Pau: Luc; Roudil (c), Klemenczak, Brau-Boirie, Grandidier Nkanang; Desperes, Souverbie; Calles, Dehommel, Williams, Jolmes, Tagitagivalu, Kpoku, Hamonou, C Tuipulotu.

Replacements: Ruffenach, Parrou, Tokolahi, Picquette, Maximin, Hewat, Robson, Manu.

Bath: McConnochie; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Butt, Muir; Donoghue, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Griffin Roux, Molony, Bayliss, Underhill, Red.

Replacements: K Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Verden, Richards, Hill, Carr-Smith, Bailey, Coetzee.

Red card: Underhill (55 mins).

Referee: Hollie Davidson.

LOS ANGELES -- Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl is "out short term" but should return "well before" the playoffs begin after suffering a lower-body injury against the San Jose Sharks the previous night, coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday.

Draisaitl, who leads the NHL with 52 goals this season, didn't practice Friday and won't play against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. He missed the second half of the second period and all of the third period in a 3-2 win over the Sharks.

Knoblauch expects Draisaitl back before the postseason begins on April 19, when the Oilers are likely to face the Kings in the first round for the fourth straight year.

"We think it's going to be back well before that, so we're not too concerned, especially with Leon's pain tolerance and things that he's played through before, but he will be missing some time," Knoblauch said.

Draisaitl missed four games in late March because of an undisclosed injury. Knoblauch said this new ailment is unrelated.

Draisaitl was on pace to set a career high in scoring after reaching the 50-goal mark for the third time in four seasons, and his 106 points are third in the league.

The one-two punch of Draisaitl and fellow superstar center Connor McDavid powered the Oilers to the Stanley Cup finals last year, but Edmonton is currently without both players as they try to chase down the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage for the first round.

McDavid has not played since suffering a lower-body injury in a collision with Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey on March 20.

In spite of those absences, Edmonton has won three straight and is 7-2-1 in its past 10 games.

"It's impressive," forward Trent Frederic said. "Even last night, it's a big win there. ... No, the team's looked unreal."

Frederic was acquired from the Boston Bruins in a three-team trade on March 4 but has yet to play for the Oilers because of an ankle injury. He took part in practice Friday and could make his Edmonton debut on Saturday.

Alex Ovechkin continues his chase to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time regular season NHL goals scoring record of 894. Ovechkin has been on a scoring tear this season, with 39 goals in 59 games to give him a total of 892, despite missing time with a broken leg. Both Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals have been surprisingly hot this season, with Ovechkin logging his best goals per game ratio in years and the Capitals at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Ovechkin is one of the most distinguished players to step on the NHL ice, winning three Hart Trophies for most valuable player, nine Rocket Richard Trophies for most goals scored in a season and the 2017 Stanley Cup, the first championship in franchise history. Here are the remaining games for Ovechkin and the Capitals. Next up is a home game Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

For sports bettors, Ovechkin has been one of the NHL's most popular bets as he continues to get closer to the Great One's mark. Here are the special markets on ESPN BET Sportsbook to bet on Ovechkin's record chase.

Latest odds as of publication. For odds movement, go to ESPN BET.

Relevant links: Ovechkin goals tracker | Odds to win conference, Stanley Cup | Fantasy hockey | How to watch the NHL on ESPN

Ovechkin's odds vs. Chicago on Friday (Watch live on ESPN+):

• First goal-scorer: +650

• To score 2-plus goals: +450

• To score 3-plus goals: 19-1

• Over/Under 0.5 total goals: -165/+120

• O/U 3.5 shots on goal: +115/-160

• O/U 1.5 total points: +145/-190

• O/U 0.5 assists: +110/-145

• O/U 0.5 power play points: +170/-230

For more from ESPN:

• Ovechkin's pursuit of record creates betting frenzy

• Fantasy hockey rankings

• Beginner's guide to sports betting

LOS ANGELES -- U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson said the federation would strongly support expansion of the Women's World Cup to 48 teams in 2031.

U.S. Soccer submitted the only "valid bid" for the 2031 tournament prior to FIFA's deadline, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday.

"Forty-eight teams is something that we've been passionate supporters for," Batson told a small group of reporters Friday. "We think it would be incredible for growing the women's game."

Infantino has previously proposed the idea of expanding the competition to 48 teams. Batson said that "all signs are positive" for expansion to 48 teams, and that U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone would use her new seat on the FIFA Council to voice that support.

The United States is expected to co-host the 2031 Women's World Cup with other Concacaf nations. Batson said that the number of teams participating in the tournament will dictate which other countries join the U.S. as hosts.

Mexico previously joined the U.S. in a 2027 Women's World Cup joint bid that was ultimately abandoned to allow the U.S. to focus on 2031. Brazil will host the 32-team 2027 tournament.

The UK submitted the only "valid bid" to host the 2035 Women's World Cup. FIFA had previously set geographic restrictions on which continents could host each event.

The Women's World Cup expanded from 16 to 24 teams in 2015, then expanded to 32 teams in 2023.

The 2026 Men's World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the U.S., will feature 48 teams for the first time.

"One of the things we hear from folks who lead federations around the world is they view the Women's World Cup as an opportunity for them to, one, make a World Cup and, two, really go compete in a way that conceivably they wouldn't be able to on the men's side," Batson said. "So, what this would lead to in terms of spurring investment all around the world in women's and girls' soccer, we think would be incredible."

The U.S. hosted the 1999 and 2003 editions of the Women's World Cup, the latter by emergency due the SARS epidemic in China, the original host for that year. Canada hosted the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Both Batson and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman used the term "catalyst" in describing the opportunity to host the 2031 tournament.

"I think to the extent people see the Men's World Cup as a catalyst for the growth of men's soccer here, the Women's World Cup being here in 2031 is directly a catalyst for growth," Berman told ESPN, referencing 1999 as an inflection point.

"The idea that we actually will have a thriving league going into it and coming out of it, no doubt should create and incredible amount of excitement for the future of the NWSL and we absolutely will capitalize on it."

USWNT head coach Emma Hayes described a 2031 World Cup in the U.S. as "dreamland," citing the existing infrastructure for next year's Men's World Cup, which will also take place in Mexico and Canada.

Hayes, who grew up in England but started her professional coaching career in the U.S., expressed excitement for both 2031 and 2035.

"It's fair to say, in whatever capacity -- fan or coaching -- I will for sure be at those World Cups," Hayes said.

LOS ANGELES -- National Women's Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman said Friday that she believes the league could grow as big as the NFL, which has 32 teams.

"We have very ambitious plans for expansion," Berman said on stage at U.S. Soccer's SheBelieves Summit.

"Our board believes that we can be the size of the NFL, there is nothing that stands in the way of us doing that, other than having access to top talent. There's certainly not a problem with the supply, given the size of our country and the level of talent that exists, we just need to figure out how to develop them strategically and intentionally."

Berman said in January that she saw "no reason" why the NWSL could not eventually become a 30-team league. There are currently 14 teams in the league, with teams from Boston and Denver set to begin play in 2026 to bring the league to 16 clubs.

In a separate interview with ESPN on Friday, Berman said her vision is "a product of the size of our country and how many cities we believe could support a successful NWSL team."

The league is not actively running an expansion process now but has "continued active conversations with interested groups," she told ESPN. Berman said there is not currently a timeline for the next round of expansion beyond 16 teams.

Boston was approved to enter the league in 2023 for a $53 million expansion fee. Denver was officially announced in January for a $110 million expansion fee. They will be the first expansion teams to join the NWSL since the league's new collective bargaining agreement eliminated all drafts, including expansion drafts.

Several NWSL sources ranging from technical staff executives to team owners have expressed concerns to ESPN about the NWSL expanding too rapidly. Only one out of 14 general managers surveyed anonymously by ESPN last year felt that 30 teams was a good number for the league to eventually reach. Nine of 14 felt the league should stick to 24 teams or fewer.

