YSU in Horizon League title game

INDIANAPOLIS — The Youngstown State women’s basketball team is heading to the Horizon League championship game for the first time.

The second-seeded Penguins rallied past third-seeded Cleveland State for a 60-55 win in Monday’s semifinal.

Sophia Gregory passed to a wide-open Danielle Cameron for a 3-pointer from the corner with 22.3 seconds left for a 57-55 lead and what turned out to be the game winner.

Gregory, who was an All-Ohioan at West Branch High School, collected 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal in 37 minutes.

Youngstown State (24-8) advances to the championship game against top-seeded Green Bay (24-8) at noon today at Certeva Coliseum. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.

The winner gets the confence’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Harden joins 29,000-point club

CLEVELAND (AP) — James Harden scored 21 points to become the ninth player in NBA history with more than 29,000 career points, Keon Ellis added 19 off the bench, and the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 115-101 victory over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

Donovan Mitchell had 17 points and six assists, and Evan Mobley had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers. Harden reached the milestone with a free throw in the first quarter, finishing the game with 29,017 points in 17 pro seasons.

Cleveland is 8-1 at home since Jan. 23, with its lone loss Sunday to surging Boston, and has won 18 of its last 24 overall. The Cavaliers are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind New York.

Quentin Grimes scored 17 points and Cameron Payne had 12 points for Philadelphia, which has lost two in a row and four of its last five to slip into eighth in the East. Justin Edwards added 14 points.

The 76ers were without their top four scorers in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (right finger sprain), Joel Embiid (right oblique strain), Paul George (league suspension) and VJ Edgecombe (lumbar contusion). They are averaging 86.9 points per game combined.

Harden scored nine points in the third quarter when the Cavaliers extended their advantage to 84-59 en route to sweeping their four-game season series with Philadelphia. They scored 497 points combined in those contests.

Ellis had 14 points and made four 3-pointers in the first half, helping Cleveland build multiple 17-point leads after going in front for the first time at 19-18. Grimes scored 14 for the 76ers, who trailed 56-44 at the break.

Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen missed his second straight game with right knee tendinitis.

The Cavaliers will visit Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

Steelers get four compensatory picks

(AP) — Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh each were awarded a league-high four compensatory picks in next month’s NFL draft based on their losses and signings in last year’s free agency.

The NFL announced on Monday the 33 compensatory picks for the draft that will be held in Pittsburgh on April 23-25, including a third-rounder for Minnesota after losing Super Bowl-winning quarterback Sam Darnold to Seattle in free agency last offseason.

Picks are awarded to teams in the third through seventh rounds with 32 of the picks based on teams losing more or better free agents than they acquired last offseason and the other given for minorities hired as head coaches or general managers for other organizations.

Detroit was awarded a third-round pick for Aaron Glenn being hired as head coach last year by the New York Jets. That pick, which will be the final one in the third round at No. 100 overall, has been subsequently traded to Jacksonville.

There were three third-round picks handed out with Minnesota getting the 97th overall pick for losing Darnold, Philadelphia getting the 98th pick for losing defensive tackle Milton Williams to New England and Pittsburgh getting the 99th pick for losing Dan Moore to Tennessee.

The Eagles also got picks in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. Pittsburgh got an additional fourth-round pick and two sixths. Baltimore got two picks in the fifth round and two in the seventh.

The Ravens have received a league-high 64 comp picks through free agency since the program started in 1994.

The San Francisco 49ers got three picks — all in the fourth round — while Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Jets each got two picks.

Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula.