Ionescu scores 37 points to win 3-point contest, Aces’ team takes skills competition

LAS VEGAS >> New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu electrified the crowd Friday by scoring a record 37 of a possible 40 points to easily win the 3-point shooting contest at the WNBA All-Star Game.

She beat the Seattle Storm’s Sami Whitcomb and the Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale in the final. Whitcomb had 24 points and Ogunbowale 11.

The Las Vegas Aces’ team of Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum won the skills competition with a time of 44.3 seconds in the final round, easily beating the 58.0 put up by the Liberty’s Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot.

Allie Quigley, who has won a record four 3-point contests, including the past two, is not playing this season. Her absence cleared the way for someone else to step up.

That player was Ionescu, who made both three-point balls and was hot from all over the floor.

Whitcomb (28 points), and Ionescu (26) and Ogunbowale (21) advanced to the final. The Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington (18), the Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell (15) and the Aces’ Jackie Young (15) failed to advance out of the first round.

Coyotes terminate contract of Galchenyuk following arrest on multiple charges

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. >> The Arizona Coyotes have terminated the contract of newly-signed free agent forward Alex Galchenyuk following his arrest on multiple charges last weekend.

The Coyotes terminated Galchenyuk’s contract on Friday due to a material breach of terms a day after placing him on unconditional waivers.

“We are aware of the incident involving Alex Galchenyuk and strongly condemn this type of behavior,” the Coyotes said in a statement. “Once the Club was made aware of the allegations, we immediately began the process of terminating his Standard Player’s Contract through the proper channels in conjunction with the National Hockey League.

Galchenyuk was arrested Sunday on charges of private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest and threatening or intimidating, according to the Scottsdale Police Department. A spokesperson said the hit and run was only property damage and no injuries occurred.

Galchenyuk was booked into the Scottsdale city jail on misdemeanor charges and released the next day on his own recognizance.

Tennessee fined more than $8 million for over 200 infractions in football program

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. >> The NCAA fined Tennessee more than $8 million on Friday and issued a scathing report outlining more than 200 infractions during the three-year tenure of former football coach Jeremy Pruitt. The Volunteers escaped a postseason ban.

The sprawling report over 80 pages long said Tennessee committed 18 Level I violations, the most severe, and said most involved recruiting infractions and direct payments to athletes and their families — benefits that totaled approximately $60,000.

Kay Norton, head of the panel that ruled on Tennessee, called the violations “egregious and expansive.”

“It’s one of the largest cases this committee has ever adjudicated,” she said.

The NCAA praised Tennessee for its cooperation and the Vols escaped the postseason ban, but the infractions panel noted that decision was a difficult one given the circumstances.