Sports Briefs

WOMEN'S HOOPS

Taurasi denies she used

performance-enhancer

Four-time WNBA scoring champion Diana Taurasi said she hadn't even heard of the banned stimulant modafinil until she found out she had tested positive for it. The former UConn star is adamant that she never used performance-enhancing drugs.

"I've never needed anything to help me,'' she told The Associated Press by telephone Sunday night. "There's no way I've ever taken anything."

In her first interview since testing positive in December, Taurasi and her attorney blamed the Turkish lab where the sample was analyzed. Modafinil is used to counter excessive sleepiness caused by narcolepsy, shift-work sleep disorder or sleep apnea, according to drug manufacturers.

The Turkish club Fenerbahce terminated Taurasi's contract after her A and B samples tested positive.

COLLEGE HOOPs

UConn women rout Duke

Maya Moore had 29 points as No. 2 Connecticut dominated Duke, 87-51, Monday night, handing the No. 3 Blue Devils (20-1) their first defeat. The Huskies (21-1) took a 23-2 lead in their 73rd consecutive home win . . . Kayla Koch's 19 points led Farmingdale State (13-5) to an 81-55 win over College of Staten Island, giving coach Chris Mooney his 200th victory in 11 seasons.

Hoyas edge Louisville

Chris Wright scored 24 points as No. 13 Georgetown beat No. 15 Louisville, 62-59, in Washington for its fifth win in a row.

COLLEGE

FOOTBALL

Meyer joins ESPN

Former Florida coach Urban Meyer is joining ESPN as an analyst. The network said Meyer would call one regular-season game a week and be a studio analyst.