Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL

Cowboys release Anderson

The Dallas Cowboys have released injured fullback Deon Anderson to make room for tight end Scott Chandler from the practice squad. The move Friday comes about a week after Anderson had surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus. The fourth-year pro played in 38 games, including 18 starts, in his first three seasons. Anderson’s replacement, rookie Chris Gronkowski, scored a touchdown last week against Chicago. Chandler is the third tight end behind Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett. Witten was limited in practice this week after sustaining a head injury against the Bears.

Pittsburgh Steelers right guard Trai Essex did not practice for a third consecutive day and will be replaced by undrafted free agent Doug Legursky on Sunday at Tampa Bay. While the Steelers (2-0) are losing one offensive lineman, they’re getting another one back. Left tackle Max Starks (ankle) will start after missing last week’s 19-11 victory at Tennessee.

The Detroit Lions have ruled out receiver Nate Burleson and linebacker Zack Follett for Sunday’s game at Minnesota. The team said Friday that Burleson (ankle) and Follett (concussion) did not practice and will not play against the Vikings.

New Orleans Saints cornerback Randall Gay will miss Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. Coach Sean Payton says Gay, who left the Saints’ victory at San Francisco on Monday night after taking a blow to the head, had an independent medical examination Thursday and got another Friday. Payton says Gay was not cleared and will undergo the same procedure next week. Tight end Jeremy Shockey bruised his quad Thursday and did not practice, but Payton said he is listed as probable for Sunday’s game.

The Tennessee Titans will be without defensive end Jacob Ford in Sunday’s game at the New York Giants. Ford (Central Arkansas) was declared out Friday after not practicing all week because of a sprained knee and sprained ankle in the Titans’ 19-11 loss to Pittsburgh last week. But defensive end William Hayes, a starter for 11 games last year, is scheduled to return to the defensive line rotation.

TENNIS

Cilic ousted at de Moselle

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany upset top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-4, 6-1 to reach the semifinals of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France. The sixth-seeded Kohlschreiber saved all four break points he faced and broke Cilic three times. He will face eighth-seeded Gilles Simon of France, who advanced to his first ATP Tour semifinal of the season with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Belgian Xavier Malisse. Simon saved seven break points and broke Malisse’s serve three times. German qualifier Mischa Zverev also advanced, defeating JarkkoNieminen of Finland 7-6 (0), 6-3. Zverev will face Richard Gasquet of France, who edged Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).

Top-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain advanced to the semifinals of the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest after outlasting No. 8 Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. The defending champion won the last three games of the match to seal the victory after recovering from a second-set slump where he won just four points on his serve.

Elena Vesnina and Alla Kudryavtseva will play in an all-Russian final at the Tashkent Open today in an attempt to win a first title. In Friday’s semifinals, fourth-seeded Vesnina rallied in the third set tobeat fifth-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Seventhseeded Kudryavtseva defeated Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Agnes Szavay of Hungary reached the semifinals of the Korea Open in Seoul by beating defending champion Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3. Szavay will face No. 5 Alisa Kleybanova after she beat fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-2. Top-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, 6-2, 6-1 to set up a semifinal against Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic, who beat former No.1 Dinara Safina of Russia 7-5, 6-3.

HOCKEY Chicago’s Boynton suspended

The NHL has suspended Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Nick Boynton for the regular-season opener for making a throat-slashing gesture during a preseason game against Tampa Bay. Boynton was given a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike behavior after the incident in the second period of Wednesday’s game in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The NHL says he made the gesture toward Lightning player Blair Jones. Boynton will miss the Blackhawks’ season opener at Colorado on Oct. 7.

BASKETBALL

Hornets sign ex-Hog Pargo

Free-agent guard Jannero Pargo (Arkansas Razorbacks) is returning to New Orleans, and the Hornets also signed forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu on Friday. Pargo has played in the NBA for seven seasons, averaging 6.6 points and 2.0 assists in 379 games with the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors and New Orleans. He spent two seasons with the Hornets from 2006-2008, where he averaged 8.6 points and 2.4 assists over 162 games. Mensah-Bonsu has played in the NBA for three seasons. He signed a two-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks before the 2006-2007 season and appeared in 12 games, averaging 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds.

Center Jeff Withey will be out as long as six weeks with a broken foot, Kansas Coach Bill Self said Friday. The 7-0 Withey was a redshirt freshman last season after transferring from Arizona. A native of San Diego, Withey appeared in 15 games last season and averaged 3 minutes, 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds.

BASKETBALL

U.S. women top Senegal at worlds

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - It would have been easy for the U.S. women’s basketball team to coast to another rout after building a 33-point halftime lead.

Instead the Americans focused on coming out strong to start the second half - something they’ve struggled with lately.

The U.S. team scored 10 of the first 12 points in the third quarteren route to a 108-52 victory over Senegal on Friday night at the women’s basketball world championship. Even up 46 points later in the period, Candice Dupree hustled back defensively to stop a Senegal break and then sprinted down to the other end of the floor to score an easy layup.

“Coach (Geno) Auriemma talked about that in the locker room,” U.S. point guard Sue Bird said. “The start of the third quarter is something the team has struggled with a bit. It’s been an emphasis and we wanted to come out and put a stamp on the game in the beginning of the third.”

In an exhibition against Senegal last week, which the Americans won by 42 points, the teams were tied in the third quarter. The U.S. team had the same problem in Thursday’s victory over Greece. Up by 17 at the half, the Greeks played them even in the third quarter.

“I think sometimes the mentality of professional basketballplayers is that they play so many games that you get a big lead like we had and it’s a chance to relax,” Auriemma said. “You don’t have a lot of games in this tournament. If you’re lucky you get to play nine. There’s no time to relax.

“We had a better second half than first half, which is a good sign.”

Maya Moore scored 15 pointsand Dupree added 14 to lead a balanced U.S. offense that had six players with 10 or more points. Swin Cash and Tina Charles had 11 each, while Lindsay Whalen and Sylvia Fowles had 10.

“We have so much talent on this team and at any point any playeron this team goes off,” Bird said. “That’s where our advantage lies. We do have the depth. We can go 12 deep and it could be anyone in double figures, six people or seven people.”

The game quickly turned into a rout for the Americans, who broke the 100-point mark for the 14th time in world championship play.

The United States (2-0), which has had its team together for a few days, went on an early 17-0 run that looked like a pregame layup drill.

Fatou Dieng scored 10 points to lead Senegal (0-2).

The U.S. team will play France today.