Olympics

U.S. women win exhibition

Maya Moore scored 18 points and Lindsay Whalen added 13 to help the U.S. women's basketball team overcome a sluggish start to beat Great Britain 88-63 on Wednesday night in an exhibition game in Manchester, England.

The Americans trailed by 11 points in the first seven minutes before taking over.

Sue Bird still wasn't back with the team after the death of her stepfather this past weekend. She practiced with the team Saturday and Sunday, but missed the exhibition game Monday against Brazil to be with her family. Coach Geno Auriemma said he thinks Bird will rejoin the team this weekend when it travels to Istanbul for the next leg of its pre-Olympic training tour.

Jo Leedham scored 21 points to lead Britain while Stef Collins added 14.

Semenya to carry flag

Former world champion runner Caster Semenya will carry South Africa's flag at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. She was given the honor ahead of double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius. Semenya, 21, a former 800-meter world champion, will carry the flag three years after she was embroiled in a gender-test controversy that threatened her career.

NFL

Griffin signs with Redskins

Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins ended their contract impasse when the rookie quarterback signed a four-year, fully guaranteed deal worth $21.1 million. It also includes a club option for a fifth year.

College football

Students protecting statue

Amid calls for the removal of Joe Paterno's statue from the Penn State campus, some students have begun a vigil to protect it from vandals.

Seniors Mike Elliot and Kevin Berkon organized a gathering at the statue after a plane flew over the campus Tuesday with a banner that read: "Take the statue down or we will." The students said they weren't sure how long they would keep the vigil.

Colleges

Pitt to pay Big East $7.5M

Pittsburgh and the Big East announced the school will pay $7.5 million to join Syracuse in leaving the conference for the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2013. The Big East reached a similar deal with Syracuse earlier this week.

In another matter, the Big East dropped its lawsuit against Texas Christian and will receive the $5 million it sought after TCU reneged on an agreement to become a member and joined the Big 12 instead.

NHL

No charge against Doughty

Prosecutors in Los Angeles declined to file a date-rape charge against Kings star Drew Doughty, citing insufficient evidence. A woman who accused Doughty of raping her said she had consensual sex with him previously.

Sports legislation

House backs sponsorships

The House voted to continue spending millions for the military to back sports to attract recruits for the all-volunteer force. On a vote of 216-202, the House rejected an amendment that would have trimmed $72.3 million for sports sponsorships from a $608 billion defense bill for fiscal 2013.

Elsewhere

• The NFL announced that Carolina Panthers backup defensive tackle Andre Neblett has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.

• Former San Francisco 49ers defensive end Cleveland Elam, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who had a team-high 17 ½ sacks in 1976, died last Thursday, the team confirmed. He was 60.

• Miami kicked senior safety Ray-Ray Armstrong off the football team and said it would give him a full release should he decide to transfer.

• Andy Roddick beat Nicolas Mahut of France 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the second round of the Atlanta Open after rain delayed the tournament 4 ½ hours.

• Paul-Henri Mathieu of France beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-8) at the Swiss Open in Gstaad to reach his first quarterfinal this season.

• German veteran Tommy Haas rallied to upset defending champion Gilles Simon of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for a place in the quarterfinals of the German Tennis Championships in Hamburg.

• U.S. Olympian Varvara Lepchenko posted a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 8 seed Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa in the second round of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Calif.

Seattle Times news services