AP Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — JuJu Watkins broke out of a scoring slump with 38 points, helping sixth-ranked USC topple No. 1 UCLA 71-60 and further delivering on her goal of restoring the program to its earlier glory. Some of those Trojans stars from the early 1980s — including Hall of Famers Cheryl Miller and Tina Thompson — joined a raucous crowd on its feet as USC rallied for the program’s first win over a top-ranked team since 1983 on Thursday night. Watkins made six 3-pointers, 8-of-10 free throws, and 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in 39 minutes.

Rodgers’ stint with the Jets is over. Here are some potential landing spots if he doesn’t retire

Aaron Rodgers’ tenure with the New York Jets began with lots of fanfare and Super Bowl aspirations. It ended less than two years later with a disappointing thud. The Jets slammed the door on the 41-year-old quarterback potentially returning to the team when they said they told Rodgers they were moving a different direction. The four-time MVP hasn’t announced his playing plans, but if Rodgers wants to get back into the huddle, it won’t be with the Jets. But there are a few quarterback-needy teams such as the Titans, Browns, Giants, Raiders and Steelers that could be potential landing spots.

Back in his native Bay Area, All-Star Damian Lillard seeks to make college more attainable for kids

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Damian Lillard went back to Oakland High on Thursday to help make the path for some current students there a little easier. Lillard started his All-Star weekend with a stop at his alma mater to unveil The Damian Lillard Scholars program. He’s helping provide $25,000 scholarships to students at nine East Bay high schools that will help with out-of-state tuition if they choose to attend Portland State, a nod to where his NBA career began with the Trail Blazers.

Philadelphia turns green on Valentine’s Day to celebrate Super Bowl champions

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles fans are perched in trees and atop ladders to get a glimpse of their Super Bowl champion Eagles. Screams and cheers broke out Friday when MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the start of the team’s victory parade through the City of Brotherly Love. Fans camped out along the team’s parade route overnight. Some huddled under blankets and inside tents early Friday to secure prime spots near the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the Eagles will take the stage. There’s a large police presence along the parade route, including dump trucks and heavy equipment blocking many side streets.

Trump orders US to ditch the penny. What’s its connection to NASCAR’s most impactful Daytona 500?

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (AP) — Cease production of the penny, let collectors gobble up what’s left of the 1 cent coin, and there will still be one eternally glued to Dale Earnhardt’s old Chevrolet, the luckiest piece of loose change in NASCAR history. The penny was doomed into obscurity after President Donald Trump this week directed the Treasury Department to stop minting ones, citing the rising cost of producing the coin. The memories that linger of Earnhardt, 24 years after his death in the 2001 Daytona 500, and of the penny given to him by a 6-year-old girl ahead of his 1998 Daytona 500 victory, are priceless.

Here’s a crash course — a cheat sheet, really — for the 67th running of the Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Welcome to the Daytona 500! Maybe you’re new to the sport, have a casual interest or are just coming around to the edge-of-your-seat wrecks, the thrilling finishes and the stars that make up the Daytona 500 field. Either way, here is a crash course on some of the basic names and terms to know for the Daytona 500. Daytona Beach became the unofficial “birthplace of speed” in 1903 when two men argued over who had the fastest horseless carriage and decided to settle things in a race on the white, hardpacked sand along the Atlantic Ocean. This is the 67th running of “The Great American Race.”

Gold, silver or bronze. Mikaela Shiffrin has never finished off the podium in a slalom at the worlds

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin is chasing a record-breaking 16th medal at the world championships in the slalom on Saturday. She’s currently tied for the record set by German skier Christl Cranz in the 1930s. Shiffrin has only raced twice since she was impaled by an unknown object during her giant slalom crash in Killington, Vermont, on Nov. 30. She finished 10th in a World Cup slalom in Courchevel, France, last month, and paired with Breezy Johnson to win gold in the new team combined event on Tuesday.

McCarthy’s big finish gives him the lead in the cold rain and brutal test of Torrey Pines

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Denny McCarthy is leading the Genesis Invitational thanks to two holes to close out an otherwise tough and miserable day of weather. McCarthy finished birdie-eagle for a 68. That gives him a one-shot lead over Seamus Power and Patrick Rodgers. Scottie Scheffler was another shot back after missing a short birdie attempt on his final hole. Torrey Pines was brutal as ever because of a cold rain and enough wind. Two of the par 5s played over par. The fifth hole didn’t yield a single birdie. Torrey Pines is filling in for Riviera this year because of the LA wildfires.

Steph vs. Sabrina, the big hit of All-Star weekend last year, won’t happen this year

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There will be no Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu rematch at All-Star weekend. The NBA announced Thursday that the 3-point shooting event bringing together two of the biggest stars in the NBA and WNBA is not going to be part of the lineup in San Francisco. It was the hit of All-Star weekend last year. Talks went on for weeks to try to make the rematch happen, even stretching into All-Star week itself. It seemed more than logical that a rematch would occur; All-Star weekend is on Curry’s home floor this weekend and Ionescu is a Bay Area native who grew up watching Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

Goodyear Blimp at 100: From Ronald Reagan to Ice Cube, ‘floating piece of Americana’ still thriving

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.