UConn's Caroline Doty to play in league title game

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut's Caroline Doty will play in the Big East championship game Tuesday night after a scary head and neck injury during the Huskies' NCAA-record 71st straight victory.

The school said she participated in a shootaround Tuesday morningand was cleared by the medical staff to play against No. 9 West Virginia.

The sophomore guard was inadvertently elbowed in the head by Notre Dame's Ashley Barlow with 50 seconds left in Monday night's game. Doty lay on the floor for a few minutes before being helped up.

The injury dampened UConn's celebration of breaking its own NCAA record.

Iditarod launches drug testing of mushers

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Every human competitor now running theIditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be tested for alcohol and illegal drugs on the trail for the first time in the history of the 1,100-mile race — a change defending champion Lance Mackey believes is directed at him.

"I know for a fact," said the three-time winner.

Mackey, who has been open about using medical marijuana on the trail, on Tuesday was among the early front-runners in the race, which began with 71 teams Sunday in Willow. Four-time winner Jeff King of Denali Park was in the lead, the first to leave the Nikolai checkpoint Tuesday afternoon for the 54-mile run to the next checkpoint at McGrath. Canada's Sebastian Schnuelle, who was leading earlier, left soon after, followed by Kotzebue veteran John Baker, then 2004 winnerMitch Seavey of Seward. Mackey was running eighth.

Four mushers scratched Tuesday. Michael Suprenant of Chugiak and Zoya DeNure of Gakona cited personal medical problems. Karin Hendrickson of Chugiak cited a damaged sled and equipment problems. Kirk Barnum of Seeley Lake, Mont., said his dog team was tired.

Race organizers aren't saying when or where on the route the testing will occur, but they add that they aren't excluding anyone driving the 16-dog teams in the race. A musher who tests positive could face disqualification, a period of ineligibility from future races or both.

"We're going to test everybody," said Stan Hooley, executive director of the Iditarod Trail Committee. "It's not going to be random."

Race rules have included a policy on drugs and alcohol since 1984, but it has never been implemented, although the sled dogs have been tested for performance enhancers since 1994. Race organizers say they decided to formalize the policy for testing mushers beginning this year at the request of the Iditarod Official Finishers Club. The service is being provided by a drug testing company that's among the Iditarod sponsors.

Officials say the idea has been discussed for years. However, Hooley said it would be difficult to deny Mackey's contentions that he is being singled out for his acknowledged pot use and that other mushers have complained about it.

"The reality of it is he's won the race three times and people would like to figure out a way to beat him," Hooley said.

Mackey, a throat cancer survivor who is seeking his fourth consecutive win, said other competitors have stated that his use of pot gives him an edge in the trek to Nome, which he adamantly denies. The 39-year-old Fairbanks resident is facing a misdemeanor count of marijuana possession after being found with a small amount at the Anchorage airport in January, after his medical marijuana card had expired.

The cancer, diagnosed in 2001, left him with lingering physical ailments, such as pain, bone deterioration and loss of his saliva glands. Marijuana helps him cope with his health problems, and it's absurd that anyone would think that's why he's been winning, he said.

"Some people think that's an advantage?" he said. "I don't wish cancer on anybody."

Still, Mackey said he's abiding by the new rule. He even will abstain from his prescription of government-approved Marinol, which contains the active ingredient in marijuana. Race officials say exemptions include the drug, but Mackey said he's not taking any chances.

The 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, which Mackey has won four times in a row, has no rules that specifically address drug use among mushers.

Most mushers interviewed said they have no problem with the Iditarod policy.

"I think it's about time," said Iditarod veteran Paul Gebhardt, who has twice placed second in the race. "The Iditarod is the Super Bowl of dog mushing and as far as I know it's the only major sport that didn't have drug testing for the athletes in it. They had drug testing for 16 of the athletes on the team, but not for the human one."

Canadian Hans Gatt, who won his fourth Quest in February and is running his 12th Iditarod, said the policy doesn't matter to him because he never uses drugs. But he supports it because he considers the Iditarod aprofessional sports event.

"I think it's a good thing," he said. "It keeps us clean."

Mackey conceded the Iditarod organizers are doing what they believe is necessary. But he does not consider himself a paid professional, because unlike other professional sports organizations, the Iditarod Trail Committee does not pay him a salary. If it did, he could understand being under its control in the Iditarod.

"It's an event that we run nine days of the year," he said. "So what I do on the other 350-something days of the year is up to me, not them."

Center fielder Willie Davis found dead in his home

LOS ANGELES – Willie Davis, a speedy center fielder who collected two World Series rings, three Gold Gloves and was a two-time All-Star during his 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died. He was 69.

"He was beloved by generations of Dodger fans and remains one of the most talented players ever to wear the Dodger uniform. Having spent time with him over the past six years, I know how proud he was to have been a Dodger. He will surely be missed and our sincere thoughts are with his children during this difficult time," Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said in a statement.

Davis was found dead Tuesday in his Burbank home, police said, adding that they did not believe foul play was involved.

Davis' teammates included Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Roseboro, Junior Gilliam and Maury Wills. He won his World Series rings in 1963 and 1965.

"He was the only person I've ever seen score on a fly ball from second base when he did it in Vero Beach. Willie running the bases was one of the best. He was exciting. He was a very proud man and a good man. He was a good ballplayer," Dodgers coach Manny Mota said at spring training in Glendale, Ariz.

The Dodgers lost the 1966 World Series 4-0 to the Baltimore Orioles. In Game 2, in the last game of Koufax's pitching career, Davis committed a Fall Classic-record three errors in one inning when he lost one fly ball in the sun, dropped the next one, then overthrew third base.

During the 1965 World Series, Davis stole three bases in one inning, including one where he had to crawl into second base after stumbling and falling.

Davis left the Dodgers in 1973 and went on to play for the Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and California Angels.

He retired after the 1979 season with a career .279 average and 398 stolen bases.

"Willie was always such a young man in my eyes because of how he was able to move so easily. Time gets away from you quickly. You hope you take advantage of it and you hope you appreciate every day you're here. You just hope he's in a better place," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

"When that guy came into the league, he put fear in everybody — outfielders, pitchers, infielders, everybody. With all the fights we had and problems we had with the Dodgers, he was always a guy you'd have a word or two with: 'How you doing? How you hitting?'" former San Francisco Giants right fielder Felipe Alou said in Scottsdale, Ariz., where the Giants were playing the White Sox in a spring training game.

"I'm surprised," Alou said. "Wow. He was a great player. He was one of those exciting players with many triples and doubles. I had friends on the Dodgers, which was unusual. He was one of them."

Alou recalls a game at Dodger Stadium when Davis hit a hard single over first base that Alou chased down and threw to second and threw him out.

"I saw the umpire call him out and I said, 'I finally got that guy trying to stretch a single into a double.' The next day I saw the newspaper and it said Willie Davis had a double. I said, 'I threw him out.' My teammate said: 'We tagged him out. He had passed second.' He was that fast."

In 1996, Davis was arrested for allegedly threatening his parents with a samurai sword and ninja-style throwing stars, saying he would burn their house down if they didn't give him $5,000. Prosecutors eventually decided not to file charges.

His mother said it wasn't the first time he wanted money and she had given it to him in the past. Davis had become a Buddhist more than 30 years earlier, and in the six months before the attack, had started carrying the sword and a dagger that he wore in a holster, his mother said.

The Dodgers wanted to help Davis, former Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe said in 1996, and got permission from then-owner Peter O'Malley to do everything they could.

"But if you perceive that a person has some kind of problem, you can't give him money to enhance the problem," Newcombe said. "The Dodgers are too smart for that. We wish it was that easy, but it doesn't work that way. We would not give him money if we thought that he was going to use it for something other than a good use."