Among the concerns expressed by various league sources are the thinning out of the available player pool as well as available coaches and technical staff support.

Berman told ESPN on Friday that she thinks the depth of the player pool "is the right question to ask," but she does not view it as a concern.

"The reason I think it shouldn't rise to the level of concern is that there is no country in the world that has the access to the number, the sheer volume of actual and potential players that we have in this country," Berman said.

"The challenge and the opportunity that we have, which needs to be part of the strategy of future expansion, is how we're going to cultivate that pool of players in a wider base than has historically been the case because there hasn't been a need for it -- because the league was 10 teams."

SAN ANTONIO -- Texas A&M is set to hire Samford coach Bucky McMillan as the school's next men's basketball coach, sources told ESPN on Friday. The sides are finalizing a five-year deal, according to sources.

McMillan is the head coach at Samford, which he led to a pair of Southern Conference championships and one NCAA tournament in his five seasons there. His overall record there was 99-52, and he led Samford to four-consecutive 20-win seasons.

His teams play at a hyper tempo in a style known as "Bucky Ball," which translated immediately to success at Samford. Three times, he has been named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year at a place that struggled to win for a generation.

McMillan takes over for Buzz Williams, who left for Maryland in the wake of three consecutive NCAA tournaments for the Aggies. Texas A&M earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament this year.

McMillan has a track record of consistent results at every level. The NCAA tournament bid at Samford in 2024 was the school's first since 2000. Samford took No. 4 seed Kansas to the brink in the 2024 tournament, cutting a 22-point deficit to one point with less than a minute remaining. It lost 93-89 after a controversial foul call in the final minute.

McMillan, 41, profiles as one of the country's most intriguing and promising young coaches. He won five state high school titles at Mountain Brook High school in Alabama and, in a rare move, took the head college job at Samford directly from high school. In a 12-year run at Mountain Brook, he won 333 games, averaged nearly 28 wins per season and turned the local program into a household name nationally.

He defined a style that includes a heavy emphasis on pressing and disruption. It is one that not only plays fast on offense, but it attempts to speed up the opposition. In each of the past two seasons, Samford's opponents turned the ball over at a rate that put the team in the top 20 in the country for opponent turnover percentage.

The energy and style should help engage an A&M fan base that isn't organically a basketball group. A&M is expected to have nearly $7 million available in NIL and revenue share this season, a competitive number for the SEC that should give Texas A&M a chance to be competitive in the conference.

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics broke the NBA record for 3-pointers in a season Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.

They set the mark, surpassing Golden State's total from two seasons ago, when Payton Pritchard hit a left-wing shot 3:40 into the second quarter for No. 1,364.

Kristaps Porzingis tied the mark when he up-faked a defender, dribbled to his left a few feet before hitting one from the top with 9:37 left in the second quarter.

Boston finished 14 of 39 from 3-point range in the 123-103 victory to push its season total to 1,370. Boston also is third in league history, connecting on 1,351 en route to the NBA title last season.

The Celtics hit 3s with some flare early in the game when Jaylen Brown banked in a 35-footer as the shot clock expired and Jayson Tatum dribbled in from midcourt, knocking down a straight-a-way 29-footer a few minutes later.

Dwight Howard was elected as a first-ballot member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Friday.

Howard was an eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA, three-time Defensive Player of Year, a 2020 NBA champion and won one Olympic gold medal with Team USA.

The Class of 2025 will be announced Saturday at the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.

Howard averaged 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds in 18 NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.

The preeminent defensive presence of his era, Howard, who was the No. 1 pick of the Magic in the 2004 draft, won three straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards from 2009 to 2011.

He led the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, and he won his only championship with the Lakers during the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season.

Howard also is remembered for his 2008 victory in the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, with the Magic star donning a Superman costume -- complete with cape -- and soaring from just inside the free throw line to throw down a vicious dunk to wow the crowd.

He will be joined in the Class of 2025 by Carmelo Anthony, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. Other finalists include men's players Marques Johnson and Buck Williams, women's players Jennifer Azzi, Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore, coaches Billy Donovan, Mark Few and Jerry Welsh, referee Danny Crawford, the 2008 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.

Enshrinement weekend will begin at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on Sept. 5, with the tipoff celebration and awards gala, including the 2025 class jacket and ring presentation and the annual Hall of Fame Awards. The enshrinement ceremony will be Sept. 6 in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the Hall of Fame.

TAMPA, Fla. -- South Carolina has finally reached the moment it played for all season: The Gamecocks are in the national championship game, with a chance to make history.

After overcoming another slow start, South Carolina blitzed Texas with a decisively dominant third quarter to put the game out of reach, winning 74-57 on Friday to clinch a spot in the title game Sunday for the third time in the last four years.

South Carolina will now attempt to repeat as national champion for the first time in school history. The last team to win back-to-back titles was UConn, which won four straight from 2013 to 2016.

The postgame celebration, however, was muted. Because South Carolina knows the goal has not been reached. Not yet.

"We understand that this is not where we want to be," guard MiLaysia Fulwiley said. "We want to be cutting down those nets Sunday when it matters. We can't really get too happy about this win because we're not there yet."

South Carolina continued its dominance over Texas, winning the season series 3-1. The past two postseason games between them -- the SEC tournament championship and the national semifinal -- were not particularly close. Once again, South Carolina found ways to break down the vaunted Texas defense, using transition buckets, points in the paint and timely 3-point shooting to win comfortably.

Dawn Staley is now 8-0 all-time in postseason games against Texas coach Vic Schaefer.

After struggling in the past three rounds of the NCAA tournament, freshman Joyce Edwards showed off what made her such a dynamic player this season, making huge plays once again on the offensive and defensive ends.

Last week in Birmingham, Staley said the Gamecocks would need more production from Edwards to win a national championship and simplified a few things for her to get going.

Whatever the coaches told her worked, as Edwards had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while adding six assists. Edwards became the first player in last 25 years with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists off the bench in Final Four.

"I thought she took her time," Staley said. "She didn't seem pressed. She uses her athleticism, her strength and her ability to direct line drive. Her game was very lean today, and we love to see that."

In the previous three games, she had 15 points combined. Her teammates saw a more confident player. Edwards said she felt more definitive and was not second-guessing herself as much.

"It's comforting just knowing that I was going to bounce back and influence a win," Edwards said. "I'm happy it was today, and I did just what the game gave me."

But it might have been senior Te-Hina Paopao who played her best game. Paopao scored 14 points and was 3-of-4 from 3 as Texas struggled to guard her.

The game turned in the third quarter, when South Carolina outscored Texas 20-9, including an 11-0 run late in the quarter that essentially sealed the win.

That might have been the turning point, but the game started to slip away from Texas in the first half when Longhorns forward Madison Booker found herself in foul trouble early.

South Carolina came out flat to start the game, but its fortunes shifted when Booker, the SEC Player of the Year, picked up her second foul with 3:04 left in the first quarter.

Texas had a five-point lead at the time, but South Carolina outscored the Longhorns to close the quarter and take the lead.

Booker returned to the game with five minutes to play in the second quarter, and Texas was able to take back the lead. But with 2:29 to go before halftime, Booker picked up her third foul -- the first time in her career she had three fouls in the first half of a game -- after Tessa Johnson landed hard on a pass. Booker and Schaefer both took issue with the foul, yelling to the officials, "That's a bad call!" Replay showed minimal contact between the players.

Schaefer said in his postgame news conference he didn't think it was a foul, but Booker told ESPN in an interview in the locker room she understood why the officials called it.

"They had to call it," Booker told ESPN in the locker room after the game. It kind of looked bad from her angle, so I respect it. That's a dumb foul. I should have let her catch it. I was going for a gamble."

That was enough, again, for South Carolina to rally. The Gamecocks turned a two-point deficit into a three-point halftime lead.

