Buffalo women's hoops program hires former player Kristen Sharkey to replace Becky Burke
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The University of Buffalo has hired Kristen Sharkey as women's basketball coach.
Sharkey was hired Friday to replace Becky Burke, who left for Arizona after leading the Bulls to a school-record 30 wins and the WNIT title.
Sharkey, a former Buffalo player and assistant coach, was on Syracuse's staff the past three seasons.
She was an All-Mid American Conference player for the Bulls. In seven seasons as an assistant coach, she helped Buffalo earn four NCAA Tournament bids and reach the Sweet 16 in 2018.
'I stepped onto this campus 15 years ago not knowing the impact this special place would have on my life,' Sharkey said. 'Now, it is my turn to help these young women achieve their dreams and reach their highest potential both on the court and in the classroom.'
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
21 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Australia's champion pedigree faces South Africa's gritty ambition in cricket's WTC final
Associated Press LONDON (AP) — When it comes to major cricket finals, Australia is in a league of its own. Only Australia has won all four men's global trophies. It is hard to beat in finals, having won 10 of 13 across the 50-over World Cup, 20-over World Cup, Champions Trophy, and World Test Championship. And let's not get started on the women's team, which is even more dominant. The men go for world title No. 11 from Wednesday in the WTC final against South Africa at neutral Lord's. That ruthless focus Australia brings on the biggest stages is in marked contrast to South Africa, a perennial underachiever. The Proteas have won just one of cricket's major international titles, the Champions Trophy's inaugural predecessor in 1998, when most of the current Proteas were toddlers. An experienced squad — average age 29 1/2 — compensates with a bond that can't be underestimated, a determination to have each other's backs. That showed often in the 2023-25 WTC cycle as the Proteas, who used 30 players — more than any other team — found a run-scorer or wicket-taker at just the right time. They won their last seven tests and were first to qualify for the final. 'We haven't been super dominant in our performances,' South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said when the team qualified in December. 'We definitely haven't been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon. But I think what we've done is that we've found ways to make sure that the result is on our side.' Who opens with Khawaja? Australia already had a veteran team when it won the 2023 final by crushing India by 209 runs at the Oval. Ten of that 11 are back. Only David Warner is missing, retired from the test format. Medium-pace bowler Josh Hazlewood was injured and didn't play, but he's expected to replace one of the 2023 stars, Scott Boland. Hazlewood overcame a shoulder injury to spearhead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a first Indian Premier League title last week with 22 wickets in 12 innings. Warner's permanent replacement at opener still hasn't been settled. Sam Konstas made an audacious debut at age 19 in December against India, but Travis Head was preferred in Sri Lanka in February. They seem to be the main candidates. Marnus Labuschagne has opened only once since 2016, and his form has dropped to the point of concern. He averaged just 28.33 in the WTC cycle and attempts last month to spark form at Glamorgan in the second tier of the English County Championship fell flat. In the same division, allrounder Cameron Green scored three hundreds for Gloucestershire in a comeback from lower spine surgery which sidelined him for six months. But he's not ready to bowl. It may not matter. Australia has four of its top 10 all-time leading wicket-takers in Nathan Lyon (553, third), Mitchell Starc (382, fourth), captain Pat Cummins (294, eighth), and Hazlewood (279, 10th). Steve Smith is locked in at No. 4 in the batting order. He turned 36 last week and hasn't played in the top flight since March, just like Konstas, opener Usman Khawaja, Lyon, Boland, and wicketkeeper Alex Carey. But they're entrusted with the knowhow to switch on when it counts. Smith has four hundreds in his last five tests, and passed 10,000 career runs, almost as many as the South Africans. At Lord's he averages 58. Rabada ready to roll Whoever opens with Khawaja will likely immediately face fearsome South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada. Khawaja will have his hands full. He's fallen to Rabada five times in 10 matches. Rabada, with 327 wickets, is three away from tying Allan Donald for fourth place on South Africa's all-time list. Rabada will have the company of left-armer Marco Jansen, who took 29 wickets in six matches in the cycle. The third seamer will be either Lungi Ngidi, who was one of eight South Africans at the IPL, or Dane Paterson, who has been nipping the ball around for Middlesex in county division two. South Africa has confirmed Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton as the openers and captain Bavuma at No. 4. They played in the IPL, too. Middle-order batter David Bedingham, South Africa's leading scorer in the cycle, proved in a warmup game against Zimbabwe that he's recovered from a broken toe sustained in April. How did they qualify? The finalists didn't meet in this cycle. Their last series was in January 2023, when Australia won 2-0 at home and dominated. South Africa didn't play England either. It topped the standings with eight wins from 12 tests despite forfeiting a series in New Zealand to focus on its domestic Twenty20 league. Australia also didn't play last-place Bangladesh. With 13 wins in 19 tests, Australia clinched its spot in the final by beating India in January. It lost only twice away from home. Lord's history Lord's, the home of cricket, holds no demons for both teams. South Africa has lost only once there in seven post-apartheid tests. The last appearance resulted in an innings victory inside three days in 2022. Australia has not lost at Lord's for 10 years. ___ AP cricket:
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Brown, Milam drive in 4 runs each, LSU beats West Virginia 12-5 to clinch 20th CWS berth
Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Jake Brown hit a home run and had four RBIs, Steven Milam had two doubles and also drove in four runs and LSU beat West Virginia 12-5 on Sunday night to sweep the best-of-three Baton Rouge Super Regional. No. 6 seed LSU (48-15) clinched the program's 20th berth in the College World Series, where the Tigers will try to win their eighth national championship — all since 1991, the most recent in 2023. Derek Curiel led off the game with a double and scored to make it 1-0 when Brown reached on a fielder's choice in the first inning and the Tigers led the rest of the way. Anthony Eyanson (11-2) gave up four runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in five innings. Chris Stanfield, Curiel and Ethan Frey each drew a two-out walk to load the bases before Milam cleared the bases with a double off starter Jack Kartsonas (6-4) to spark a five-run second that made it 6-0. After Jace Rinehart hit a two-out solo shot and pinch-hitter Chase Swain drew a walk, Chase Shores came on a struck out Brodie Kresser swinging to end the eighth and the pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. Sam White hit a leadoff homer and Ben Lumsden added a two-run shot in the fourth before White added an RBI single in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-4. Stanfield hit a two-RBI single to spark a six-run seventh, capped when Brown's two-run home run gave LSU an eight-run lead. Milam and Josh Pearson each hit a grand slam as LSU beat the Mountaineers 16-9 in Game 1 on Saturday. West Virginia (44-16) set the program's single-season record for wins under first-year coach Steve Sabins. The Mountains advanced to their first-ever super regional last season. The game had originally been scheduled for 5:06 p.m. local time but was delayed approximately three hours due to inclement weather in the area. ___ AP college sports: recommended
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Saudi Arabia's World Cup hopes hinge on a near-impossible task against Australia
A Saudi squad that has scored six goals through nine qualifying games needs to beat Australia by a five-goal margin to earn a direct spot at the 2026 World Cup. Head coach Herve Renard knows it's an extremely unlikely outcome for his Saudi team, but he's urging his players to go all in Tuesday in the last game of the third round of Asian qualifying for next year's global tournament. 'The door is closed but we have to try to qualify even if it is through the window,' Renard said after his team's 2-0 win over Bahrain last week kept Saudi. 'Everything must go very well for us if we are to qualify; we have to score goals.' Anything less than a five-goal deficit means Australia — in second spot in Group C — qualifies for a seventh World Cup. The last time the Socceroos lost by such a margin was in successive 6-0 defeats against Brazil and France in 2013. The Australians have scored 14 goals and conceded six through nine qualifiers. After successive World Cup qualifications through the playoffs, Australia is close to securing a direct route but coach Tony Popovic is taking nothing for granted. 'We need to do a job in Saudi,' Popovic said. 'We're in a great position, but we need to finish it off.' Popovic has only been in the job since September, stepping in after Graham Arnold resigned after collecting just one point in the group's first two qualification games. 'It's been a really intense period since I've come in but everyone's embraced what we're aiming to do,' he said. 'And we're very close now to achieving our goal.' Asia has been allocated eight places at the 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The top two teams in each of the three groups in this round advance directly. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group go into another round vying for two more places. Japan was the first to qualify and will top Group C regardless of the outcome between Australia and third-place Saudi Arabia. Iran and Uzbekistan have qualified from Group A, and South Korea and Jordan have qualified from Group B. If Saudi Arabia fails to win by five, it will join United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia and Iraq in the next stage of qualifying in October. Oman, meanwhile, is fourth in Group B, a point ahead of the Palestinian team in fifth place, with the two teams meeting in Amman on Tuesday. 'We still have everything to play for and we know what we have to do and that is to take all three points and continue our journey,' Palestinian coach Ihab Abujazar said. For China , Kuwait, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Bahrain, the run to 2026 is already over. ___ AP soccer:
