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Siegrist leads Villanova into Sweet 16 for 2nd time ever

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — As Maddy Siegrist hugged and high-fived every Villanova fan down the front row of seats in a wild celebration following the biggest win of her career, it was hard for the All-American not to think about far the Wildcats have come in just four seasons.Siegrist’s journey saw her dominate as the program’s career leading scorer, lead Villanova into the kind of elite team that can pack a postseason game in their own house and now this milestone, a Sweet 16 berth for the first time in 20 years.“Everyone wants to leave their mark,” Siegrist said.Siegrist sure left hers on the Main Line. Siegrist scored 31 points, had four blocks, four steals and sent the winningest team in Villanova history into the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history with a 76-57 win over 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night.“What Maddy has done and continues to do is off the charts,” coach Denise Dillon said.The fourth-seeded Wildcats (30-6) won their record 30th ga...

Oubre, Hornets finish strong, beat Pacers 115-109

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 28 points, and the Charlotte Hornets erased a 21-point first-half deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 115-109 on Monday night behind a strong finish to snap a six-game home losing streak.Terry Rozier added 23 points and Gordon Hayward had 22 for the Hornets, who outscored the Pacers 19-4 over the final six minutes to deal the Pacers’ postseason hopes a big blow.Myles Turner and Buddy Hield each had 20 points for the Pacers, who fell 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bulls defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 109-105 in double overtime on Monday night.“Believe me, an opportunity lost for sure,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.Oubre said he and his Charlotte teammates are well aware that some Hornets fans don’t want them to win at all at this point in the season with the team eliminated from playoff contention, hoping to have a better shot at the upcoming NBA draft’s...

Miami shocks top-seed Indiana in March Madness

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Destiny Harden made a shot in the lane with 3.5 seconds left to send ninth-seeded Miami past top-seeded Indiana 70-68 on Monday night, lifting the Hurricanes to their first Sweet 16 since 1992.The Hoosiers (28-4) became the second No. 1 seed to be eliminated in two nights. Stanford was upset Sunday on its home court. It’s the second time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1994 that two No. 1 seeds didn’t make the Sweet 16. It also happened in 1998.Harden finished with 18 points and Lola Pendade had 19 points for the Hurricanes (21-12), who never trailed.Indiana tied the score at 68 on Yarden Garzon’s 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left but couldn’t get the defensive stop it needed and turned the ball over on the final possession to seal their only home loss of the season.No. 4 VILLANOVA 76, No. 12 FLORIDA GULF COAST 57VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Maddy Siegrist scored 31 points and sent the winningest team in Villanova history into the Sweet 16 for t...

LaVine, DeRozan lead Bulls past 76ers in double overtime

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 26 points, DeMar DeRozan had 25 and the Chicago Bulls defeated Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers 109-105 in double overtime Monday night to snap their eight-game winning streak.Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who have won three games in a row and five of six. Chicago is fighting for the final playoff spot in the East.Embiid had 37 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks before fouling out with 3:54 left in the second overtime. It was the 10th straight game in which he has scored at least 30 points. The teams meet again in the second game of a home-and-home on Wednesday night in Chicago.Philadelphia could’ve clinched a playoff spot with a victory, but the 76ers struggled once Embiid left the court after a foul on LaVine.Tyrese Maxey hit an elbow jumper and Tobias Harris followed with a baseline jumper to put the 76ers ahead 105-101 with 2:36 left in the second OT. But those were the last points Philadelphia scored...

Dentist's former employee recalls spiraling actions before wife's poisoning

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — FOX31 is gaining insight into what things were like behind the doors at Summerbrook Dental Group, with former employees and patients reacting to the arrest of a dentist accused of poisoning his wife to death.Angelia Baker has been a patient of James Craig, the dentist accused of poisoning and killing his wife, for more than 15 years."I can’t even think beyond this. This is just unbelievable," Baker said. Mountain lion attacks man in Colorado hot tub Baker said he went out of his way many times to make her feel comfortable during her visits.“I am still at a loss for words every time I keep hearing about this story, because that’s not indicative of the Dr. Craig that I knew," Baker said. "I wouldn’t have anticipated, but again I wasn’t with him every day. I don’t know what he did outside. I know that in the office, I was treated fairly and somewhere I felt comfortable going."'I just saw a downfall,' former employee saysThose behind the scenes say they saw more. A for...

