IN BRIEF

Penguins star Crosby sits out home victory

Penguins star Sidney Crosby sat out Pittsburgh’s 7-3 home victory over Buffalo on Wednesday after having pain in his right ankle during the team’s morning skate.

Crosby, last season’s NHL Most Valuable Player, recently missed 21 games with a ligament sprain in the same ankle, an injury commonly known as a high ankle sprain.

The Penguins now have three days off, and coach Michel Therrien said it made sense for Crosby to sit out and rest during the break. The Penguins next play Sunday at home against Philadelphia.

Also: The Penguins will open the 2008-09 season with two games against Ottawa in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Penguins will play an exhibition against Jokerit of Finland’s top professional league on Oct. 2 at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. The Penguins will start the season against the Senators on Oct. 4 and 5.

Dallas Stars forward Steve Ott was suspended three games without pay by the NHL because of a hit to the head of Colorado’s Jordan Leopold.

Ott will miss today’s game at Detroit and games against Vancouver and Anaheim before being eligible to return March 22 against Los Angeles.

SOCCER

U.S. women win record sixth Algarve Cup title

Abby Wambach scored her 88th international goal to help the United States win the Algarve Cup for a record sixth time with a 2-1 victory over Denmark in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal.

Wambach scored the winning goal in the 49th minute. Natasha Kai gave the Americans the lead with a header in the 14th, but Denmark’s Cathrine Sorensen scored in the 30th.

Also: Argentina stayed at the top of the FIFA world rankings for the sixth straight month.

The Argentines are followed by Brazil, Italy, Spain and Germany. The United States dropped two spots to No. 28.

MISCELLANEOUS

Roush not appealing penalties vs. Edwards

Roush Fenway Racing won’t appeal the penalties imposed by NASCAR against Carl Edwards after his winning No. 99 car failed post-race inspection at Las Vegas.

Edwards was docked 100 points and stripped of the 10 bonus points he got for the March 2 victory when NASCAR discovered the cover was off the oil tank in his Ford.

Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said the team decided against an appeal because simple negligence was never sufficient grounds to overturn or reduce a penalty.

Also: Ricky Hatton will fight Juan Lazcano on May 24 in his first bout since being knocked out by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas on Dec. 8.

Hatton will fight for the IBO light welterweight title in Manchester, England.

Heavyweight Roderick Willis will oppose Tye Fields in tonight’s 10-round main event of the Top Rank boxing card at the Hard Rock Hotel. Willis replaces France’s Josue Blocus, who withdrew from the fight Monday.

The 5 p.m. card will be televised on Versus (Cable 67).

American Andy Roddick is skipping the Beijing Olympics, choosing instead to focus on preparing for the U.S. Open by playing at the hard-court Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

The Washington tournament runs Aug. 11 to 17, the same dates as the Olympic event. The U.S. Open begins Aug. 25.

Rodney Tention resigned as Loyola Marymount basketball coach after three seasons.

The Lions finished 5-26 overall and 2-12 in the West Coast Conference this season.

Autism Awareness, who won last week’s El Camino Real Derby as a 62-to-1 underdog, has a knee injury that will keep him out of contention for the Kentucky Derby.