B2 Friday, April 19, 2024 The Roanoke Times SPORTS FROM THE WIRE BASKETBALL Cavinder twins say returning to Miami for final season CORAL GABLES, Fla. The Cavinder twins are back at Miami. One day after Hanna Cavinder revealed she was re- turning to the Hurricanes, twin sister Haley Cavinder said she was decommitting from TCU and heading back to Miami as well. They were part of the Miami team that went to the Elite Eight in 2023, which was expected to be their lone season with the Hurricanes. Neither played college bas- ketball this season.
the news yesterday that my sister was return- ing to play ball at Miami and after careful consideration and thought, decided to return to the University of Miami and play with Hanna for our final and 5th Haley Cavinder wrote on Instagram on Thursday. The Cavinder twins two of the most prominent college athletes in the NIL era and who have 4.5 million followers on TikTok announced last year that they were leaving Miami after one season. PHONE: (540)981-3222 EMAIL: FAX: (540) 981-3392 EDITOR: Brian Kelley brian.kelley@roanoke.com 981-3377 SPORTS CALLS: Tuesdays in Scoreboard. Email or fax information by 5 p.m. HIGH SCHOOL SCORES: Email game information to For the latest sports news visit roanoke.com/sports Follow our Twitter accounts and HOW TO REACH US ASSOCIATED PRESS, Haley Cavinder (left) and Hanna Cavinder celebrate after an NCAA Tournament game against Indiana last year.
Reports: Van Lith heading to LSU transfer Hailey Van Lith is heading to TCU, per multiple media reports. The 5-foot-7 guard has one year of eligibility re- maining. She averaged 11.6 points per game in 2023-24 and led LSU with 118 as- sists. Van Lith started her career at Louisville. High-scoring Olsen transfers to IOWA CITY, Iowa Iowa added Lucy Olsen, one of the most productive scorers from last season, to fill the void in the post-Caitlin Clark era.
Olsen, a former Villa- nova star who entered the transfer portal, wrote on social media on Wednes- day that joining the Hawkeyes. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 23.3 points this season to rank third in the nation. Poston out front at Hilton HILTON HEAD IS- LAND, S.C. J.T. Poston set the pace on an idyllic day with nine birdies six of them in a seven-hole stretch for a 63 that gave him a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa and Seamus Power at the RBC Heritage on Thursday.
Ludvig Aberg, the run- ner-up at Augusta just four days ago, was in the group another shot behind. Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes to salvage a scrappy day with the irons for a 67. Injury forces Vu to miss Texas THE WOODLANDS, Texas Defending cham- pion and world No. 2 Lilia Vu withdrew from the Chevron Championship on Thursday before the first round because of a back injury. She issued a statement on Instagram saying she had in her back during war- mups Thursday to force her withdrawal.
Ravens RB Dobbins signs with charge of COSTA MESA, Calif. ing of misconduct by some Former Baltimore running fans at Parc des Princes on back J.K. Dobbins signed a April 10. one-year contract with the L.A. Chargers on Thursday.
Dobbins averaged 5.8 rushing yards per carry the past four seasons. However, he has played in only nine games the past three seasons because of injuries. He played in only one game last year when he tore his Achilles tendon during the second half of the opener against Hous- ton. NFL reinstates 5 gambling The NFL has reinstated five players who were sus- pended for the 2023 sea- son for violating the gambling policy. Washington Command- ers defensive end Shaka Toney and four free agents defensive end Rashod Berry, wide receiver Quin- tez Cephus, safety C.J.
Moore, and defensive end Demetrius Taylor were reinstated. move to Utah TEMPE, Ariz. The Ar- izona Coyotes are officially headed to Salt Lake City. The NHL Board of Gov- ernors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 billion sale from Alex Mer- uelo to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, clearing the way for the move to Utah next season. The deal includes a pro- vision for Arizona to get an expansion team if a new arena is built within the next five years.
Meruelo will retain the name, logo and trademark, so group will have to rename the team. The team will play at Delta Center, home of the Jazz, until a new arena can be built. Barcelona fined for NYON, Switzerland Barcelona was fined $26,600 by UEFA on Thursday for Nazi salutes and monkey gestures by fans at a Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain last week. UEFA said the proven followed images circulat- ASSOCIATED PRESS MIAMI When injuries affect the Miami Heat, coach Erik Spoelstra al- most always delivers the same three- word outlook. have he says.