Booker played only nine minutes, and her presence was clear. With Booker in the game, Texas had a plus-eight advantage; With Booker on the bench, Texas was minus-11.

"They were just dumb, mental lapses," Booker said. "That's not tough. That's mental toughness right there you've got to know the situation you're in."

In the locker room at halftime, Fulwiley said she kept telling her teammates, "Their best player has three fouls. I kept saying, Booker she's out of it. I know what it's like to have three fouls. Your mind is everywhere but the game."

The lead was enough for South Carolina to keep building on, as the Gamecocks outscored Texas 36-22 in the second half. For Schaefer, who led Texas back to the Final Four for the first time since 2003, another Final Four appearance ends in heartbreak - as he goes home from the Final Four for the third time in his career without winning the title.

For Staley and her Gamecocks, though, it's another opportunity to make history.

"I'm glad we gelled together right at this time," Bree Hall said. "I feel like a lot of people were doubting us because we weren't right at the beginning of the tournament. But that's the beautiful thing about a team like this. We can turn it on immediately. I'm glad we turned it on today."

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record by scoring the 894th of his career Friday night, setting off a wild celebration on the ice with his teammates and chants of "Ovi! Ovi!" by a crowd that included The Great One himself.

Ovechkin scored on the power play with 13:46 left, stopping the game while fans rose to their feet to applaud the longtime Washington Capitals captain. Clearly emotional, he skated several laps around center ice asking for more cheers, then returned to the bench where he blew kisses to members of his family in a suite.

A video montage of Ovechkin's path to 894 played on arena video boards during the next stoppage in play.

The Capitals went on to beat the Blackhawks 5-3, with Ovechkin's goal proving the game winner. He now has the most winners in NHL history (136), passing Jaromir Jagr.

Ovechkin can break Gretzky's record Sunday when Washington visits the New York Islanders.

"It's fun," Ovechkin said after the game. "I'm sure like everybody enjoy this moment because it's something special, doing it at home in front of our fans, family and friends, and obviously Wayne is here, as well. It's a huge honor, a historical moment. It's great.

"It means a lot. It's so emotional. You never thought you could reach that milestone."

Gretzky was in attendance for the first time during this chase. He saluted Ovechkin for reaching 894.

"This is what the game is all about," Gretzky told Monumental Sports Network. "Alex has been great for the game, great for Washington, great for his own country. He's wonderful. I'm very proud of him. I'm proud of what I accomplished. And you know, that's what makes our game so wonderful, is the great athletes we have, and more importantly, the good people that they are."

Ovechkin gave Gretzky and nearly everyone else in the building reason to cheer early by scoring his 893rd goal less than four minutes in. He took a pass from Dylan Strome behind the net and banked the puck off the far post and the back of goaltender Spencer Knight and in.

After a few seconds, Ovechkin's personal goal song, "Shake, Rattle & Roll" by Big Joe Turner, started blaring from arena speakers as mascot Slapshot flipped the counter in one corner from 892 to 893.

The celebration continued throughout the game -- and then spilled over after it, with Capitals players mobbing Ovechkin when he entered the dressing room.

"Best shower of my life" pic.twitter.com/gsOM9EabrV

x - Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 5, 2025

Scoring in a fourth consecutive game, Ovechkin reached 40 goals for a 14th time in 20 seasons, which is the most in league history. It's the second 40-goal season ever by a player age 39 or older, joining Gordie Howe (44 in 1968-69 at age 40).

It also was Ovechkin's 242nd career first-period goal, breaking a tie with Gretzky for the most in league history.

"You know, when [Mark] Messier retired and Gordie Howe retired, and [Mario] Lemieux retired and Bobby Orr retired, we thought, 'What's going to happen to our game now?'" Gretzky said. "And then along came Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. And now we got [Connor] McDavid and [Nathan] MacKinnon, [Auston] Matthews. Our game just gets better all the time. And that's what's so special."

The Eastern Conference-leading Capitals have six games left in the regular season.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.