In Sports from United Press International

Indiana, Oklahoma reach Final Four

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 24 (UPI) -- The kind of three-point shooting demonstrated by Indiana Saturday could make the Hoosiers the champions of college basketball.

The absence of Tom Coverdale, however, could bring about an exit the next time they take the court -- which will be next Saturday in the Final Four against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Indiana reached the NCAA Tournament's national semifinals Saturday by hitting 15 of 20 shots from long range, a barrage that gave them an 81-69 victory over Kent State. But with just less than 10 minutes remaining, Coverdale suffered a severely sprained left ankle. He had to be carried to the locker room and the ankle was packed in ice.

Without their floor leader, Indiana saw Kent State cut a 20-point deficit to seven before Dane Fife hit a backbreaking three-pointer to halt the Golden Flashes momentum.

Coverdale's status will be the central focus of Indiana's preparation for its meeting with Oklahoma, which plays a withering defense that will require the best of ball handling skills to withstand.

Indiana made its first eight three-point shots and nine of 11 in the first half to seize control en route to the championship of the South Region.

In San Jose, Oklahoma outmuscled Missouri in a Big 12 battle, 81-75. The Sooners scored the last seven points of the first half to lead at intermission, 41-33, and spent the rest of the game fighting off the Tigers.

Missouri was within 68-64 with three minutes to play before Aaron McGhee took over -- hitting three free throws and a three-pointer that ended the Tigers' last comeback.

The remaining two members of the Final Four will be determined today when Kansas meets Illinois in Madison, Wis., and Connecticut takes on Maryland in Syracuse.

Lesser knowns lead Players Championship

PONTE VEDRE BEACH, Fla., March 23 (UPI) -- Unheralded Carl Paulson kept his poise Saturday while some of the more familiar names in golf were faltering.

Paulson fired his third straight 69 over the treacherous TPC-Sawgrass Stadium Course, putting him one shot in front of another unlikely challenger with one round remaining at the Players Championship.

The final pairing in today's closing round of the $6 million tournament will feature Paulson, the 189th-ranked player in the world, and New Zealand's Craig Perks, ranked 203rd.

Strung out behind them, meanwhile, was a group of PGA Tour veterans just waiting for the untested leaders to falter. Included in the group waiting to pounce was Tiger Woods, who despite an inability to get going Saturday still found himself trailing just nine players and only six shots out of the lead.

Paulson, who suffered from viral meningitis earlier this year and who missed the cut in all four of his previous tour appearances, was the only player to break 70 in the first three rounds. He stood at 9-under 207 for 54 holes with Perks at 208 after also shooting a 69.

Tied for third at 210 were Rocco Mediate, who shot a 69 as well that included a bogey at the final hole, and Jeff Sluman, who fought back from a double bogey at the fifth to fire an even-par 72.

At 211 were Canadian Mike Weir and current PGA champion David Toms while Scott Hoch, Billy Andrade and Mark Calcavecchia were all at 212. Woods was joined at 3-under 213 by Steve Lowery, Shigeki Maruyama, Sergio Garcia and 44-year-old Nick Faldo.

The TPC-Sawgrass course is famed for its ability to turn good rounds into disasters and there were some classic examples of that Saturday.

Craig Stadler, at age 49, found himself one shot out of the lead on the back nine Saturday after birdies at the 11th and 12th holes followed by an ace at the par-3 13th. He also birdied the 15th to get to 7-under for the tournament, but he finished bogey, double bogey, triple bogey.

He ended the day eight shots off the pace.

Phil Mickelson also fell victim to the Stadium Course. He began the third round one shot off the lead and was only two back after making the turn. But he made a quadruple bogey eight at the 10th hole and eventually shot a 75 for a 214 total.

Connecticut stays on track for national crown

MILWAUKEE, March 24 (UPI) -- The Connecticut Huskies remained on track for an unbeaten season Saturday while Vanderbilt and Tennessee set up an anticipated showdown for a spot in the Final Four.

Sue Bird scored 24 points and Tamika Williams added 13 points rebounds as Connecticut pulled away for an 82-64 victory over Penn State in the NCAA Women's Tournament Mideast Region semifinals.

Connecticut improved to 36-0 as the overwhelming favorite to win the national crown. It would be the Huskies third national title in seven years. Although Connecticut was never seriously threatened, it still won by its smallest margin since a 59-50 decision over Virginia Tech on Jan. 29.

Connecticut will take on Old Dominion in the regional final Monday night. ODU defeated Kansas St., 88-62.

There was some controversy when the bracket was announced over the fact that Tennessee was made a No. 2 seed behind Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt in the Midwest Region. Vanderbilt, however, did win the SEC tournament. On Saturday, Tennessee defeated Brigham Young, 68-57, and Vanderbilt eliminated North Carolina, 70-61, to set up a meeting Monday night for a spot in the Final Four.

In the East Region, top-seeded Duke downed Texas, 62-46, and South Carolina won over Drake, 79-65. In the opening game of the West Region semifinals, Colorado pulled off a mild surprise in beating Stanford, 62-59.

Spurs win 12th straight

SAN ANTONIO, March 24 (UPI) -- Tim Duncan had 23 points and 11 rebounds and rookie Tony Parker added 14 points and eight assists Saturday night as the San Antonio Spurs extended their season-high winning streak to 12 games with an 89-79 victory over the Miami Heat.

Miami has rebounded from a sluggish start to pull within striking distance of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. But the Heat's final 15 games feature matchups with nine playoff-bound clubs and started with a visit to the Alamodome, where they have lost 14 of 15 visits all-time.