That theory is about to be tested and will be a theme in the win- or-go-home finales of the play-in tournament on Friday night. All four teams Miami and Chi- cago in the Eastern Conference, New Orleans and Sacramento in the West- ern Conference have serious injury concerns going into their matchups to decide the No. 8 seeds on the playoff bracket. Miami and New Orleans have home-court edges Friday; the win- ners will face No. 1 Boston and No.
1 Oklahoma City in Round 1, starting Sunday. The Heat will be without Jimmy Butler (sprained right MCL) and Terry Rozier (neck) for their game against the Bulls, who had guard Alex Caruso go down to a sprained ankle in win over Atlanta. Miami is hoping guard Duncan Robinson, who has missed 10 of the last 15 games with a back injury, can play. The Pelicans will be without Zion Williamson because of a hamstring injury in their game against the Kings, a team been without would-be starters Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk in recent weeks because of injuries. will do this the hard Spoelstra said.
has to be the path right now. going to rest up, treat up, rally around each other up and get ready for Friday and again, embrace these competitive games. be competitive in front of our home fans and going to bring a hell of a game on Friday night lights and do this the hard way. just the way the deal is right The Bulls-Heat game is a rematch of the East play-in finale last year, a game where Chicago led by three with 3:47 left and got outscored 15-1 the rest of the way. remember that plane ride back home Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan said.
was just frustrated. That feeling sucked. I know for me, one thing on my mind once I realized we were going back to Miami to not have that same Sacramento got into the West play-in finale by ousting Golden State on Tuesday. New Orleans missed a chance to be the No. 7 seed by falling to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
EASTERN NO. 9 CHICAGO (39-43, 1-0) AT NO. 8 MIAMI (46-36, 0-1) Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN Season series: Split, 2-2 Play-in appearances: 2nd for Miami (2023), 2nd for Chicago (2023). At stake: Winner plays No. 1 seed Boston in Round 1, series starting Sunday.
Loser is eliminated. Outlook: Here they go again. Just like last year, Chicago at Miami with the No. 8 seed in the East on the line in an elimination game. The Heat have huge injury issues with Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Duncan Rob- inson ailing, and the Bulls had to fin- ish game without Alex Caruso.
No Bulls team has gone to the playoffs with a losing regular-season record since the 1986-87 team did it at 40-42. Miami made the finals last season after 44 regular season wins; this season, 46 wins might not even be enough for a playoff berth. WESTERN NO. 9 SACRAMENTO (46-36, 1-0) AT NO. 7 NEW ORLEANS (49-33, 0-1) Friday, 9:30 p.m., TNT Season series: Pelicans, 5-0 (includes one In-Season Tournament win) Play-in appearances: 1st for Sacra- mento; 3rd for New Orleans (2022, 2023).
At stake: Winner plays No. 1 seed Oklahoma City in Round 1, series starting Sunday. Loser is eliminated. Outlook: One way or another, New Orleans will make history on Friday. Either the Pelicans will become the first team to go 6-0 in a season (with- out a playoff series) against an oppo- nent since Denver against Minnesota in 1994-95, or will become the sec- ond team in NBA history to go 49-33 or better and not make the playoffs (joining the 1971-72 Phoenix Suns, who went 49-33).
The Pelicans will be without the injured Zion Williamson (hamstring) and the Kings will still be without Kevin Huerter (shoulder) and Malik Monk (knee). New Orleans has had leads of 15 points in all five games (15, 17, 23, 41 and 50) and the Kings led only one of the five matchups by more than nine points at any time. LATE 42 lifts Bulls past CHICAGO Coby White scored a career-high 42 points, and the Chi- cago Bulls advanced in the play-in tournament, knocking out the At- lanta Hawks with a 131-116 victory. Dejounte Murray led Atlanta with 30 points. But the Hawks came up short again after dropping their final six regular-season games.
Embiid, Sixers burn PHILADELPHIA Joel Embiid had 23 points, 15 rebounds and one huge assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. on a go-ahead three-point play that led the Phila- delphia 76ers to a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat in the Eastern Con- ference play-in tournament. The 76ers earned the No. 7 seed and advanced to play the second-seeded New York Knicks in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is Saturday at Mad- ison Square Garden.
