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ST. THOMAS – Kansas claimed its first-ever Paradise Jam trophy Saturday, rallying from a double-digit deficit in the second half to defeat Auburn 61-60 in the final game to take the Island Division crown. S’Mya Nichols hit two free throws with less than 14 seconds left to put the Jayhawks (7-1, 3-0 in Paradise Jam) in the lead to stay. But they had to hold off the Tigers’ last-second chance to finish undefeated in the division. Nichols – named the Island Division’s most valuable player – finished with a game-high 28 points, with Laia Conesa adding 11 points for Kansas. Celia Sumbane led Auburn (5-2, 2-1 in Paradise Jam) with 16 points. Kaitlyn Duhon and Taylen Collins added 10 points each, and DeYona Gaston pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. The Tigers led 40-28 at the half, but the Jayhawks turned things around in the second half, tying the score twice in the third quarter before taking a 48-47 lead at the end of the period. The fourth quarter turned into a back-and-forth affair, with six lead changes and three ties. The fifth lead change saw Auburn pull ahead 60-54 on Sumbane’s layup with 1 minute, 4 seconds left. But a pair of free throws by Conesa with 49 seconds left, followed by Nichols’ 3-pointer 18 seconds later pulled Kansas within 60-59. The Tigers had a chance to add to their cushion, but Mar’shawn Bostic missed a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left, with the Jayhawks’ Wyvette Mayberry getting the rebound. Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider then put the ball in Nichols’ hands, and she was fouled by Collins while driving for a layup with 14 seconds left. Nichols then hit both free throws to put the Jayhawks ahead. Auburn had the time to put in a game winner itself, but Bostic’s running jumper from along the baseline bounced off the edge of the backboard in the final second. All-tourney In addition to Nichols earning MVP honors, four players were named to join her on the Island Division’s all-tournament team – Kansas teammate Elle Evans, Auburn’s Sumbane and Gaston, and Northern Iowa’s Kayba Laube.A melee broke out at midfield of Ohio Stadium after Michigan upset No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 on Saturday. After the Wolverines' fourth straight win in the series, players converged at the block "O" to plant its flag. The Ohio State players were in the south end zone singing their alma mater in front of the student section. When the Buckeyes saw the Wolverines' flag, they rushed toward the 50-yard line. Social media posts showed Michigan offensive lineman Raheem Anderson carrying the flag on a long pole to midfield, where the Wolverines were met by dozens of Ohio State players and fights broke out. Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer was seen ripping the flag off the pole and taking the flag as he scuffled with several people trying to recover the flag. A statement from the Ohio State Police Department read: "Following the game, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation. During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray. OSUPD is the lead agency for games and will continue to investigate." Michigan running back Kalel Mullings on FOX said: "For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game. It's bad for the sport, bad for college football. At the end of the day, some people got to learn how to lose, man. "You can't be fighting and stuff just because you lost the game. We had 60 minutes and four quarters to do all that fighting. Now people want to talk and fight. That's wrong. It's bad for the game. Classless, in my opinion. People got to be better." Once order was restored, officers cordoned the 50-yard line, using bicycles as barriers. Ohio State coach Ryan Day in his postgame press conference said he wasn't sure what happened. "I don't know all the details of it. But I know that these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren't going to let that happen," he said. "I'll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field and certainly we're embarrassed at the fact we lost the game, but there's some prideful guys on our team that weren't just going to let that happen." The Big Ten has not yet released a statement on the incident. --Field Level Media
OMAHA — Creighton did it again. In an in-state women’s college basketball series with Nebraska largely dictated by what happens beyond the 3-point arc, the Jays rallied with six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to beat No. 21 Nebraska 80-74 on Friday at Sokol Arena. At one point in the fourth quarter, the Jays made four straight 3-pointers. The Jays were 6 for 9 on threes in the fourth quarter and 13 for 29 for the game to give Nebraska its first loss to the season. The Jays outscored Nebraska by 24 points on 3-pointers. Creighton has won three straight in the series. Lauren Jensen had a game-high 31 points for the Jays with four 3s. Morgan Maly, a senior from Crete, scored 18. Alexis Markowski worked really hard for Nebraska, finishing with 26 points and 12 rebounds and calling for the ball inside where she often had an advantage. Britt Prince added 20 points in the first game against her hometown school. Nebraska led 55-52 to start the fourth quarter. For the final 10 minutes, one of the questions was how much did Markowski have left? And also, could the Huskers defend the 3-point line just a little longer? The Jays made two of their first three 3-point attempts to start the quarter to regain a 60-57 lead. Molly Mogensen had the first one, and Jensen the second for her fourth of the game. When Mogensen made another three the Jays led 72-66. The Jays sealed the deal when Prince missed a 3-pointer with seven seconds left and the Jays made their free throws. Nebraska led 22-19 after the first quarter. It was an entertaining start. The game started with Markowski going at Maly inside the paint, the Nebraska natives who played in the same club in Lincoln. There were five combined 3-pointers, with three for the Jays and two for Nebraska (each from Prince). Creighton used a 13-2 run that included three 3-pointers to take a 15-8 lead. But Nebraska got back in it with a steal and layup from Allison Weidner and a take to the basket from Callin Hake. Creighton added two more 3-pointers in the second quarter, but Nebraska was able to keep a lead at halftime 37-35. Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com . On Twitter @LJSSportsWagner. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Why Wolfspeed Stock Skyrocketed TodayOhio State, Michigan players involved in postgame scuffleWILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for Fox Corp. asked a Delaware judge Friday to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit seeking to hold current and former company officials personally liable for the financial fallout stemming from Fox News reports regarding alleged vote rigging in the 2020 election. Five New York City public employee pension funds, along with Oregon’s public employee retirement fund, allege that former chairman Rupert Murdoch and other Fox Corp. leaders deliberately turned a blind eye to liability risks posed by reporting false claims of vote rigging by election technology companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic USA. Smartmatic is suing Fox News for defamation in New York, alleging damages of $2.7 billion. It recently settled a lawsuit in the District of Columbia against One America News Network, another conservative outlet, over reports of vote fraud. Dominion also filed several defamation lawsuits against those who spread conspiracy theories blaming its election equipment for Donald Trump’s loss in 2020. Last year, Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion in Delaware for $787 million. The shareholder plaintiffs also allege that Fox corporate leaders ignored “red flags” about liability arising from a 2017 report suggesting that Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, may have been killed because he had leaked Democratic party emails to Wikileaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Rich, 27, was shot in 2016 in Washington, D.C., in what authorities have said was an attempted robbery. Fox News retracted the Seth Rich story a week after its initial broadcast, but Rich’s parents sued the network for falsely portraying their son as a criminal and traitor. Fox News settled the lawsuit in 2020 for “millions of dollars,” shortly before program hosts Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity were to be deposed, according to the shareholder lawsuit. Joel Friedlander, an attorney for the institutional shareholders, argued that Fox officials waited until the company’s reporting about Rich became a national scandal before addressing the issue. Similarly, according to the shareholders, corporate officials, including Rupert Murdoch and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, allowed Fox News to continue broadcasting false narratives about the 2020 election, despite internal communications suggesting that they knew there was no evidence to support the conspiracy theories. “The Murdochs could have minimized future monetary exposure, but they chose not to,” Friedlander said. Instead, he argued, they engaged in “bad-faith decision making” with other defendants in a profit-driven effort to retain viewers and remain in Trump’s good graces. “Decisions were made at the highest level to promote pro-Trump conspiracy theories without editorial control,” Friedlander said. Defense attorneys argue that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit without first demanding that the Fox Corp. board take action, as required under Delaware law. They say the plaintiffs also failed to demonstrate that a pre-suit demand on the Fox board would have been futile because at least half of the directors face a substantial likelihood of liability or are not independent of someone who does. Beyond the “demand futility” issue, defense attorneys also argue that allegations that Fox officials breached their fiduciary duties fail to meet the pleading standards under Delaware and therefore should be dismissed. Defense attorney William Savitt argued, for example, that neither the Rich settlement, which he described as “immaterial,” nor the allegedly defamatory statements about Dominion and Smartmatic constitute red flags putting directors on notice about the risk of defamation liability. Nor do they demonstrate that directors acted in bad faith or that Fox “utterly failed” to implement and monitor a system to report and mitigate legal risks, including defamation liability risk, according to the defendants. Savitt noted that the Rich article was promptly retracted, and that the settlement included no admission of liability. The Dominion and Smartmatic statements, meanwhile, gave rise themselves to the currently liability issues and therefore can not serve as red flags about future liability risks, according to the defendants. “A ‘red flag’ must be what the term commonly implies — warning of a risk of a liability-causing event that allows the directors to take action to avert the event, not notice that a liability-causing event has already occurred,” defense attorneys wrote in their motion to dismiss. Defense attorneys also say there are no factual allegations to support claims that Fox officials condoned illegal conduct in pursuit of corporate profits, or that they deliberately ignored their oversight responsibilities. They note that a “bad outcome” is not sufficient to demonstrate “bad faith.” Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster is expected to rule within 90 days. Randall Chase, The Associated Press