The Spurs never trailed after scoring the game's first 10 points. Miami closed within 55-52 early in the third quarter, but San Antonio responded with a 16-6 run to regain control.

Duncan scored seven points and Parker six during the spurt, which gave San Antonio a 71-58 cushion heading into the final period.

Charles Smith scored 12 points and David Robinson added 11 and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who are the midst of their longest winning streak since a franchise-record 17-game tear from Feb. 29-March 31, 1996.

Other NBA results: Atlanta 112, Chicago 96; Portland 108, Minnesota 99; Dallas 111, Memphis 100; Utah 112, Golden State 103; Denver 88, Seattle 85; Phoenix 97, Los Angeles Clippers 94.

Shanahan scores 500th goal

DENVER, March 24 (UPI) -- Brendan Shanahan scored his 500th career goal on a five on three midway through the third period Saturday as the Detroit Red Wings clinched the Presidents' Trophy with a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in a heated contest that featured an altercation between superstar goaltenders.

Shortly after Shanahan got the Red Wings on the board, Colorado's Patrick Roy became angry at Detroit's Kirk Maltby for being in the crease. Roy pushed Maltby, who was assessed a penalty for goaltender interference, earning himself a roughing penalty and setting off a fight between Colorado defenseman Pascal Trepenier and Detroit rookie Sean Avery.

Roy's counterpart, Dominik Hasek, skated end to end to join the fray.

Hasek got the extra minor for leaving the crease, giving the Avalanche a power play. But Hasek kept his composure and recorded 31 saves for his 61st career shutout and fifth this season.

Boyd Devereaux provided insurance when he deflected Brett Hull's slap shot past Roy with 6:57 left in the third period.

Detroit has 108 points, 20 more than the Avalanche, who have only nine games left.

Other NHL results: Carolina 4, New Jersey 2; New York Islanders 2, Minnesota 1; Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 4; Los Angeles 3, San Jose 0; Atlanta 3, Ottawa 2 in overtime; Toronto 2, Buffalo 0; Nashville 5, Montreal 1; Washington 5, Columbus 2; Boston 3, Florida 1; Edmonton 3, Calgary 1.

MLS season opens

DALLAS, March 24 (UPI) -- Joe Cannon recorded his 19th career shutout Saturday night as the San Jose Earthquakes opened defense of their MLS Cup championship with a convincing 2-0 blanking of the Dallas Burn.

Landon Donovan and Dwayne DeRosario took care of the offense for the Earthquakes, who started strongly and generated a scoring chance just three minutes into the contest.

Midfielder Ronnie Ekelund chipped a ball over the Dallas back line, finding a streaking DeRosario. From a tight angle, the Canadian international shot from 10 yards out, but goalkeeper Matt Jordan parried it away.

San Jose capped their early dominance, during which they pinned Dallas in their own half for long stretches, with a goal in the 11th minute. A corner kick was whipped into the box by specialist Richard Mulrooney and defender Ramiro Corrales sent a header on goal.

Jordan made the stop, but the rebound fell to an open DeRosario, who sent a one-time shot into the top left corner of the net from 15 yards. It was the sixth MLS goal for DeRosario, who also scored in last season's opener against Los Angeles.

Other MLS results: Chicago 2, Columbus 0; MetroStars 3, New England 1; Colorado 1, Kansas City 1.

Cheever wins IRL pole

FONTANA, Calif., March 24 (UPI) -- Eddie Cheever recorded a first in the Indy Racing League Saturday as he gave Infiniti its first pole position in the series with the the fastest qualifying time for today's Yamaha 400 at the California Speedway.

It was Cheever's first IRL pole to go along with five wins in the series. He ran a lap at 221.422 miles per hour in an Infiniti-powered Dallara. He will start alongside Jaques Lazier, who qualified his Dallara/Chevrolet second at 220.909.

Cheever's teammate, Tomas Scheckter of South Africa, was third at 219.661 mph in another Dallara/Infiniti. He was followed by defending series champion Sam Hornish Jr. at 219.410 mph. Robbie Buhl qualified fifth at 219.268 mph in a G Force/Infiniti, but crashed in between the first and second turns after his qualification attempt.

Buhl was taken by ambulance to Loma Linda Medical Center, but was awake and alert. His status for Sunday's race was uncertain.

Slutskaya defeats Kwan

NAGANO, Japan, March 24 (UPI) -- Irina Slutskaya of Russia captured her first career gold medal Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships.

The 23-year-old Russian outclassed American Michelle Kwan into silver medal position for the first time in her World Championship career. Fumie Suguri of Japan claimed the bronze.

Leading the competition after Friday's short program, Slutskaya was full of confidence in her free program and skated almost flawlessly, landing all of her jumps with ease.

Kwan, sitting in third place after an error in her short program, needed to win Saturday's competition in order to overtake Slutskaya for the gold medal. Although the American skated impressively and made no mistakes, it was not enough. Kwan, a four-time world champion, was vying to become the first woman in more 40 years to win five world titles.

MEMPHIS, March 24 (UPI) -- Freshman Memphis guard Dajuan Wagner scored 19 points Saturday as the Tigers earned a return trip to New York with a 79-73 victory over Tennesse Tech in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

Memphis (25-9) has made the NIT semifinals in each of John Calipari's first two years as coach. The Tigers, who will play Temple on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, became the 17th team to reach the NIT's final four in consecutive years and the first since Saint Louis in 1989-90.

But Memphis needed a late run to turn back Tennessee Tech (27-7), which won three games in the expanded 40-team field to advance to the NIT quarterfinals for the first time in school history.