IN BRIEF

BASKETBALL

Thompson gets six-year extension from Hoyas

Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson III signed a six-year contract extension Thursday that will keep him with the Hoyas through 2013.

The Hoyas are 72-30 in three years under Thompson, including going 30-7 with a trip to the Final Four last season. It was the team's first berth in the NCAA Tournament semifinals since Thompson's father took Georgetown that far in 1985.

Also: Paul Westhead is leaving the WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury to return to the NBA, accepting an assistant coaching job with the Seattle SuperSonics. Westhead's move to join the staff of friend P.J. Carlesimo was not unexpected after the Mercury won its first title two weeks ago.

Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer could miss the start of training camp next week as one of his sons recovers from a bone-marrow transplant in Miami. The team did not release any other information. Boozer has three sons, including twins born this summer.

Forward Renaldo Balkman will miss at least four weeks because of a stress reaction in his right ankle, leaving the New York Knicks without a key reserve just days before the start of training camp. An MRI exam also revealed a small cartilage injury in the ankle.

The Boston Celtics signed center Esteban Batista and swingman Dahntay Jones. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Seimone Augustus scored 19 points and Tina Thompson 18 as the United States routed Jamaica 115-47, clinching a semifinal spot at the FIBA Americas tournament at Valdivia, Chile.

Houston Comets star Sheryl Swoopes underwent successful back surgery Wednesday and should be able to play next season. She played in only three games this season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Running back Johnson lifts Boise State, 38-16

Ian Johnson rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns to lead Boise State (3-1) to a 38-16 victory over Southern Mississippi (2-2) in Boise, Idaho.

The Broncos scored on their first two possessions and built a 28-3 lead late in the first half before the Golden Eagles scored a touchdown in the final minute.

Johnson put together his best game of the season. The junior carried the ball 22 times and caught three passes for 80 yards, including a short pass in the flat that he took 54 yards to set up Boise State's final touchdown.

Broncos quarterback Taylor Tharp was 19-for-27 for a career-high 307 yards and two TDs. Boise State finished with 506 yards total offense.

Also: Louisville linebacker Willie A. Williams was kicked off the team, less than 24 hours after his arrest on a marijuana possession charge.

Williams, 22, was one of the top recruits in the country two years ago, but highly publicized legal problems in high school -- 11 arrests -- nearly cost him a scholarship to Miami. He never panned out with the Hurricanes and spent last year at West Los Angeles Community College.

Former Notre Dame quarterback Demetrius Jones enrolled at No. 24 Cincinnati, where he will be eligible to run the Bearcats' no-huddle, spread offense next season.

Jones started the Irish's season opener against Georgia Tech and fumbled twice in a 33-3 defeat. Last week, Notre Dame agreed to release him from his scholarship as long as he transferred to a school that is not on its schedule.

GOLF

Ochoa trails by three in bid for another win

Lorena Ochoa opened her bid for a fourth straight tour victory with a 6-under-par 66, but Stacy Prammanasudh took the lead with a late-afternoon 63 in the first round of the inaugural Navistar LPGA Classic at Prattville, Ala.

Prammanasudh, who was part of the victorious U.S. team two weeks ago at the Solheim Cup, just missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Capitol Hill's Senator Course.

Ochoa, coming off a monthlong vacation, was 1 under through eight holes, then played the final 10 holes at 5 under.

Also: Briny Baird birdied four of his first five holes and set the first-round record at the Viking Classic at Madison, Miss., with a 9-under 63, taking a two-stroke lead over former champion Cameron Beckman. Baird, who had 10 birdies and a bogey, hit 17 of 18 greens at Annandale Golf Club.

French teammates Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret led Continental Europe to a 3-2 lead over Britain and Ireland after the first fourball matches at the Seve Trophy in Killenard, Ireland. Jacquelin and Havret beat Paul Casey and Simon Dyson 4 and 3 at The Heritage.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ferrari drivers post top times in F1 practice

Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa drove their Ferraris to the top times in the first Formula One practice at Fuji Speedway in 30 years as drivers prepared for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix in Oyama, Japan.

The circuit replaces the venue at Suzuka, whose contract ran out last year. Fuji Speedway last hosted a Formula One race in 1977, and the circuit has been renovated to prepare for the modern version of Formula One.

Raikkonen was clocked in 1 minute 19.119 seconds, with Massa at 1:19.498.

Also: St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay McKee will be out four to six weeks with a fractured right foot he suffered in Thursday's preseason game at Minnesota. It's the latest setback for McKee, who had a hip injury and played only 23 games last season in the first year of a four-year, $16 million contract.

Teppo Numminen has gone home from a Cleveland hospital as the Buffalo Sabres defenseman continues to recover from open heart surgery. Numminen, 39, hopes to return to the team by December.

The UNLV men's swimming and diving team was picked to win a fourth straight Mountain West Conference championship in the coaches' preseason poll. The UNLV women were picked to finish second. The season opens Oct. 13 for both teams.