"If we could define the problem, Willie would go to a doctor of our choosing," Newcombe said. "Then we could have a medical diagnosis and a medical opinion about what his needs are. Then if that diagnosis was that he had a substance abuse problem, we'd put him in the hospital and we'd treat him for as long as he needed to be treated. The ball is in his court now. Willie's going to have to make a decision about what he's going to have to do with the rest of his life."

Former Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi once said of Davis: "There was nothing more exciting than to watch Willie run out a triple. ... He could have been a Hall of Famer, but he had million-dollar legs and a 10-cent head."

Hall of Famer Willie McCovey of the Giants said Tuesday: "There was a time he kind of went off and I'm not sure what (he did). He was living a weird existence for a while. But he had straightened himself out. This is shocking. A lot of guys from my era are passing on, let's face it."

Mota said the trouble Davis had toward the end of his life "was kind of sad to see it happen. But he was a great man. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Willie."

Davis was born in Mineral Springs, Ark., in 1940 and moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was still a boy. He attended Roosevelt High School where he was a world class sprinter.

He was recruited by the Dodgers and signed with them when he graduated in 1958, McCourt said. Two years later, he was in the majors. In 1961, he replaced Duke Snider in center field.

Davis still holds six team records. He is the franchise leader in hits (2,091), extra-base hits (585), at-bats (7,495), runs (1,004), triples (110) and total bases (3,094).

He set a team record in 1969 with a 31-game hitting streak. He had more than 20 stolen bases in 11 consecutive seasons.

He appeared in a few television shows, including "The Flying Nun" and "Mister Ed," usually as himself.

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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report from spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Swarbrick: Expansion could force ND into move

Swarbrick: Expansion could force ND into move

NEW YORK – Notre Dame wants to remain independent in football, but that might not matter if the Big Ten and Pac-10 decide to expand and create sweeping changes to major college sports.

"Our preference is clear," Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbricksaid Tuesday. "I believe we're at a point right now where changes could be relatively small or they could be seismic."

Swarbrick said it will be up to him and university president Rev. John Jenkins to "evaluate the landscape" if realignment happens.

"You can each come up with a scenario that would force our hand," he told a small group of reporters at a Manhattan restaurant.

The Big Ten announced in December it will explore options for expansion in the next 12 to 18 months. Last month, the Pac-10 also made it known that it would be considering adding schools.

Notre Dame has had a non-football Big East membership since 1995.

Notre Dame to the Big Ten has been a constant source of speculation for years. Its South Bend, Ind., campus is located in the heart of Big Ten country and the Irish already have established rivalries with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue.

The Fighting Irish rejected an offer to become the league's 12th member in 1999 and since then Notre Dame has gone about reaffirming and re-embracing it independent status in football.

Swarbrick has picked up where predecessor Kevin White left off, scheduling offsite and neutral site games around the country, a move that harkens back to Notre Dame's barnstorming golden age.

Last season, the Irish played Washington State in San Antonio, Texas. Next season, they'll play Army atYankee Stadium and on Monday it was announced they would play Maryland at FedEx Field, the home of theWashington Redskins, in 2011.

New coach Brian Kelly said he likes the fact that Notre Dame plays games from coast to coast.

"It's great when you look at the schedule and see games all over; at Yankee Stadium, at USC," he said.

Notre Dame's long and lucrative relationship with NBC, which airs all Irish home games, has helped the storied program flourish on its own, despite not winning a national title since 1988. Notre Dame's current deal with NBC ends after the 2010 season and was reportedly worth $9 million per year. Another five-year deal is set to begin in 2011.

Notre Dame is also guaranteed to receive money from the BCS every year, no matter how the Irish play.

Of the 120 major college football teams, only Notre Dame, Army and Navy are not in a one of 11 conferences.

The Big Ten has given no hints about what schools it might want to add or how many, but speculation has been rampant. Texas and Missouri from the Big 12 and Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse from the Big East are names that have been thrown around by media and fans.

But if Notre Dame ever had a change of heart, the Big Ten would no doubt welcome the Irish.

Since the Pac-10 announced it was interested in expanding — most likely adding two teams to reach the minimum 12 needed to hold a football championship game a la the SEC, Big 12 and ACC — the speculation ramped up again. Colorado from the Big 12 and Utah, BYU and San Diego State from the Mountain West are some of the teams that have been mentioned as possible Pac-10 targets.

"I've been around this business for 29 years," Swarbrick said, "and this is as unstable as I've ever seen it."

So what could lead Notre Dame to consider giving up its independence?

"What if realignment impacts the shape of the BCS?" Swarbrick said.

"The Big East has been a great conference for us," he said. "If there is a fundamental change to the Big East, what does that do?"

Unknowns aside — and there are plenty more — if Swarbrick had his way, he'd choose the status quo.

"We're trying like hell to maintain our football independence," Swarbrick said. "I think it's good for college football and it's good for Notre Dame."

Lawyers: Respect Roethlisberger accuser's privacy

ATLANTA – Attorneys for the woman who accuses Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexual assault said that she did the right thing by going to police and asked for privacy in a statement Tuesday.

Atlanta-based Attorneys Lee Parks and David Walbert said in the statement released to several media outlets that woman is assisting police. They said they were hired to advise the woman and her family while police investigate the allegations.

The 20-year-old told police that the two-time Super Bowl winner, who had been out barhopping with friends, assaulted her early Friday at a nightclub in Milledgeville, Ga. Roethlisberger has not been charged.

"Their daughter has done the right thing and reported this matter to the police," reads the statement released by the attorneys' Atlanta law firm, Parks, Chesin & Walbert. "She has been, and will be, available to the authorities to assist them in the criminal investigation. While the matter is under investigation, we ask you to respect her privacy, keep her name out of the press and allow the family space and time to heal."

Ed Garland, an attorney for Roethlisberger, has said the quarterback is innocent of any crime.

"The facts show that there was no criminal activity. No sexual assault occurred," attorney Garland said in a statement Monday.

Milledgeville police have said they expect to interview Roethlisberger in the next several days and are planning to take a DNA sample from him.

Roethlisberger, who owns a home about 30 miles north of Milledgeville on Lake Oconee, is also being sued by a woman who claims he raped her in 2008 at a hotel-casino in Lake Tahoe hotel and casino, an allegation he strongly denies.

Parks and Walbert didn't return calls and e-mails from The Associated Press.

NASCAR puts Carl Edwards on probation for 3 races

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sticking with its "boys, have at it" attitude, NASCAR won't force Carl Edwards to miss any races after he deliberately wrecked Brad Keselowski's car last weekend in Atlanta.

Edwards will be on probation for three races and monitored byNASCAR through the April 10 race at Phoenix but may drive in theSprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said Edwards acted unacceptably Sunday but did not cross the line in what the sanctioning body will allow this season. NASCAR promised in January to give the drivers more leeway in policing themselves and settling scores in an effort to energize the sport.

"We made it very clear to (Edwards) that these actions were not acceptable and did go beyond what we said back in January about putting the driving back in the hands of the drivers," Helton said. "We believe (Edwards) understands our position at this point."

There had been a strong call from fans and analysts for NASCAR to suspend Edwards, who returned to the track down 153 laps from an earlier accident with Keselowski and intent on wrecking his car. He tried for at least one lap before succeeding with three laps to go, nudging Keselowski's car and sending it airborne. The car banged hood-first off a retaining wall before flipping back onto its wheels. No one was hurt.

Keselowski supported NASCAR's decision.

"They are not in an enviable position when it comes to these matters, but they do an outstanding job," he said in a statement, adding it was unfortunate the accident overshadowed Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch's victory.

Edwards acknowledged his action was intentional but said he was surprised by Keselowski's car taking flight. Because NASCAR approved greater driver leeway before the season, a severe punishment for Edwards most likely would have quashed the "have at it" attitude after the first test.

The decision to lighten up after years of penalizing drivers for minor infractions — Dale Earnhardt Jr. was once punished for cursing on TV; Jeff Gordon was placed on probation for shoving Matt Kenseth — was in large part due to increased fan excitement created by some 2009 feuds.

Denny Hamlin had a monthslong dispute with Keselowski, an aggressive young driver who has made no apologies for banging fenders with established veterans. Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya played retaliatory bumper-cars in the season finale at Homestead.

Helton said the day after the finale that NASCAR had perhaps gone too far in sterilizing the competition and acknowledged that more emotion and personality could benefit the sport. The "have at it" era was announced less than two months later, and Helton was not backing down Tuesday.

"The clear message, I think, we sent in January was that we were willing to put more responsibility in the hands of the driver," he said. "But there is a line you can cross and we'll step in to maintain law and order when we think that line's crossed."

Just what is that line?

"I think we see it when we see it," he replied.

Clint Bowyer, participating in a Goodyear tire test at Darlington, disagreed with NASCAR's assessment.

"I think there's a too far in everything and that was too far. Bottom line. Simple as that," Bowyer said. "That was a pretty scary incident that could've been a lot worse."

The fairly lenient punishment — many view probation as a slap on the wrist — drew swift and mixed reaction from drivers who jumped to their Twitter accounts during Helton's 20-minute announcement.

"Huh!" wrote Kevin Harvick, who was suspended one race in 2002 for insubordination — he parked his truck at the door of the NASCAR hauler when he was summoned to discuss rough driving at Martinsville.

"I'm thinking about asking for a refund for all of my penalties!!!!"

Scott Speed and Michael Waltrip applauded NASCAR's decision.

"You can't ask the driver to take their gloves off one week and then tell em to put 'em back on the next," Waltrip wrote.

Helton said NASCAR saw two distinct parts to the accident: Edwards' action and Keselowski's car going airborne. The more serious of the two, in NASCAR's opinion, is figuring out why Keselowski's car acted as it did.

"That's something that is very important to us, and we want to study very closely to figure out things that we can do to help prevent this very quickly in the future," Helton said. "This is a very important element of all of this, that I would ask all of us to be reminded of the fact of the car getting airborne was a very serious issue."

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AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli contributed to this report from Darlington, S.C.

Joe Hart good enough for World Cup, says Alex McLeish

Hart denies Nottingham Forest's David McGoldrick in Tuesday's FA Cup victory Joe Hart is good enough to be England's World Cup goalkeeper in South Africa, says Birmingham boss Alex McLeish. Hart, on loan from Manchester City, has kept 11 clean sheets this season and his saves on Tuesday helped to dump Nottingham Forest out of the FA Cup. With England's number one spot still up for grabs, McLeish told BBC Radio 5 live: "He's got to be a candidate. "Joe can probably look around at other England keepers and think he's got as good a chance as anybody." England manager Fabio Capello appears to remain uncertain about his first-choice keeper ahead of this summer's tournament. And Birmingham's 22-year-old keeper, on a year-long loan from Eastlands, is pushing for a starting spot in South Africa following injuries to Portsmouth's David James and the poor form of Manchester United's Ben Foster and West Ham's Robert Green. 606: DEBATE With Capello liking players who are in form, will there be some call ups from the Birmingham squad? I go for Hart Aethelred_Unraed Hart has kept clean sheets in four of his past five matches, while Birmingham are unbeaten in 14 games, lie eighth in the Premier League and are through to the FA Cup fourth round after their hard-fought victory over Forest. McLeish added: "When Capello looks at all of his prospective players he'll make sure they've got all the ingredients and Joe shows all those ingredients at the moment. "He's come on in leaps and bounds and has improved his game. He's ironed out some rough edges which have made him even better." The former Shrewsbury Town keeper has picked up one England cap, making his his debut in the 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in June 2008. He has been included in a number of Capello's squads but has not featured in any of England's World Cup qualification or friendly matches since playing in the friendly in Port of Spain.