ee throws to put the Rebels ahead to stay.Emanuel Nzekwesi had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Oral Roberts (1-2), with

RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Claressa Shields won a gold medal in boxing at the 2012 Olympics, she was just 17 years old. She could be quiet and reserved. She received almost no endorsement offers, while bronze medalist Marlen Esparza received several.Times have changed. Shields is four years older, entertainingly outspoken, and a much bigger name, in sports and beyond. She says she has made eight international commercials. She has endorsement deals with Powerade and Mini Cooper. There is a movie about her, T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold. She gets much more media attention -- she dominated the pre-competition press conference for the entire U.S. boxing team here -- and deservedly so.Good things come to those who wait, Shields said Wednesday after her unanimous victory over Russias Yaroslava Yakushina in their middleweight quarterfinal bout. And I dont think I was ready for that stuff when I was 17. I think its come at the right time and Im able to handle everything.In branding herself, Shields says she is altering the definition of what a woman can be.When people have the definition of a woman, they always say, Is this a pretty woman, is she skinny or elegant, or does she wear her hair straight? And Im kind of changing that definition of what a strong woman is, she said. A strong woman can have muscles, a strong woman can get into a ring and fight, a strong woman can transition from having braids and straight hair. When I get outside the ring, I just carry myself the way Im supposed. I keep my hair done. Im a lady and very flexible, but when Im inside the ring, Im a beast.Is she ever. Shields has a 75-1 record, and she is not only confident she will win gold again but also absolutely certain she will. Her ambition coming here is to be the USAs first-ever double gold medalist boxer in 27 Olympics, U.S. boxing coach Billy Walsh said.After Wednesdays bout, a reporter mentioned that Shields had slept several days with her gold medal in 2012 and then asked whether she would do so again if she won. Shields glared back and responded: If?I definitely think Im the best fighter in the world here, Shields said in a line comparable to Muhammad Alis I am the greatest!Shields could be right about that. She is rarely challenged by her opponents and spars against male boxers. She used to tell her coaches that she needed to spar against boys, but they would say no. Then, when her coaches noticed how easy it was for her to spar against female boxers, she insisted, Put me in the ring with the guys! She finally was allowed to spar with men, including fellow Olympian Shakur Stevenson.All that has only made her better and stronger. And she will have to fight better and stronger in the semifinal than she did on Wednesday. Even though she won, Shields was a little off the first couple rounds before dominating the later rounds. She described her fight as a C-minus performance, adding, Im trying to get A-plus in all my fights. Im definitely going to get my next one.Shields has reason to be confident given all that she has overcome. She endured an incredibly difficult childhood, growing up in Flint, Michigan, where her father was in and out of prison for selling drugs, her mother was often absent, and Shields was sexually molested. Despite all that, she is now back on the world stage.Claressa came out of nowhere, and now the world loves her because of the way she fights, U.S. assistant coach Kay Koroma said. She fights differently from every other girl, and even some of the boys. And maybe she should be in there with the boys sometimes. Air Force 1 Alte Liberty .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Air Force 1 Low Italia .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. http://www.airforce1outletitalia.it/scontate-air-force-1-alte-bianche.html . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. Air Force 1 Doernbecher . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Nike Sf Air Force 1 Mid Nere . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Deandre Burnett scored a career-high 41 points, and Mississippi pulled away in overtime to hold off Oral Roberts 95-88 Friday on the opening day of the Paradise Jam tournament.Terence Davis added 13 points, and Sebastian Saiz and Rasheed Brooks had 11 each for the Rebels (3-0), who had to rally from a five-point deficit in regulation.Mississippi trailed 79-74 with 1:20 remaining when Burnett scored five unanswered points, capped by a 3-pointer with 33.4 seconds remaining to tie the score.It just shows how resilient this team is, said Burnett, whose previous career best (23 points) was set a week ago against Tennessee-Martin. It shows we can battle, and be resilient down the stretch. We fix a couple things, and well be pretty good.Brooks opened overtime by hitting a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to put the Rebels ahead to stay.Emanuel Nzekwesi had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Oral Roberts (1-2), with Albert Owwens adding 22, Kris Martin 15 and Jalen Bradley 12.ddddddddddddGive them credit -- they made the plays down the stretch, Golden Eagles coach Scott Sutton said. Its a tough, tough loss. We still had the game where we wanted it -- up five with under two minutes left. We had to close it out, and didnt do it.BIG PICTUREOral Roberts: Is now 0-5 all-time against Mississippi. ... Had its highest-scoring game this season, and its third of 80 or more points. ... Lost guard Aaron Anderson to a leg injury in the first half.Mississippi: Coach Andy Kennedy picked up his 216th career win, moving him past Auburns Joel Eaves for 20th on the SEC career victories list.UP NEXTOral Roberts: Plays Loyola-Chicago Saturday in a consolation-round game.Mississippi: Gets a day off, then faces Saint Josephs on Sunday in the Paradise Jam semifinals. ' ' '