When Massachusetts voters decided to ditch the state’s standardized tests as a high school graduation requirement on Election Day, they joined a trend that has steadily chipped away at the use of high-stakes tests over the past two decades. The vote on the ballot question leaves only seven states with mandatory graduation exams, a number that could soon shrink further. A backlash to standardized tests has been fueled by complaints they take up too much classroom time and questions about how well they measure readiness for college or careers. It gained steam in recent years with concerns about equity and learning setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Massachusetts, a teachers union led the campaign against the graduation requirement, arguing it was keeping too many students from receiving a diploma and weighing too heavily on choices about school curriculum. The other side received backing from prominent business leaders including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and state officials including Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat. “We shouldn’t have different expectations for students depending on which ZIP code they live in,” Healey said. “We should have a uniformity to our expectations and they should be high for our students and our families.” The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests are given in mathematics, science and technology, and English. The ballot question didn’t end the tests, which are also used for assessing student progress. But passing them will no longer be required for a diploma. About 1% of high school seniors in Massachusetts, roughly 700 students, are denied a diploma each year because they failed the MCAS despite meeting other requirements. Most are English language learners or students with disabilities. In the mid-2000s, a high of 27 states required students to pass an exam to graduate, according to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union. The states that still have them, for now, are New York, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia. In New York, state officials this month proposed a timeline to phase out exit exam requirements as part of an overhaul of graduation standards. Students would still take Regents exams in math, English, science and social studies, but beginning in the 2027-28 school year, passing scores would no longer be required for a diploma. The plan would give students alternatives like community service or capstone projects to demonstrate proficiency. Earlier this year, the Florida Senate passed a bill that would remove testing requirements for high school graduation, but the push stalled in the House. In New Jersey, a bill to end the state’s graduation exam passed the state Assembly last year but then failed to pass the Senate. In Ohio, students must pass tests in reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies to graduate. Louisiana also requires students to pass a test and is the only state without an appeals process. In Texas, students must pass end-of-course assessments in algebra, English, biology and U.S. history. Harry Feder, executive director of FairTest, which opposes the use of tests as graduation requirements, said it makes sense to shift away from the tests he calls a “cheap and easy way” to conduct education. “What we want out of high school grads isn’t measured very well by a standardized test,” he said, including whether students are critical thinkers, problem solvers or able to collaborate. Critics say easing the graduation requirement will result in lower standards. “The vote against the MCAS is yet another sign of the overwhelming power of the teachers unions in blue states, and will turn Massachusetts diplomas into nothing but participation trophies,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the right-leaning Fordham Institute. Financial support for the elimination of the Massachusetts test requirement largely came from teachers unions, including the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which contributed millions in direct and in-kind donations, and the NEA, which donated at least $500,000. On the other side, Bloomberg contributed $2.5 million to the campaign in favor of keeping the requirement. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said teachers have been speaking out against the requirement for more than a decade. “Students who were passing their courses were being denied diplomas because of this requirement,” they said. “Educators were forced to narrow the curriculum in order to teach to the high-stakes test.” Ultimately, Massachusetts voters approved getting rid of the MCAS as a graduation requirement by a margin of 59% to 41%. Get local news delivered to your inbox!ATHENS EU states failed to agree on a new sanction package for Russia, the Politico news outlet reported Friday. Latvia and Lithuania refused to support the package as it also extended a provision that permits Western companies to keep working in Russia despite existing sanctions, it said, citing diplomats familiar with the issue. Critics of the provision, which was initially designed to benefit companies, said they want to divest from Russia but cannot for various reasons. They said the benefit is being abused and gives companies too much political cover to stay in Russia, said the US news outlet. Politico said Slovakia is seeking to extend another sanctions exemption that enables it to export refined Russian oil to neighboring Czech Republic, which announced it wants the arrangement to end. The sanctions package is expected to come up for discussion when EU foreign ministers meet Dec. 16.
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Donald Trump said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to working to address the border and fentanyl smuggling, key issues that have led the incoming US president to threaten massive tariffs. Trump, in a Truth Social post on Saturday, called their dinner Friday night at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida a “very productive meeting” and made no mention of his earlier 25 per cent tariff threat. “I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” he said. “Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US Families.” The dinner included incoming US Commerce Secretary and trade tsar Howard Lutnick, incoming Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and incoming National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. Trudeau’s delegation included Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Chief of Staff Katie Telford. 02:54 Trump threatens new anti-drug tariffs on ‘day 1’ for China, Canada, Mexico Trump has threatened tariffs on both Canada and Mexico while demanding action on the border.