Overtime

College Softball

USC Aiken pitcher recipient of award

USC Aiken's Stacie Oakley, who struck out the first 10 batters she faced this season, has been named Peach Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Oakley, a transfer from Young Harris, has 23 strikeouts in two games, including a school-record 14 in the Pacers' season opener.

In her second game, she went 14 innings in USC Aiken's 17-inning, 1-0 victory over No. 9 North Florida.

For the season, Oakley has a 0.00 ERA, allowed eight hits and walked seven.

Women's Pro Basketball

PGA executive will take over at WNBA

PGA Tour executive Donna Orender will replace Val Ackerman as WNBA president.

Ackerman, the WNBA's only president, said in October she was resigning, and NBA commissioner David Stern quickly focused on Orender.

Orender, a senior vice president with the tour, will take over in April, a month before the season opens.

An All-American at Queens College and an All-Star in the WBL, Orender has spent the past 17 years with the PGA Tour, where she oversaw worldwide management of the tour's television and production, advertising, brand management and integration. Orender also was responsible for the tour's new media and Internet business.

Orender has been consulting with Ackerman during the transition, and said there is no pressing issue that needs to be addressed.

Orender joins a 14-team league in which the Chicago franchise will be the WNBA's first addition since 2002. San Antonio and Connecticut began play in 2003, but each moved from a previous location.

Boxing

Reality TV fighter commits suicide

In Philadelphia, a promising young boxer who got the break of a lifetime when he was chosen to compete on NBC's upcoming reality TV program The Contender has committed suicide.

Najai Turpin shot himself in the head early Monday while sitting with his girlfriend in a parked car outside the West Philadelphia gym where he trained, police said. Investigators were unsure why the 23-year-old fighter took his life.

Produced by reality TV mogul Mark Burnett, The Contender will follow the lives of 16 boxers competing against each other for a chance at a million-dollar purse. The program, scheduled to debut March 7, will go on as planned, NBC said. The episodes involving Turpin already had been taped.

NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks declined to say how Turpin had fared in the show, which is to conclude with a live championship bout between two finalists in May. She said, however, that the show will not need to be overhauled because of Turpin's death.

A tribute to Turpin will be added to the show. Viewers also will be offered a chance to donate money to a trust fund set up to support Turpin's 2-year-old daughter.

Police said they didn't know where Turpin got the gun. He was not licensed to carry a handgun and the weapon was not registered to him.

"The episode in which he was most depicted will stand as a wonderful testament to who he was. It will not be changed," Burnett wrote.

Tennis

Clijsters victorious in return to action

In Antwerp, Belgium, former No. 1 Kim Clijsters beat Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in the Diamond Games in her first match in four months.

Clijsters said the left wrist injury that sidelined her in 2004 did not bother her as she opened the defense of her hometown title.

The Belgian star expects a tougher match against fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova today.

Zuluaga, the defending champion, overpowered Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada 6-1, 6-1, while Pennetta downed Frederica Piedade of Portugal 6-2, 6-1. overtime