Colleges

Athletic scholarships to women at the nation’s major colleges have increased more than 140% since 1991-92, more than twice the rate of increase in aid for men over the same period, according to a gender equity report released by the NCAA.

The report for the 1997-98 school year shows men received 59% of the scholarship money at Division I schools, but the gap has continued to narrow since the first survey in 1992 when men had a 69-31 advantage.

Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves suffered a stress fracture in his right foot and will be out at least eight weeks, Coach Tom Izzo announced. . . . Jamila Demby, a track and field standout from UC Davis, was honored as NCAA woman of the year for her academic, athletic and community achievements.

Miscellany

The family of former NFL player Demetrius Dubose, shot to death during a confrontation with police, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in San Diego charging the shooting was racially motivated.

Dubose, 28, who played four seasons as a linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was shot 12 times July 24 while allegedly resisting arrest. The district attorney’s office is expected to announce this week whether the shooting was a justified use of deadly force or whether criminal charges will be brought against the two officers.

Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion who played on five Ryder Cup teams, was appointed captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team that will try to retain the title in 2001 at The Belfry in England.

Buy.com, an Internet retailer and e-commerce portal to seven specialty stores, was announced as the title sponsor of the golf tour known as the Nike Tour. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said the Buy.com Tour will begin next year with minimum purses of $350,000--a 55% increase over this year.

Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes was assessed a half-point penalty for a collision with AmericaOne during pre-start maneuvers Saturday, which delayed completion of the opening round of the challenger series for the America’s Cup.

Mark Philippoussis beat Gianluca Pozzi, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, to advance to the second round of the Eurocard Open tennis tournament at Stuttgart, Germany. In another match, Michael Chang beat Rainer Schuettler, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. . . . Austrian Barbara Schwartz upset seventh-seeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 7-5, 6-1, to open the $520,000 Generali Ladies tournament at Vienna, Austria.

Organizers for the Sydney Olympic Games admitted the Australian public stood almost no chance of getting tickets for some events at next year’s games because premium seats were held back from sale.