Call me anytime: Zelenskyy plays the long game with Xi Jinping

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is happy to unleash withering criticism against countries including Hungary and Germany for getting too close to the Russians. But he’s playing a diplomatic long game with Moscow’s No. 1 ally: Chinese President Xi Jinping. There are good reasons for not riling the Chinese, despite their “no-limits partnership” with Moscow. Zelenskyy wants to keep Beijing onside as an investor, trade partner and potential middleman — rather than push it away, and run the risk of Xi approving major exports of arms to Russia’s forces. In the years ahead, China’s deep pockets are also likely to play a role in helping Ukraine rebuild from the devastation of war. As Xi visits Moscow this week, speculation is mounting that he could also finally hold the first phone call with Zelenskyy since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While no call has been confirmed, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said ...

Europe’s China policy will shape transatlantic relations

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

Andrew A. Michta is dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.A few weeks ago, while attending the Munich Security Conference, I witnessed the arrival China’s Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi.The pomp and attention given to Wang was unmistakable, as was the coverage of his subsequent speech, restating the familiar Beijing talking points on China’s approach to “making the world a safer place.”Both the speech and the subsequent moderated discussion made clear that Wang had come to Munich to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe — to attack America and to woo Europe. And much of the subsequent conversation in the hallways of the conference venue underscored that after three decades of deepening economic relations, China is very much a “power in Europe,” de...

When is a veto not a veto? Rishi Sunak’s Brexit laws fuel fresh unionist concerns

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

DUBLIN — With Brexit, the devil is always in the detail.New legislation published Monday enacting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s much-heralded Windsor Framework makes clear that unionists in Northern Ireland will be able to object to new EU laws — but won’t hold the power to veto them. Careful reading of the draft regulations enacting into law the so-called Stormont Brake shows that the power to block the introduction in Northern Ireland of any new EU goods standards — essential for Northern Irish exporters to observe if they want to maintain barrier-free trade with neighboring Ireland and the wider EU — will lie exclusively with London, not Belfast.And the legislation shows the U.K. government ultimately reserves the right to override any unionist objections, citing “exceptional circumstances.”Such caveats have proven a dealbreaker for some unionists already highly skeptical of the prime minister’s claims to have allayed their chief concerns over the much-maligned...

France-Germany feud heats up over cars and nuclear

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

BERLIN — A growing row between Germany and France risks crashing into a crucial EU summit later this week.EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss economic competitiveness and ammunition for Ukraine, but the clash between Germany and France over combustion-engine cars and nuclear energy now looms disruptively over those talks.“I am a supporter of permanent Franco-German compromise, but also of truth in the Franco-German relationship. When we have a disagreement, we don’t hide it, we work to overcome it,” French Transport Minister Clément Beaune told POLITICO.The EU’s move to ban the sale of polluting cars and vans by 2035 in order to tackle spiraling transport-linked greenhouse gas emissions has ignited the latest row after Germany mounted an unusually late blockade of the EU green car rules alongside a small group of allies, including Italy.Berlin wants a clear exemption for e-fuels, a synthetic alternative to fossil fuels, which wo...

If boring Switzerland can’t save its banks, who can?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:38:33 GMT

Oh, Switzerland — that beautiful land of financial stability, reliability and everything being just a little dull.Not anymore. As Credit Suisse, Europe’s 19th biggest lender, goes down the tubes, becoming the most dramatic banking casualty since the 2008 financial crisis, the worry now is it turns out to be the first domino in a chain that stretches round the world. After all, we’ve been here before and it wasn’t pretty. And if boring, safe Switzerland can’t save its banks, then, well, who the hell can?To understand what happened, think of a shotgun marriage. On Sunday, the stricken Zurich-based lender was forced by Swiss authorities to get into bed with its longtime domestic rival UBS. It was historic. A 3 billion Swiss-francs deal that — for a few hours at least — allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.The aim was to protect investors and depositors and to stem a full-on banking crisis. Temporarily at least, that was achieved.But as usual, the devil i...