Overtime

College Basketball

Paine teams edged twice in Alabama

A strong defensive effort wasn't enough to overcome poor shooting as the Paine College women lost to Stillman, 54-51, on Thursday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Paine College (14-9) forced 29 turnovers, but hit just 30 percent of its shots from the field, compared with 44 percent for Stillman (10-14).

No one for Paine managed to score in double figures. The Lady Lions were led by Kisha Lucette and Chantal Murray with 8 points each.

Paine (12-11) trailed at halftime, but forced overtime by outscoring Stillman 31-23 in the second half. Stillman outscored Paine 12-7 in the extra period.

Brian Harper led Paine with 19 points.

The Augusta men held the Braves to 19 second-half points en route to a 67-40 victory. The Jaguars (14-10, 7-6 ) hit 53 percent of their shots from the field. Jason Mills led the way with 12 points.

In the women's game, Pem¤broke won 71-49 to move into a first-place tie for the North Division lead with a 7-6 record. Augusta State is 6-7 in the conference and 12-12 overall.

Brandi Hollingsworth led Augusta State with 14 points and Latoya Renwrick had 12.

The Augusta State teams return to action Saturday, playing host to Clayton State (5:30 p.m. for the women, 7:30 p.m. for the men).

Pro Football

Patriots linebacker suffers mild stroke

New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi suffered a mild stroke but is walking, talking and in good spirits, the team said Thursday.

Bruschi experienced temporary numbness, blurred vision and headaches Wednesday night and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

"It has been determined that these symptoms were the results of a mild stroke," team spokesman Stacey James said. "Tedy is in good condition and, as always, his spirits are high. He is walking and talking normally and stressed that he would like to thank everyone for keeping him and his family in their thoughts and prayers."

The Patriots said Bruschi could be released as early as today.

A nine-year NFL veteran, Bruschi is the centerpiece of the Patriots defense that helped the team win three of the past four Super Bowls, including a 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 6.

On Sunday, Bruschi played in his first Pro Bowl.

Brees was tagged as a non-exclusive franchise player, meaning he can still negotiate with other teams.

Should Brees receive an offer from another team, the Chargers can either match the new club's offer, or receive two first-round choices from that club as compensation.

Tennis

Mauresmo handles Pierce in Belgium

In Antwerp, Belgium, top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo beat two-time major champion Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games tournament.

Two other seeded players had much tougher times advancing: No. 2 Anastasia Myskina and No. 4 Alicia Molik.

Myskina, the reigning French Open champion, got past Tatiana Golovin of France 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4, while Olympic bronze medalist Molik came back to beat Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7).

In the quarterfinals, Myskina will play Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, who eliminated Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (12).

Mauresmo meets Patty Schnyder of Switzerland next, and another quarterfinal will pit defending champion Kim Clijsters against 2002-03 winner Venus Williams.