USC's JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame have joined an elite group, making the Associated Press All-America team in their first two seasons playing college basketball.

The duo on Wednesday became only the third and fourth players to earn first team All-America honors in their freshman and sophomore years, joining Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and UConn's Maya Moore.

Watkins was a unanimous choice from the 31-member national media panel that chooses the AP Top 25 each week. Hidalgo received all but two first place votes.

UConn's Paige Bueckers earned All-America honors for the third time, becoming just the 12th player to do that. UCLA's Lauren Betts and Texas' Madison Booker rounded out the first team. Bueckers and Betts were also unanimous choices.

Watkins led USC to its the Big Ten regular season title, the school's first conference championship since 1994, and its highest ranking in the poll. She averaged 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists to lead the Trojans.

"She set her own bar so high last year and then she managed to surpass it," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "She has the ability to lock in and get to a zone, raise her own level and galvanize those around her. Above all else, she's a winner."

Hidalgo has been dominant on both ends of the floor for the Fighting Irish. She earned both ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. She averaged 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 steals. She's fourth in the country in steals a year after leading in that category.

"What a well-deserved honor for Hannah. To be one of just four players to ever make the AP All-America first team in both of their first seasons is a major accomplishment," Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. "I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to see what she does in March!"

Bueckers had another strong season for the Huskies. She averaged 19.0 points, 4.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds. She guided UConn to another undefeated Big East season and is the expected No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft next month.

"She makes it look like it is never hard and never a struggle to get her points and get the shots off she wants," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.

Betts averaged 19.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and shot 63.4% from the field. She also was fifth in the country, averaging 2.93 blocks a game. She's the first player in UCLA history to earn first-team All-America honors.

"Lauren Betts has been dominant from start to finish on both ends of the floor," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "She continues to grow her versatility and her skill set and his is the deserved fruit of her labor. This is first an individual accomplishment for Lauren, but it is also a team accomplishment. So proud of it all!"

Booker, who was a second-team All-America last spring, averaged 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Longhorns, who tied for the SEC regular season title with South Carolina.

"To be preseason (All-American) and then to go live it, getting everybody's best shot, and you're the first person talked about in the scouting report. That's the most difficult thing to do. She did it," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.

Watkins, Bueckers, Booker and Hidalgo were all on the preseason AP All-America team. They were joined by USC's Kiki Iriafen.

Second team

The AP second team was headlined by LSU's Aneesah Morrow, who led the nation in rebounding averaging 13.6 a game. She was joined by UConn's Sarah Strong, Florida State's Ta'niya Latson, Notre Dame's Olivia Miles and Kentucky's Georgia Amoore.

Third team

The AP third team was Iriafen, TCU's Hailey Van Lith, who was the Big 12 player of the year, Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes, LSU's Flau'Jae Johnson and Iowa State's Audi Crooks.

Honorable mention

Raegan Beers of Oklahoma, Sedona Prince of TCU and Joyce Edwards of South Carolina were the leading vote-getters among players who didn't make the three All-America teams. Players earned honorable-mention status if they appeared on one of the ballots.

Welcome back to the #1 men's bracket game! The tourney tips off Thursday, 3/20 @ 12:15p ET - don't get locked out, create your brackets today! Don't forget to create a group and invite your friends to share in the madness.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones is missing his next spring training start because of elbow discomfort.

Jones went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA last season, combining with Paul Skenes to form an impressive rookie tandem on the mound in Pittsburgh, but now his status is uncertain just over a week before the season opener for the Pirates.

"He's not going to make his next start in spring training," manager Derek Shelton told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday. "That's for sure. I think with that being said, we're going to have to look at what happens going into the season."

Todd Tomczyk, the team's senior director of sports medicine, told reporters the team is currently awaiting a second opinion on Jones, who has had medical imaging done.

"We're hopeful we'll have a resolution in the coming days, at least what the next steps are," Tomczyk said. "But we are in kind of a hold, in a waiting pattern, until we can get that additional read."

TOKYO -- Sota Fujimori is the luckiest 10-year-old in Japan.

Sitting in right-center field Wednesday night at the Tokyo Dome, he watched Shohei Ohtani's home run in the fifth inning fall off the hands of another fan nearby and back onto the field.

It looked like bad luck.

"I thought I missed out at first," he said, doing an interview afterward in Japanese to explain with a small group of reporters.

Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong made his night, tossing the ball back into the stands.

Young Sota retrieved it as umpires reviewed the play to ensure the ball had cleared the wall and Ohtani had his first home run of the season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cubs 6-3, making Sota's evening complete. He said it was the first time he had seen Ohtani in person. The Dodgers also won on Tuesday 4-1 to sweep the two-game series in Tokyo to open the MLB regular season.

Sota is from Saitama, located just north of greater Tokyo. He wore a blue Dodgers shirt and a baseball mitt on his right hand, and he pulled the keepsake ball out of small backpack to show it off.

He looked awestruck but delighted.

Crow-Armstrong confirmed during a postgame interview that he threw Ohtani's ball into the crowd. Even though he thought the home run call was questionable, he was pleased to hear the ball ended up in the boy's hands.

"Absolutely, I'm glad," Crow-Armstrong said.

His parents asked not to take a photograph of their son's face, and they were reluctant to give many more details. But photos of the ball were OK.

Sota told reporters he is also an outfielder and in the fourth grade.

"I was really surprised," he said. "I couldn't believe it. I'm going to keep it as the family treasure."

After more than a year on the sidelines, Venner returned from her ACL injury and took time to regain top form.

John Mitchell called her into camp during last year's Six Nations and although a cap did not follow, a one-on-one meeting with the England coach helped spur her on to some of her best rugby this season.

Trailing by nine points in Sunday's Premiership Women's Rugby final against Saracens, Venner's dancing feet grabbed a vital try to start a run of 24 unanswered points.

England wing Jessica Breach was one of the defenders beaten by the silky footwork, who alongside Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne have formed a formidable Red Roses back three.

The trio scored a combined 18 tries in last year's Six Nations, although it is off the field where Venner is learning from her competition.

"I see it more as an opportunity to improve my game by working with the best three in the world," she revealed.

"The amount of work Jess and Abby do off the pitch is something you don't see.

"Their analysis is so in-depth, they are looking at the other team and not just themselves. This morning Abby had about two pages of notes on Italy.

"It is amazing to see and something I am going to have to get into."

Mitchell called up 19-year-old Bristol Bears wing Millie David - who was the joint-leading try-scorer in Premiership Women's Rugby with 17 tries - in the wider Six Nations squad, and capped Loughborough Lightning wing Bo Westcombe-Evans, 22, in October at WXV1.

Venner edged out both young wingers to earn a spot in the Six Nations pool, which may prove to be the difference when it comes to selection for this summer's home Rugby World Cup.

For Venner, however, it is one game at time - and hopefully a second cap in York on Sunday against Italy.

"It is just about being able to maintain form at the minute," she said.

"I am focusing on a Six Nations squad now but a World Cup squad is where everyone wants to be, it is what we work hard for every day.

"It is what you thrive for as a rugby player in order to be the best of the best. To do that, you have to work with the best, it is everyone's aim. It would be truly amazing."

Bristol Bears centre Amber Reed, who was part of England's World Cup-winning squad in 2014, has retired.

Reed, who could also play fly-half, won 67 caps for the Red Roses after making her international debut in 2012.

The 33-year-old also won Grand Slams, Six Nations titles and the WXV1 with England but was overlooked for this year's Women's Six Nations squad, having not featured since John Mitchell took charge of the side.

The Bristol-born centre has spent her entire senior career with her hometown club and her final game was Bears' Premiership Women's Rugby semi-final defeat by eventual champions Gloucester-Hartpury.

"After 16 seasons and nearly 200 appearances for club and country, it's time for me to hang up my boots and bring an end to my playing career," said Reed.

"From gracing the school sevens field, all the way to winning the World Cup and everything in between, it's been one helluva ride!

"Through every success and failure I've encountered throughout my career, I can say that I've always given 100% for myself, my team and the supporters. As my younger self looking into the future, it fills me with immense happiness that I can step away from the field knowing that I gave it my all every time and I have no regrets.

"To the fans: Thank you for being incredible. I will always remember the feeling of that pitch side roar playing in front of so many of you; the stuff dreams are made of.

"None of it would have been possible without you - please keep showing up and together we can make amazing things happen, especially with England 2025 on the horizon."

Liverpool striker Darwin Núñez has admitted that he is underperforming this season, saying his goal drought feels like the "ball doesn't want to go in."

Núñez has scored just one goal in his last 13 games in all competitions and notably missed his penalty in Liverpool's shootout-defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16 earlier this month.

The Uruguay international's recent struggles have also coincided with a downturn in Liverpool's form, which has seen them defeated by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final and knocked out of the FA Cup by Plymouth Argyle.

"It's been a tough few weeks for me personally. These are moments that you go through in football. I'm not someone who throws in the towel because I can't play; I'm going to fight to be able to play every game," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

"I know I'm not performing as well as I should.

"It's difficult because when you're doing well or playing well, your confidence changes, but the next game you find out you're not playing, and that makes you feel down. But I always try to train to be well and help my teammates in any way I can; that's what matters."

"The ball doesn't want to go in. I'm running a lot, playing well, and not being able to score a goal ... It's bad luck."

Rangers have urged fans to help the club remain "modern, progessive" and inclusive, adding that any supporter who doesn't want that should "disassociate" themselves immediately.

Before last week's Europa League round-of-16 second-leg clash with Fenerbahce, a small group of Rangers supporters displayed a banner that read: "Keep woke foreign ideologies out. Defend Europe."

The tie ended with Rangers advancing to the quarterfinals following a 3-3 draw on aggregate and a penalty shootout.

UEFA has since charged Rangers for a "racist and/or discriminatory banner," which the club expects to be met with significant sanctions.

"It is, however, deeply saddening and frankly embarrassing that the club is now set to face significant sanctions for the actions of a very small minority," Rangers said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Rangers is a modern, progressive football club, and we are fiercely proud of our diverse playing squads, workforce and support. For the club to be charged with such a matter in 2025 is shameful, and the disdain for those responsible will be shared by the overwhelming majority of our supporters.

"This charge will bring consequences for the club, while the club is also working to identify those responsible and will ensure they also face consequences.

"For the avoidance of doubt, if you do not believe in 2025 that absolutely everyone is welcome to follow Rangers whether at Ibrox or away, then Rangers is not the club for you, and you should disassociate yourself with the club immediately."

UEFA also charged Rangers for fans throwing of objects at Fenerbahce supporters, as well as another charge for the blockage of passageways in the stands.

"This senseless and criminal behaviour has no place in sport, nor in society," Rangers said. "Again, if you think such behaviour is acceptable, you are not welcome at Rangers matches."

The club said that missles being thrown at football matches is becoming increasingly frequent in Scotland, adding that a Rangers fan "hit and injured by an object thrown towards the away end" in a game against Motherwell earlier this month.