WASHINGTON (AP) — Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River included figure skaters returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and two of their Russian coaches. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines flight on Wednesday and three soldiers aboard the training flight on the Blackhawk helicopter. It was believed that there were no survivors. “We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital, on Thursday morning. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement that several skaters, coaches and their family members were on the commercial flight after attending a development camp that followed the championships that wrapped up Sunday in Wichita, Kansas. Two of those coaches were identified by the Kremlin as a Russian couple who were pairs world champions 30 years ago.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry hit a long 3-pointer with 1:52 left on the way to 21 points, Andrew Wiggins scored 27 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 116-109 on Wednesday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 52 points for the Thunder, two off his career high set against the Utah Jazz a week earlier. Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points in the opening 8:10, and 21 of his team’s 34 first-quarter points. He shot 16 for 29 and converted 18 of 21 free throws. Curry returned after sitting out Tuesday’s win against the Jazz to rest his ailing knees and missed his initial five shots before connecting at the 10:46 mark of the second quarter. Kevon Looney scored 18 off the bench and Gary Payton II had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Caitlin Clark is going to wait until Indianapolis hosts the WNBA All-Star weekend in July to enter her first 3-point contest as a pro. The Fever star declined an invitation to participate in a special challenge during NBA All-Star weekend next month, her representatives at Excel Sports said Wednesday. There had been discussions for Clark to participate in a contest similar to the one that pitted Stephen Curry against Sabrina Ionescu in a 3-point shootout during last season’s NBA All-Star weekend. Curry beat the New York Liberty star. It was one of the highlights of the weekend. There have been discussions around expanding that shootout this year when the NBA All-Star Game takes place in the Bay Area in two weeks. Ionescu told The Associated Press earlier this month she planned to be at the All-Star festivities, but declined to elaborate whether she would be involved in any on-court activities.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s Javon Small gestured and yelled for a teammate — any teammate — to get open closer to the basket. When that didn’t work, the Big 12’s leading scorer forced up a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired. Clank. Small was the latest star stifled by No. 6 Houston, which has been making a habit out of sapping opponents’ strengths. The Cougars (17-3, 9-0 Big 12) are riding a 13-game winning streak behind the nation’s stingiest defense and priding themselves in slowing down the other team’s top scorers. “We’re a defensive-minded team,” Houston guard L.J. Cryer said after a 63-49 win over the Mountaineers on Wednesday night. “We go to practice and we emphasize defense a lot. You achieve what you work on and what you emphasize. When the ball’s not going in, you’ve got to rely on your defense. And on the nights that the ball isn’t going in, we’re going to win because of that.”
WEDNESDAY SCORES
NCAA MEN TOP 25
No. 1 Auburn 87, LSU 74
No. 4 Alabama 88, No. 14 Mississippi State 84
No. 6 Houston 63, West Virginia 49
Maryland 76, No. 17 Wisconsin 68
No. 22 Texas Tech 71, TCU 57
No. 23 Ole Miss 72, Texas 69
No. 25 UConn 72, DePaul 61