which held Missouri to 34 percent field goal shooting and forced 20 turnovers.
Angelique Ngalakulondi and Nyah Wilson each scored nine points for Missouri (11-6, 0-2).
No. 22 North Carolina State 91, Boston College 52
The Wolfpack jumped out to a 28-9 first-quarter lead and never looked back in an easy ACC rout of the Eagles in Raleigh, N.C.
Saniya Rivers scored 23 points and added 11 rebounds for NC State (11-3, 3-0), while Zoe Brooks chipped in 11 points and 11 boards.
T’yana Todd scored 20 points to pace Boston College (10-7, 1-3).
Texas A&M 60, No. 25 Ole Miss 58
Sole Williams scored a game-high 18 points and the Aggies outscored the Rebels 20-6 in the fourth quarter to earn an SEC win in College Station, Texas.
Jada Malone shot a perfect 7-for-7 to post 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Texas A&M (8-6, 1-1).
Ole Miss (10-4, 1-1), which made only 19 of 53 shots from the field, was led by Madison Scott’s 14 points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Michael Busch drives in 4 as Cubs win, sweep D-backs
May 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs designated hitter Moises Ballesteros (25) celebrates his two-run home run with second baseman Nico Hoerner (2) against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Michael Busch drove in four runs to lead the host Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday.
Busch doubled and scored a run in the second and broke the game open for good with a three-run triple in the fifth as Chicago finished the three-game sweep with its 11th straight win at home.
Matthew Boyd (2-1) picked the win. The southpaw gave up four hits and two earned runs over six innings, walking one and fanning five in 94 pitches. The quality start was the Cubs’ seventh in their last 10 home games.
Chicago tied a season high with six extra-base hits. Busch, Nico Hoerner, Moises Ballesteros, Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly all contributed a pair of hits.
The Cubs extended a 3-2 lead with a three-run fifth.
Ballesteros led off with a walk and Alex Bregman reached on a fielder’s choice when Nolan Arenado’s throw was too late to get Ballesteros at second.
Ian Happ loaded the bases with a walk and Busch tripled into the right-field corner to clear the bases and give Chicago a 6-2 lead.
The triple chased Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly (1-3). The veteran right-hander went 4 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits and six earned runs. He struck out five and walked three in 92 pitches.
The Diamondbacks opened the scoring in the second when Arenado doubled with one out and Gabe Moreno hit his first home run of the season deep to left field for a 2-0 lead.
The Cubs cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning when Kelly singled in Busch with two outs.
Chicago took the lead for good in the third when Hoerner singled to deep short and Ballesteros smashed an opposite-field home run to left-center for a 3-2 advantage.
The Cubs scored a pair of insurance runs in the seventh when Happ led off with a walk and Suzuki doubled into the left-field corner.
Busch drove in his fourth run of the game with a deep sacrifice fly to right to make it 7-2 Cubs and Kelly singled in Suzuki to give Chicago an 8-2 lead.
D-backs pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth to finalize the scoring. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 2-for-3 with a run for the visitors.
–Field Level Media
