*WINTER SPORTS: With the finish and the victory literally in sight, Lindsey Vonn made a costly error and crashed just five gates before the finish Sunday on an icy slalom course in Croatia, losing a likely victory and the overall lead in the World Cup standings. Maria Riesch of Germany won her third straight slalom to take the lead in the standings. … Austrian skier Nicole Hosp (knee) is out for six weeks and the 2007 giant slalom world champion will miss next month’s Alpine World Ski Championships. … Races at the U.S. Cross Country Championship in Anchorage were postponed for the second straight day by temperatures that neared minus-11 degrees. … American Bill Demong finished second in a Nordic combined World Cup event to move into second in the overall standings behind winner Anssi Koivuranta of Finland.
*WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Jantel Lavender scored 20 points and 17th-ranked Ohio State took command early to beat Michigan State 67-49. The Buckeyes (12-2, 3-0 Big Ten) went on a 16-0 run near the outset and were never threatened while winning their sixth in a row. Lauren Aitch had 14 points for the Spartans (9-6, 2-2). … Whitney Hand scored 18 points as No. 5 Oklahoma crushed North Carolina Central 89-25. … North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, 66, missed her fourth straight game — a 56-55 loss to South Carolina — as she battles a recurrence of breast cancer.
*SOCCER: Defending champion Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 victory at second tier Southampton in the FA Cup and will host Tottenham in the fourth round. … Lei Clijsters, the father of tennis player Kim Clijsters and a former Belgium soccer international, died after a yearlong battle with lung cancer. He was 52.
*TENNIS: Roger Federer will join top-ranked Rafael Nadal in this week’s Qatar Open, the ATP Tour season opener. “One of my goals this year is to regain the top ranking,” said Federer, who needs one Grand Slam title to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14. The 2005-06 Qatar Open champ opens against Potito Starace.
*HIGH SCHOOLS: Matt Barkley (11 of 22 for 237 yards), already orally committed to USC, threw two early touchdown passes to lead his White team to a 27-16 victory over the Black team in the Under Armour All-America High School Football Game in Orlando. Safety Ray Ray Armstrong and defensive end Dyron Dye, both from the state championship team at Seminole High School in Sanford, Fla., orally committed to Miami.
*ALSO: James van Riemsdyk scored at 2:49 of overtime to give the U.S. a 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic in the fifth-place game in the world junior hockey championship. … The cost for security at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is going to be much more than the $145 million originally budgeted. According to officials, the cost could climb to $800 million. … … Trinidad champion Jisselle Salandy, one of women’s boxing’s rising young stars, died from injuries sustained in a car crash. She was 21.
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EDITED BY LEE C. GORDON FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES
