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GREGORY STARS
LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Six-foot-2 junior Sophia Gregory makes an impact wherever she goes.
After two seasons at Youngstown State, Gregory made her debut wit the Liberty University women’s basketball team on Monday night.
Gregory made an impact on both ends of the court with a team-high 14 points and three assists along with nine rebounds, three steals and one block in 21 minutes of action during a 73-30 win over Frostburg State in front of 1,205 fans at Liberty Arena. She shot 6-of-7 from the field.
Liberty held Frostburg State scoreless for the final 14:14 and finished the game on a 32-0 run.
Liberty will play at North Carolina at 5 p.m. Saturday.
BURTON’S DEBUT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Hiram College freshman Hallie Vie Burton from West Branch made her collegiate debut at Youngstown State on Monday night.
Burton played 17 minutes in a 99-26 loss to Youngstown State in front of 1,647 fans at the Beeghly Center. She grabbed six rebounds and was 0-of-2 from the field.
Hiram will host Oberlin College at 5:03 p.m. Friday.
WINNING THIRD DOWN
CHICAGO (AP) -- Offensively and defensively, the Chicago Bears are quite good on third down.
Chicago is off to a 6-2 start, and third down efficiency is a major reason for its success. The Bears converted 7 of 15 third downs during Monday night’s 34-17 win at Seattle, and the Seahawks went 1 for 11 in those same situations.
“We believe in each other,” quarterback Caleb Williams said. “It’s not just offense. We wouldn’t have this belief without the defense. We wouldn’t have this belief without the special teams. We know we have each other’s back. We work our tail off as a team. The details, how detailed we are. It’s really cool see those things come to life in big moments and just throughout the game, so that’s who we are.”
Chicago has allowed an NFL-low 19 third-down conversions in 80 attempts this season. The opponent third-down conversion rate of 23.8% also is the lowest in the league.
Of course, most of those numbers were compiled before the Bears acquired All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons in a blockbuster trade with Tennessee on Thursday. He had a sack in the victory over the Seahawks.
The addition of Simmons could help the team sustain the success it has enjoyed on third down.
Chicago also leads the NFL with 51 third-down conversions on offense.
GIANT CONTRACT
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Giants have agreed with cornerback Greg Newsome on a three-year contract extension, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the extension had not been announced. Newsome posted on social media, “BIG BLUE WE ARE HERE TO STAY!!”
It is reportedly worth $46 million with $32 million guaranteed, and extending Newsome gives the Giants some salary cap flexibility this season ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 10.
Newsome, 26, has fit in well in his first season with the Giants since joining them in March on a one-year, $8 million contract. He predicted that when signing and expected to be even better than he was in Cleveland and Jacksonville, playing for defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.
“With my game, my strong suit I think is playing press man coverage,” Newsome said at the time. “That was something that we did in Cleveland all the time was playing man to man, getting in people’s face and challenging guys. So, that’s where I feel like my strong suit is. Improvement, I feel like all of my game can improve. If you’re not trying to improve on everything, then you’re not trying to be a great player.”
Newsome intercepted Jacoby Brissett to help beat Arizona on Oct. 4. He missed New York’s most recent game at Houston before the bye week because of a concussion, but could clear protocol in time to play Sunday at Philadelphia.
RELEASED BY BILLS
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- The Buffalo Bills released veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Tuesday, a day after he completed his one-game NFL suspension for spitting in the direction of Las Vegas Raiders players.
The team did not provide any further details in announcing the move in a statement, though the league discipline and Gardner-Johnson’s inconsistent performance were considered to play contributing factors.
Coach Joe Brady was non-committal regarding Gardner-Johnson’s status with the team when the NFL issued its suspension as the Bills entered their bye week off two weeks ago. And he sidestepped a question regarding the player on Monday, a day after Buffalo improved to 6-1 following a 36-10 win over Baltimore.
The team is off until Thursday, when Buffalo resumes practice to prepare to play at Minnesota (6-1) on Monday night.
On Sunday, veteran backup Damar Hamlin started in place of Gardner-Johnson in an outing the Bills limited the Ravens to 144 total yards -- though Baltimore played much of the final three quarters without starter Lamar Jackson (thumb) and backup Tyler Huntley (toe).
FAGNANO STARTS
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -- Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Fagnano is set to make his first career start Thursday night, with Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley injured.
Coach Jesse Minter announced Tuesday that Fagnano -- who has been dealing with an ankle injury himself -- would be the choice against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 25-year-old rookie made his NFL debut in Sunday’s 36-10 loss to Buffalo after Jackson left with a thumb injury and Huntley left with a toe issue.
“You work a lot to get into this position,” Fagnano said. “It’s unfortunate to see what happened to Lamar and ‘Snoop’ -- especially being two guys that I look up to, since coming to the organization with the Ravens, have helped me out a ton. So that’s part’s tough.”
Fagnano went 10 for 21 for 91 yards with an interception last weekend. He played college football at UConn and Maine. After going undrafted, he made Baltimore’s 53-man roster out of camp.
“It’s a guy that took advantage of opportunity,” Minter said. “He didn’t get a ton of reps in OTAs due to our numbers at quarterback, especially days where we had all those guys there. Truthfully, it was when we had an injury at the position 10 days before our first preseason game, he started to get more reps, and then we obviously all saw how he played in the (preseason) games.”
TOO LATE
MADRID (AP) -- About a year ago, the Madrid Bravos were riding a wave of excitement about American football in Spain as the country hosted its first regular-season NFL game.
The franchise had just completed its second season in the European League of Football, which featured many of the leading teams and players on the continent, and was looking forward to capitalizing on the growing interest in the sport across Europe.
But ahead of the second NFL game in Madrid this Sunday between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Atlanta Falcons at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, the landscape of European tackle football looks a lot different -- and the Bravos are no longer playing.
The team ultimately ceased operations, falling victim to uncertainty surrounding American football in Europe after a group of franchises terminated a cooperation agreement with the ELF in January with plans to form a new league. Another group of franchises had announced in December that they would create their own independent league for 2026 -- the American Football League Europe.
“We need a bit more security and less risk,” Bravos owner and general manager Jaime Martín told The Associated Press. “It is much harder to sell American football when there are two leagues splitting the fan base. It would make more sense to have just one consolidating sponsorships, television coverage and visibility.”
The ELF, which began play in 2021 to fill the void after NFL Europe folded in 2007, unraveled amid financial problems and disputes over governance during and after the 2025 season