Terry Murray Joins Brother in Panther Post

Terry Murray, a seven-year NHL coaching veteran and brother of Panther General Manager Bryan Murray, agreed Saturday to join his older brother as the franchise’s coach.

A news conference was scheduled for today.

It’s the second time Terry Murray has followed his brother in an NHL coaching job. He took over when Bryan Murray was fired as Washington’s coach in January 1990. Terry then led the Capitals to the conference finals.

Bryan Murray coached Florida’s final 59 games last season.

Tennis

Jana Novotna completed her preparations for Wimbledon by defeating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-1, 7-5, to win the Eastbourne grass-court title in England.

It was her 21st title, her second of the year and--most important--her first on grass, meaning she has won titles on every surface.

Top-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia easily defeated Dutchman Dennis van Scheppingen, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Heineken Trophy grass-court tournament at Rosmalen, the Netherlands.

Rafter will play unseeded Czech Martin Damm in today’s final. Damm beat seventh-seeded Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Julie Halard of France won the women’s final over Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4.

Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman defeated Zimbabwe’s Byron Black, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Nottingham Open grass-court tournament in England.

Motor Sports

Jeff Gordon will try for his 33rd victory in the Pocono 500 today at the Pocono International Raceway at Long Pond, Pa. Gordon will start in the front row, which also includes Rusty Wallace, who has had two recent high-profile tangles with Gordon.

Bryan Herta, still looking for his first CART victory, earned the fifth pole of his career during qualifying for today’s Budweiser-G.I. Joe’s 200 at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Ore.

With a fast lap of 58.358 seconds (121.341 mph) in his Reynard Ford on the nine-turn course, the first road layout on the CART circuit this season, Herta broke Dario Franchitti’s day-old track record.

Ron Hornaday of Palmdale celebrated his 40th birthday with his 20th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, the Loadhandler 200 race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

The win was worth $35,675 to Hornaday, whose Chevrolet took the lead after 73 laps and averaged 80.833 mph over the half-mile, high-banked Bristol oval, nosing out Jack Sprague by 0.854 seconds.

Miscellany

Tanzania’s Simon Peter beat Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, 40, by 95 seconds to win Grandma’s Marathon at Duluth, Minn., and Ukraine’s Yelena Plastinina won the women’s race. Peter finished in 2 hours 12 minutes 47 seconds. Plastinina ran 2:35:46.

Indiana Coach Bob Knight hired his son, Pat, as an assistant basketball coach. Pat Knight, who played guard for his father from 1991-95, was fired last month as coach of the Columbus Cagerz in the United States Basketball League.

For the third time this month, the Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman has been slapped with a lawsuit over his behavior at a Las Vegas casino.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, Connie Wilcox, an employee at the Las Vegas Hilton, claims Rodman sexually assaulted her April 19 at the casino by grabbing her sides near her breasts and lifting her up. She is seeking $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $9 million in punitive damages.

Billy Thompson’s goal in the 63rd minute gave the Columbus Crew a 2-1 win over the New York-New Jersey in MLS play before 11,301 at Columbus, Ohio. . . . Severe weather prompted postponement of Saturday night’s game between D.C. United and the Kansas City Wizards, the first time a Major League Soccer game has been called off. The game was stopped with 37:46 to play in the second half with the teams tied, 0-0.

Women’s Basketball

Cynthia Cooper scored 18 of her 22 points in the first half for Houston, which cruised to a 79-68 victory over the Monarchs in a WBA game before 7,101 at Sacramento. . . . Janice Braxton scored 17 points for the Rockers, who held off the Detroit Shock to win, 68-66, before 7,876 at Cleveland.