Valerie Still scored 25 points Sunday night and repeated as the playoffs’ MVP as the Columbus Quest won its second straight American Basketball League championship with an 86-81 victory over the Long Beach StingRays.
The Quest opened the best-of-five series by losing twice at Long Beach, but won three straight games on its home court. Columbus has won a league-record 26 consecutive times at home after losing this season’s home opener.
Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil of Long Beach set a league playoff record with 36 points before fouling out in the final second. Andrea Nagy also fouled out for Long Beach, which committed 35 fouls while Columbus was called for 22.
College basketball: Jeff Jones has resigned as Virginia’s men’s coach after an 11-19 season, the most losses for the Cavaliers in 35 years, the school announced Sunday night. Jones, 37, was 146-104 in eight years at Virginia, but has had losing records in two of his last three seasons.
Tennis: Seventh seed Marcelo Rios of Chile climbed to No. 3 in the world after outlasting sixth-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain 6-3, 6-7 (15-17), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 in the final of the Newswekk Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Rios earned $190,000 for his 2 hours 46 minutes of work.
– Second seed Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden defeated David Prinosil of Germany 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the Copenhagen Open final.
Horse racing: Juvenal Diaz rode Seemeski to victory in the third race at Sportsman’s Park, marking his 1,000th winner at the track.
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– Comic Strip, ridden by Shane Sellers, rallied furiously to nose out Nite Dreamer at the wire and take the 86th running of the $500,000-guaranteed Grade III Louisiana Derby for 3-year-olds at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
Dog sledding: Two-time Iditarod champ Jeff King received $2,500 in gold coins for being the first driver to reach the Bering Sea coast in Unakleet, Alaska.