Bugaluu :: Sports

Bryan Cristante of A.S. Roma celebrates after scoring the goal of 1-0 during the 26th day of the Serie A Championship between A.S. Roma and U.S. Cremonese at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy, on February 22, 2026. (Photo by Domenico Cippitelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images

At the risk of beating a dead horse, Roma fans have grown wary of matches like yesterday’s victory over Cremonese, fixtures where outside results have fallen in the club’s favor, giving the Giallorossi an opportunity to climb the table. In this instance, with 5th-place Juventus and 3rd-place Napoli each suffering defeats earlier in the weekend, Roma not only had the chance to pad their lead over Juve but could wake up Monday in third place, four points ahead of Juventus, ahead of their clash at the Olimpico next weekend.

Fortunately, unlike so many disappointing weekends before, Roma prevailed over lowly Cremonese, overcoming a slow first half to win 3-0 in front of 60,000 of their closest friends. Given the ease with which they won and the lack of any glaring errors, today’s Sinners & Saints will skew entirely toward the positive!

The Saints

Bryan Cristante

Always the goat, seldom the hero, Cristante delivered arguably his best performance of the season. Starting alongside Manu Koné and Lorenzo Pellegrini in midfield, Cristante overcame his presumed sadness over Canada’s loss in the Gold Medal game with a dynamic 90-minute run against Cremonese: three key passes, 15 passes into the final third, five tackles, four recoveries, one assist, and, of course, the match-winning goal, a perfectly executed header at the near post off a Pellegrini corner.

Cristante will always have his detractors, but at least for one night, he was unquestionably the best player on the pitch.

Evan Ndicka

Not far behind Cristante in the post-match pecking order, Ndicka brought his usual class to the backline, limiting Cremonese to a pitiful two shots on goal while adding five clearances and three ball recoveries to his defensive ledger. While we’ve come to expect those defensive performances from Ndicka, the Ivorian international was surprisingly busy in attack, firing four shots on goal, including a crucial 77th-minute goal, his first league goal of the season.

Gianluca Mancini

If we shine light on Ndicka for smothering Cremonese’s attack, it’s only right to share the spotlight with Mancini. Not only did Roma’s masked man lead the club with eight defensive actions and play seven balls into the final third, but he also managed to avoid a yellow card! With nine of those bad boys already in his back pocket heading into this match, any transgression on Sunday would have meant Mancini would miss next week’s six-pointer against Juventus.

Lorenzo Pellegrini

I’m sure this will be a semi-controversial selection, but while Pellegrini didn’t necessarily turn in a standout performance, he served up the match-winning assist thanks to a well-placed corner kick that met Cristante’s head just as he started to peel away from the near post. Sure, Roma would tack on two additional goals, but let’s appreciate the context of this assist: it was preceded by 59 mostly frustrating misses in which Roma reeled off a dozen shots with nothing to show for it.

All told, Pellegrini created three chances while completing two of three long balls.

Stuck In Between

Lorenzo Venturino

The other Lorenzo didn’t factor in the box score, but the young midfielder wasted little time terrorizing the Cremonese backline. In only 34 minutes, Venturino created three scoring chances and hit on 11 of 12 passes. It may not have been a wow performance, but it did provide a glimpse into the future: Venturino already looks like the ideal pesky, creative winger that any attacking side craves, especially one as fluid as Gasperini’s.

Manu Koné

The only negative thing we can say about Koné is this: he doesn’t have a nose for goal. If he ever develops a better long-range shot and can convert those late runs into the box, he’ll probably be bound for PSG, so we’ll count our blessings for now. Outside of skying a few attempts high and wide, Koné completed 89% of his passes, created two scoring chances, and recovered six balls.

Niccolo Pisilli

Relegated to the bench with Koné’s return to the lineup, the local kid still managed to make his mark against Cremonese, breaking the visitors back with an 86th-minute goal. In his 18-minute cameo, the young Roman recovered to balls, played three passes into the final third and managed two shots on goal.

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sinners-saints-roma-3-cremonese-123100621.html 

Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images

Alexandra Eala has made quite an entrance on the WTA Tour, quickly establishing herself as a top-level player with what might be the sport’s most passionate fanbase.

Her journey really took off around this time last year at the Miami Open, where she reached the semifinals against all expectations. Since then, she has continued to build on that momentum.

At just 20 years old, she still lacks experience, and there are noticeable areas in her game that need work.

In that context, Tennishead fans have identified specific aspects they believe could help her make a push towards a Grand Slam title in the future.

What Alex Eala’s supporters think she needs to do next

Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP via Getty Images

During a discussion about Eala on TalkingPoints, fans were asked what she should work on in 2026 if she wants to become a Grand Slam contender.

The response was as strong as expected, since Eala has arguably the most passionate following across both the ATP and WTA Tours.

Two common themes emerged from the replies: addressing her serve and boosting her physical conditioning.

As one fan succinctly put it: “She needs to improve her serve, stamina, and consistency across a match. I think she needs better coaching, and up until now attracting and paying for that may have been prohibitive. Maybe that will change now.”

This viewpoint was shared by a second fan, who said: “As I’ve always said: to win tournaments, Alex should first train harder on her serves, strength, and stamina.”

One supporter advised her to emulate a fellow Filipino sporting icon, Manny Pacquiao, by writing: “She needs to train using Manny Pacquiao’s blueprint of excellent endurance and stamina. Her stamina and serving are the major issues.”

Eala’s serve has been highlighted as an issue since her early days on tour. It is now up to her team to address it before it becomes an even bigger obstacle at the top level.

Alexandra Eala sets new personal best after impressive Dubai campaign

Even though she has made some strides with her serve in 2026, it still is not quite where it needs to be if she wants to compete for the top prizes.

That has not held her back from another impressive showing at a WTA 1000 event, this time making waves in Dubai.

Eala took down Alycia Parks, top-ten ranked Jasmine Paolini, and the red-hot Sorana Cirstea before falling to Coco Gauff in the quarters.

The young star is now up to a career-high ranking of number 31 in the world.

Read more:

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tennis-fans-outline-alex-eala-114606007.html 

Senior night looks a little different in the transfer portal era.

There are the normal affairs, such as Azzi Fudd’s celebration in Connecticut after five years with the Huskies. Fudd knows she has two more games in her home arena as UConn is destined to be a host team for the NCAA Tournament, so it doesn’t have to be overly emotional. Still, there is a lot of love for a player who won a national championship and spent so much time in Storrs, Conn.

In Minnesota, the Golden Gophers’ fans honored homegrown Amaya Battle for taking a chance on a program that was entering a new phase. There is a possibility Battle will suit up at The Barn again. If Minnesota doesn’t get to host, though — that’s why the senior game exists.

Sometimes it gets weird, as in Los Angeles, where UCLA recognized six seniors. Four of them (Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Angela Dugalić and Lauren Betts) spent at least three seasons with the program and had their defining moments in Bruins jerseys; Dugalić’s and Betts’ time at Oregon and Stanford, respectively, is almost a footnote. But then the public address announcer congratulates Charlisse Leger-Walker for her four All-Pac-12 honors and her conference title with Washington State (which came at UCLA’s expense), and the whole ceremony starts to make less sense.

Free and clear player movement has a lot of benefits and generates some fun offseasons. It also has some strange byproducts that fans have to reckon with.

The one thing every program should do is at least allow seniors to touch the court in the final home game. Kudos to Shea Ralph and Vanderbilt for giving senior Jada Brown her first starting nod of the season at star guard Aubrey Galvan’s expense, even against No. 16 Kentucky. It may have led to an early 12-point deficit, but perhaps the good vibes — and Mikayla Blakes’ indomitable spirit — helped power the Commodores to their comeback victory.

Vanderbilt is also recognizing Kentucky’s seniors.

Shea Ralph gave each of them flowers. pic.twitter.com/oVkcwDbsYK

— Alaina Morris (@alainammorris) February 22, 2026

On the other hand, shame on Washington for completely benching senior Shayla Gillmer. Karma came swiftly to the Huskies in the form of Britt Prince.

Dropped out: Washington (25)

Also considered: Texas Tech, Georgia, Princeton

Ava Heiden’s size advantage for Iowa

Make that three straight 20-point double-doubles for the Iowa center, who has gotten the Hawkeyes out of their post-Taylor McCabe skid. Iowa fed Heiden for a back-to-the-basket post-up on its first possession; Heiden’s shot went astray (the 62-44 Hawkeyes win over No. 6 Michigan wasn’t the easiest on the eyes), and she missed five of her first six field goal attempts, but the emphasis had been established. Heiden had a height (she’s 6-foot-4) and strength advantage over the duo of Ashley Sofilkanich and Kendall Dudley and went to work on them as often as possible. She finished 11 of 17 from the field, recording 24 points, 10 rebounds and two turnovers. Once she got going, Michigan had no answers.

Even as the younger frontcourt partner, Heiden has become the focal point of the offense over senior Hannah Stuelke. Stuelke’s best contributions against the Wolverines were as a high-low passer for Heiden. If the deep post entry wasn’t available, Stuelke would flash to the free-throw line to receive the pass and then lob the ball into Heiden from a more manageable distance. The senior finished with a game-high seven assists, one short of the career high she set last month.

The bubble fights back in the ACC

Louisville and Duke had mostly been cruising through the ACC schedule, suffering only one combined loss — when the Blue Devils beat the Cardinals — until Sunday. But both conference leaders took a stumble in the penultimate week of the season to opponents on the NCAA Tournament bubble to unranked teams: Duke fell to Clemson and Louisville lost to Virginia, both by a margin of two points. Now that women’s teams earn units for postseason participation, it arguably behooves both Louisville and Duke to let Virginia and Clemson add marquee wins to their resumes, but that was assuredly not how the Cavaliers or Tigers pulled off their upsets.

The Cardinals’ defeat was confirmation that it cannot realistically handle a poor shooting night. Five times this season, Louisville has shot below 40 percent from the field; four of those games have resulted in defeat. More specifically, if the Cardinals shoot 40 percent or less from 2-point range, they’ll lose. Playing Virginia, which ranks 11th in opposing 2-point percentage, was the perfect formula for an upset — something to keep an eye on in March when Louisville’s draw is revealed.

For the Blue Devils, it was hard not to hearken back to some of Duke’s uglier offensive performances in the Kara Lawson era, including three sub-50-point performances last season (one of them in overtime!). The Blue Devils have made strides on offense in 2025-26, but Clemson didn’t have much difficulty getting them right back in the mud. One of the culprits for Duke this season is rebounding; the Blue Devils are terrible at ending defensive possessions with a rebound (214th in Division I in defensive rebounds per game). The Tigers attempted eight more shots than Duke, which was enough of a margin in a two-point win.

A get-right game for Ohio State

After losing two straight games for the first time this season, Ohio State had a perfectly timed date on Sunday with USC, a team without a reliable point guard that cannot hold on to the ball. The Buckeyes hadn’t been able to force their usual volume of turnovers against Maryland and Minnesota; the Golden Gophers committed only nine giveaways against the Ohio State press, by far the lowest total its forced this season.

When the Buckeyes force at least 17 turnovers, they’re 23-1. Fewer than 17? 0-4.

The Trojans gave away the ball a season-worst 25 times, leading to 31 points off turnovers in an 88-83 Buckeyes win. The math is pretty simple: Ohio State averages about 12 layup attempts per game, but when it got going in transition against USC off takeaways, 29 shots came within the restricted area. Easy offense to end a losing streak.

Hannah Hidalgo fills up the stat sheet

Nobody takes advantage of an overmatched opponent quite like Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo. On her birthday on Sunday, against one of the country’s worst power-conference teams in SMU, Hidalgo was going to eat. For Hidalgo, that means racking up a lot of steals.

It was a very long day at the office for Ayanna Thompson and Zahra King, each of whom committed seven turnovers thanks to the rabid ball pressure from Hidalgo. Without having to worry about SMU’s ball movement (10.8 assists per game) or paint presence making her pay for her aggression, Hidalgo was free to get right in the grill of the Mustangs en route to a comfortable 25-point win.

The only drawback for Hidalgo was that she came up one rebound shy of a triple-double. Regardless, she is only the ninth power-conference player since 2009-10 to record 11 steals in a game. Everyone else has done so only once; this is Hidalgo’s fourth such performance. She’s like a hound; she sniffs blood, and she pounces.

Games to watch

First check out these games we wrote about here.

(All times ET)

Michigan at Ohio State, 8 p.m. Wednesday, Peacock

North Carolina at Virginia, 7 p.m. Thursday, ACC Extra

South Carolina at Kentucky, 2 p.m. Sunday, SECN+

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Texas Longhorns, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Duke Blue Devils, Ohio State Buckeyes, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Louisville Cardinals, Iowa Hawkeyes, Connecticut Huskies, Women’s College Basketball

2026 The Athletic Media Company

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/women-college-basketball-rankings-louisville-114605251.html