Sports briefs 11/9/03

Colleges

John Gagliardi became college football's career victory leader Saturday when St. John's rallied to beat Bethel 29-26. Gagliardi, in his 55th season and his 51st at the Division III liberal arts school in central Minnesota, got his 409th victory. He passed Eddie Robinson, who retired in 1997 after winning 408 games with Division I-AA Grambling State. Ryan Keating's fourth touchdown pass, a 10-yard toss to Josh Nelson, gave the Johnnies the lead with 2:03 remaining. St. John's (9-0, 8-0) also clinched the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, its 10th in the last 13 years.

Evan Unrau scored 21 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, pacing Missouri to a 74-39 women's basketball exhibition victory over Division II's Southwest Baptist. LaToya Bond added 14 points and Stretch James 13 for the Tigers, who held Southwest Baptist to 25 percent first-half shooting en route to a 37-19 halftime lead.

Golf

Chad Campbell finished his round in the record books with a 10-under-par 61 that gave him a one-stroke lead in the Tour Championship. Campbell, five shots out of the lead at the start of the third round, played his final 10 holes in 8 under and flirted with a 59 until missing a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th. Campbell broke the Champions Golf Club and the tournament record, previously held by Jim Furyk and set in third round of the 2001 Tour Championship.

Annika Sorenstam put herself in perfect position for her third straight Mizuno Classic title, shooting her second consecutive 9-under-par 63. Sorenstam, attempting to become the first player in LPGA Tour history with three consecutive victories in more than one event, birdied seven of the first 11 holes and added birdies on the final two holes to take a six-stroke lead. Only six players have won an LPGA Tour event three straight times, with Sorenstam accomplishing the feat in the Michelob Light Classic from 1997-99.

Alex Cejka and Raphael Jacquelin kept their record perfect at the Seve Trophy, leading a comeback by Continental Europe against defending champion Britain-Ireland.

Motorsports

Jamie McMurray won the Busch Series race at North Carolina Speedway, his third straight win at the track. McMurray scored the fourth Busch Series win of his career by taking the checkered flag at the Target House 200. He led 126 of the 197 laps in his Dodge. Martin Truex Jr. was second and Bobby Hamilton Jr. third.

Olympics

The defending champion United States was grouped with European champ Lithuania for next year's men's basketball tournament at the Athens Olympics. The two countries are joined in Group B with Angola, Australia, Greece and Puerto Rico. Serbia-Montenegro, the 2002 world champion, and Argentina are in Group A with New Zealand, Italy, Spain and China.

Tennis

Jennifer Capriati defeated Anastasia Myskina 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 to claim the last semifinal spot in the WTA Championships. Amelie Mauresmo plays Justine Henin-Hardenne in one semifinal today; Kim Clijsters and Capriati are in the other.

Top-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn lost in her home country, beaten by Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals of the Volvo Women's Open.

-- From wire reports