Thursday and still lost by 19. This version of the U.S. womens Olympic team has been simply incredible. Theyve kept the streak started by the 1996 team going and now the Americans have won 48 consecutiv

HOUSTON -- Zach Lofton scored 26 points and blocked a 3-point shot at the buzzer, and Texas Southern beat Rice 71-68 on Wednesday night.The Tigers took the lead for good with about 17 minutes left, and led by as many as seven points. Marcus Evans made a 3-pointer to pull Rice to 69-68 with 45 seconds left. Lofton missed a jumper on the Tigers next possession, but Evans then missed a 3-point shot on the other end. Kevin Scott made a pair of free throws before Lofton blocked Marcus Jacksons 3-point attempt.Lofton was 10 of 27 from the field and made three 3-pointers. Derrick Griffin had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Texas Southern (2-1).Evans had 22 points and five assists to lead Rice (1-1). Egor Koulechov added 14 points and Corey Douglas had 11 points and nine rebounds.NFL Jerseys . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. MLB Jerseys . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. NHL Jerseys .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Cheap Jerseys From China . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford.RIO DE JANEIRO -- There was a calm, relaxed atmosphere at the final practice for the U.S. womens basketball team.Maybe its because injured guard Sue Bird was able to participate. Or maybe because many of the players have been in this position before -- a win away from another Olympic title.I understand its a gold medal game, weve approached it like any other game, said Bird, who has helped the U.S. win the last three golds at the Olympics. At the start of this entire month, every single practice and game we approached it like it was a gold medal game. Todays no different.The Americans will play Spain on Saturday in search of a sixth consecutive gold. Spain has already guaranteed itself of a first-ever Olympic medal in womens basketball.It looks like the U.S. will have Bird back for the title tilt. She missed the semifinal win over France as she was recovering from a sprained right knee capsule. She said she felt much better Friday and it showed. After taking part in practice, Bird went through a hard workout when it was finished to test the right knee.She stopped short of saying she definitely would play Saturday.I cant give you an answer for tomorrow, Bird said smiling. I can be happy with the way things have been going. Long term is great, short term is getting better.Bird said the pain is down to about a one or two out of 10. But she isnt going to push it if she doesnt feel comfortable and has the utmost confidence in her teammates if she cant play.Im not going to be dumb about it. Our team isnt built around one person, its built around 12, she said. As they showed yesterday it doesnt matter whos out there we have a really good team. Im not going to do anything stupid.Coach Geno Auriemma, who has worked with Bird for four years at UConn and now eight with USA Basketball, said the decision iss up to Bird whether she plays.dddddddddddd.Shell wake up tomorrow morning and tell us how she feels and well go with that, he said. Whatever Sue says, just having her on the floor, regardless the amount of time we can call on her, believe me the comfort level with our team and coaches went up 100 percent.The U.S. dominated Spain in the preliminary round, beating the Spaniards by 40 points. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship title game. Still, the U.S. isnt taking anything for granted.They are really, really good, Diana Taurasi said. Its going to be a hard fought battle and they have been playing really well since we beat them.The test for Spain will be to do what no team has been able to do in Rio: put together a full game against the U.S.France trailed by four at the half on Thursday and still lost by 19. This version of the U.S. womens Olympic team has been simply incredible. Theyve kept the streak started by the 1996 team going and now the Americans have won 48 consecutive contests. Theyve won the seven games in the Olympics by an average of nearly 40 points and are putting up 102.3 points a contest -- just a hair behind the record set by the `96 squad.Saturdays contest will be the last Olympic game for Tamika Catchings, who is retiring at the end of the WNBA season next month. Bird and Diana Taurasi have also hinted this will probably be their Olympic finale as well.Thats the elephant in the room that no one is talking about, Taurasi said. Were really focused on the game at hand and not what lies ahead after that.---Online:AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org/---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg ' ' '