Sports News Roundup: Tennis-Superb Sabalenka beats Gauff to reach Australian Open final; Falcons hire Rams DC Raheem Morris as head coach and more

The victory earned Hsieh her first mixed doubles Grand Slam title, and the 38-year-old is also in the running to win her seventh major women's doubles trophy, having reached the final Down Under with partner Elise Mertens. No. 1 South Carolina holds off No. 9 LSU Chloe Kitts scored 14 points as No. 1 South Carolina remained undefeated and held off an upset bid from No. 9 LSU to win 76-70 on Thursday night in Baton Rouge, La. South Carolina (18-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) extended its road winning streak to 28 games.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Falcons hire Rams DC Raheem Morris as head coach

The Atlanta Falcons hired Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their head coach on Thursday. Morris, 47, beat out the likes of Bill Belichick for the job. Atlanta interviewed 14 candidates in all, including Michigan's Jim Harbaugh (now with the Los Angeles Chargers) and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

Alabama amateur Nick Dunlap turns pro, headed to Pebble

Sophomore golfer Nick Dunlap wiped tears with his gray Alabama jacket and went to great lengths to thank family, coaches, teammates and trainers for teeing him up for the opportunity to turn pro starting immediately. "At this time I do want to announce that I am turning professional. I am accepting PGA Tour membership and will debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am," Dunlap said Thursday. "A week from today, the first round starts. I'm going to continue to live here, hang out with the guys and at least live out some of my college life the rest of this year."

Women's Top 25 roundup: Duke routs No. 23 Florida State

Taina Mair scored 18 points as Duke upset visiting No. 23 Florida State 88-46 on Thursday night in Durham, N.C. Mair also collected seven rebounds and five assists -- and didn't turn the ball over -- as the Blue Devils (13-6, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) got their second win of the season over a ranked opponent. Duke also got 13 points and five assists from Ashlon Jackson and 11 points and five blocks from Kennedy Brown.

Tennis-Superb Sabalenka beats Gauff to reach Australian Open final

Aryna Sabalenka took a big step towards retaining her Australian Open crown by beating American fourth seed Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a thriller on Thursday to reach the final where she will meet Zheng Qinwen or qualifier Dayana Yastremska. In a rematch of their U.S. Open final in September, the two reigning hardcourt Grand Slam champions made contrasting starts as Belarusian Sabalenka fired an ace and revved up her forehand to hold before pouncing on two double faults by Gauff to break.

Tennis-Yastremska happy to avoid qualifiers after Australian Open run ends

Dayana Yastremska did not feel too dejected by her semi-final defeat at the Australian Open as she knows her run would have boosted her rankings so that she can get direct entry into tournaments rather than playing in the qualifiers. The Ukrainian became the first women's qualifier to reach the Australian Open semi-finals since 1978 after she began the tournament ranked 93rd in the world, and is projected to move up to 28th when the new rankings are released on Monday despite her 6-4 6-4 loss to China's Zheng Qinwen on Thursday.

Tennis-Hsieh, Zielinski in thrilling mixed doubles win at Australian Open

Taiwanese-Polish duo Hsieh Su-wei and Jan Zielinski won a match tiebreaker to claim the Australian Open mixed doubles title on Friday, with an nail-biting 6-7(5) 6-4 (11-9) victory over American Desirae Krawczyk and Britain's Neal Skupski. The victory earned Hsieh her first mixed doubles Grand Slam title, and the 38-year-old is also in the running to win her seventh major women's doubles trophy, having reached the final Down Under with partner Elise Mertens.

No. 1 South Carolina holds off No. 9 LSU

Chloe Kitts scored 14 points as No. 1 South Carolina remained undefeated and held off an upset bid from No. 9 LSU to win 76-70 on Thursday night in Baton Rouge, La. South Carolina (18-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) extended its road winning streak to 28 games. LSU (18-3, 5-2) hasn't beaten the AP No. 1 team since 2008.

Reports: Panthers pick Dave Canales as head coach

Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales is on the verge of becoming the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, NFL Network and ESPN reported Thursday afternoon. Canales spent the 2023 season as offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay and previously coached quarterbacks for the Seattle Seahawks, where new Panthers general manager Dan Morgan was among his co-workers.

Wizards, under new management, fall to Jazz

Lauri Markkanen and John Collins had big nights to help the Utah Jazz snap a three-game losing streak with a 123-108 road win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Markkanen scored 29 points, sinking six 3-pointers, and Collins totaled 22 points and 16 rebounds as Utah improved to 1-2 on its six-game road trip.

NFL-Bills' Hamlin named finalist for Comeback Player of the Year

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was named a finalist for the National Football League's Comeback Player of the Year award on Thursday following his return this season after suffering cardiac arrest during a January 2023 game. Hamlin, who had his heartbeat restored on the field, made a remarkable recovery as he was discharged from hospital after nine days and cleared for full football activities three months later.