COLLEGE BASKETBALL

RUTGERS FALLS IN WOMEN’S NCAA Candace Parker scored 29 points with six blocks, and Shanna Zolman hit five 3-pointers and added 29 points to lead Tennessee over no. 3 seed Rutgers 76-69 yesterday in the semifinals of the Cleveland Regional in the women’s NCAA tournament.

Parker scored 12 straight points during a critical run by the second-seeded Lady Vols. The freshman hit jumpers, blocked shots and at times brought the ball up the floor.Tennessee (31-4) improved to 21-4 in the regional semifinals in its 25th straight appearance.The Lady Vols have not missed the regional finals since 2001. They will play Tuesday night against North Carolina in the final.

Matee Ajavon led Rutgers (27-5) with 24 points and Cappie Pondexter, a Naismith player of the year finalist, scored 22 in her final game.

ANDERSON TAKES OVER AT MISSOURI basketball Mike Anderson was hired as Missouri’s new men’s basketball coach yesterday, taking over following Quin Snyder’s resignation last month. Anderson, who led UAB to a 24-9 record and an NCAA tournament appearance this season, is the first black head coach hired on a permanent basis in a major sport at Missouri. As head coach at UAB for four years, Anderson had an 89-41 record with three NCAA tournament appearances. UAB lost to Kentucky 69-64 in the first round of the tournament this season.

GOLF

AMES RUNS AWAY WITH PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP Stephen Ames delivered a major performance yesterday on the treacherous TPC at Sawgrass, blowing away the strongest field in golf with a 5-under 67 to win the Players Championship by six shots and earn an unlikely trip to the Masters.

Ames made only one mistake, a double bogey on the 10th hole when he took two shots to get out of the bunker, and it looked as if he would have to battle his nerves along the scary back nine of the Stadium Course. Instead, he poured it on with impeccable shots that stretched his lead so much that the tiny island of a 17th green was only another hole on his way to a dominant victory.

Ames, 41, finished at 14-under 274, six shots clear of two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who closed with a 69. He earned $1.44 million for his second PGA Tour victory and got a three-year exemption to the Masters. Americans Jim Furyk and Pat Perez, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas shared third at 283, one stroke ahead of Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal.Tiger Woods was never part of the equation. He twice made double bogey from the middle of the fairway, on nos. 10 and 14, and closed with a 75..

BASEBALL

TIGERS RELEASE FIRST BASEMAN PENA Carlos Pena was unconditionally released yesterday by the Detroit Tigers after the first baseman struggled during spring training. Pena batted .160 with one home run in 50 at-bats in exhibition games.

Pena signed a $2.8 million, one-year contract last year that wasn’t guaranteed and will receive $688,525 in termination pay. Pena began last season as the starting first baseman, but was sent down to Triple-A Toledo with a .181 batting average on May 31.After being recalled August 17,he hit .286 with 15 homers and 30 RBI in 38 games.

SKIING

RAHLVES FINISHES CAREER WITH NATIONAL SUPER-G TITLE Daron Rahlves ended his 13-year racing career yesterday by successfully defending his super-G title at the U.S. National Championship.

Rahlves, runner-up to local hero Bode Miller in Saturday’s downhill, covered the Narrow Gauge course in 1 minute, 18.80 seconds. Scott Macartney of Redmond, Wash., placed second in 1:19.11. The 32-year-old Rahlves is the most decorated U.S. speed event skier in history: 12 World Cup victories, a super-G world championship gold medal in 2001, and two medals at the 2005 worlds. He is also a past winner of the legendary Hahnenkamm downhill.

Park City’s Thomas Lanning,returning from a series of serious injuries,bumped Miller off the podium with his time of 1:19.55.

– Associated Press