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A32 sports
Diasabra 5 Maart 2022

Boston, No. 1 Gamecocks top Arkansas in SEC women’s quarters

(AP) — Aliyah Boston notched her nine twice before the Gamecocks took
22nd consecutive double-double a 40-29 lead into halftime.
with 17 points and 14 rebounds as
top-ranked South Carolina beat Arkansas pulled within 44-37 on a
Arkansas 76-54 Friday in the South- 3-pointer by Sasha Goforth with 6:49
eastern Conference women’s tour- left in the third. The Gamecocks made
nament quarterfinals. only three shots during the quar-
ter, but they went 10 of 12 at the free
The Gamecocks (28-1) received their throw line and finished the third on a
SEC regular season championship be- 12-4 run for a 56-41 lead going into the
fore tipoff, then took their first step fourth.
toward a seventh tournament title in
eight years against the last team to beat The Gamecocks padded the lead to as
them in this event. Arkansas beat South much as 23 in the final couple minutes.
Carolina in 2019 with the Gamecocks They finished with a big edge at the
undefeated since then, winning the free throw line (23 of 28) compared to
2020 and 2021 tourneys. Arkansas (9 of 15) as three Razorbacks
finished with four fouls apiece.
South Carolina will play either No. 23
Florida or fourth-seeded Mississippi in Maybe it was the early start, but both
Saturday’s semifinal, the Gamecocks’ teams started very sluggishly. The
ninth in the last 10 seasons. Gamecocks missed nine of their first
11 shots and didn’t make a basket until
The Gamecocks now have won 16 Boston scored on a putback with 7:56
straight. left in the first quarter. The Razor-
backs started 1 of 10 and missed their
Boston, the SEC Player of the Year and first seven 3-pointers.
three-time SEC Defensive Player of
the Year, did a bit of everything as usu- The worst play may have been when
al. She had five assists, five steals and Victaria Saxton tried to pass the ball
two blocks. Laeticia Amihere added 16 up the court after a defensive re-
points, and Victaria Saxton had 11 re- bound with Beal not looking. The ball
bounds. Ten Gamecocks scored at least bounced out of bounds.
three points. Arkansas (18-13) snapped
a two-game winning streak. South Carolina center Kamilla Cardo-
so missed the Gamecocks’ final game
This game was tied only once at 2 with of the regular season with what was
South Carolina never trailing. described as an “upper-body” injury
that limited her to six minutes in a win
The Gamecocks missed their first six over Texas A&M on Feb. 24. Cardoso
shots before Boston got them going, came off the bench in this game with
and she scored five points and grabbed a black brace wrapped around her left
five rebounds as South Carolina led shoulder.
24-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Arkansas outscored South Carolina Cardoso finished with five points and
17-16 in the second, pulling within seven rebounds.

Kentucky racing board upholds Bob Baffert’s suspension

(AP) — Kentucky rac- stay the suspension, which Baffert on Tuesday sued cause he did not receive due Medina Spirit died on Dec. 6
ing officials have denied was scheduled to start on Churchill Downs in federal process. The track has rec- of a heart attack following a
trainer Bob Baffert’s re- March 8 but is delayed pend- court, seeking to overturn ognized Derby runner-up workout at Santa Anita track
quest to stay his suspen- ing a March 17 hearing be- his two-year suspension be- Mandaloun as race winner. in California.
sion for a failed postrace fore Franklin County Circuit
drug test by Medina Spirit Judge Thomas Wingate.
that led to his disqualifi-
cation as Kentucky Derby Clark Brewster, an attorney
winner. for Baffert, argued that the
steroid came from a topical
Kentucky Horse Racing ointment rather than an in-
Commission board members jection. KHRC general coun-
on Friday voted 10-0 with sel Jennifer Wolsing coun-
three abstentions against tered that the source of the
the stay in a specially called betamethasone was irrelevant
meeting. KHRC stewards and cited Baffert’s failure to
last week suspended the Hall keep promises to improve
of Fame trainer for 90 days his operation after a series of
with a $7,500 fine and dis- positives by his horses.
qualified the now-deceased
colt for having the cortico- Brewster in a statement af-
steroid betamethasone in his terward called the KHRC’s
system last May. Betametha- decision “a sudden, arbitrary
sone is allowed in Kentucky departure from its own 100-
but prohibited on race day. year precedent” and added
that he looked forward to ob-
Director Marc A. Guilfoil taining a stay in court.
denied an initial request to