Injuries accent play-in games ON THE AIR FRIDAY AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL 11:30 p.m. Fox Sports 1, Port Adelaide at Collingwood 2:30 a.m. (Saturday) Fox Sports 2, Greater Western Sydney at Carlton 5:30 a.m. (Saturday) Fox Sports 2, Geelong at 6 p.m. Brisbane AUTO RACING 5:30 p.m.
Fox Sports 1, NASCAR Xfin- ity Series, Qualifying, at Tal- ladega, Ala. 5:50 p.m. Peaco*ck, IndyCar Series, Grand Prix of Long Beach, Practice Noon 10:55 p.m. ESPNU, Formula One, Chinese 1 p.m. Grand Prix, Sprint Shootout 2:55 a.m.
(Saturday) ESPN2, Formula One, Chi- nese Grand Prix, Qualifying COLLEGE BASEBALL 3 p.m. ESPN Plus, Radford at UNC Greensboro 6 p.m. ACC Network Extra, Georgia Tech at Virginia 6 p.m. ESPN Plus, The Citadel at VMI 7 p.m. ACC Network Extra, Duke at Virginia Tech 7 p.m.
ESPN2, Florida at Vanderbilt 7:30 p.m. ESPNU, TCU at Texas 8 p.m. Big Ten Network, Penn St. at Michigan St. 8 p.m.
SEC Network, LSU at Missouri 6 p.m. COLLEGE FOOTBALL 7 p.m. ACC Network, Louisville Spring 7 p.m. Game GOLF 8 a.m. Golf Channel, PGA Tour, Corales 6:30 p.m.
Puntacana Championship, Sec- ond Round 10 a.m. Golf Channel, LPGA Tour, Chev- ron Championship, Second Round, at The Woodlands, Texas 2 p.m. Golf Channel, PGA Tour, RBC Heritage, Second Round, at Hilton Head, S.C. Peaco*ck, LPGA Tour, Chevron Championship, Second Round 9 p.m. Golf Channel, Champions Tour, Invited Celebrity Classic, First 9:30 p.m.
Round, at Irving, Texas (same- day tape) HORSE RACING MASN, live races Fox Sports 2, live races 3 p.m. MASN2, live races MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2 p.m. MLB Network, Miami at Chi- cago Cubs 6:30 p.m. MASN, Houston at Washington 7 p.m. Apple TV Plus, Texas at Atlanta 7:30 p.m.
MASN2, Baltimore at Kansas City 8 p.m. MLB Network, Milwaukee at St. Louis 10 p.m. Apple TV Plus, Arizona at San Francisco 11 p.m. MLB Network, N.Y.
Mets at L.A. Dodgers (joined in progress) LACROSSE Big Ten Network, Penn St. at Rutgers CBS Sports Network, Loyola (Md.) at Navy MIXED MARTIAL ARTS ESPN Plus, Professional Fight- ers League, Prelims, at Chicago 10 a.m. 9:30 p.m. ESPN, Professional Fighters League, Welterweights and 6:30 p.m.
Featherweights NBA 7:10 p.m. ESPN, Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament, Chicago at Miami 9:30 p.m. TNT, Western Conference Play-In Tournament, Sacra- mento at New Orleans, tradi- tional telecast truTV, Western Conference Play-In Tournament, Sacra- mento at New Orleans, BetCast PICKLEBALL 4 p.m. CBS Sports Network, U.S. Open, at Naples, Fla.
RUGBY 5:30 a.m. (Saturday) Fox Sports 1, Canberra at Brisbane SOCCER 10:45 a.m. Fox Sports 2, Saudi Pro League, Al-Fayha at Al-Nassr SOFTBALL 5 p.m. ESPNU, Clemson at Notre Dame 6 p.m. ACC Network Extra, Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech 6 p.m.
ACC Network Extra, Virginia at Duke 6 p.m. SEC Network, LSU at Tennessee 7 p.m. Fox Sports 1, Nebraska at Michigan TENNIS 6 a.m. Tennis Channel, ATP Tour, continuation of coverage of tournaments in Barcelona, Munich, Bucharest, Stuttgart and Rouen WRESTLING Peaco*ck, U.S. Olympic Trials, at Penn State USA Network, U.S.
Olympic Trials NBA ASSOCIATED Jimmy Butler gets treatment on his right knee during 105- 104 loss to Philadelphia. Butler will miss game against Chicago..
