her 16th birthday on June 9, but her relative lack of elite int

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Three black womens basketball players allege in a lawsuit that a small southwest Missouri college treated them differently than white students before expelling them without justification.Breauna Carter, Amalia Harris and Dajanae Wilson, all of Kansas City, filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Cottey College, a womens college of about 350 residential students in Nevada, which had offered them all athletic and academic scholarships for the 2015-16 school year. The lawsuit contends the school violated the womens civil rights by creating a racially hostile environment, selectively enforcing its policies and procedures, and retaliating against them for complaining.The women allege that during the 2015-16 basketball season, Stephanie Beason, athletic director and womens basketball coach, treated them differently than the white players, punished them more severely than white players, ridiculed them and did not give them equal playing time.The suit claimed Beason referred to the black players as the Black Attack, and often divided the team into black and white players during practice. But she then wouldnt play many of the black players at the same time during games, even though seven of the 13 players were black, according to the lawsuit.Mari Ann Phillips, vice president of student life, expelled the three students after one semester, saying they had repeatedly engaged in behavior that has been disruptive and intimidating and that has created an unreasonable risk or danger to the safety of other students. No one at the school ever presented any evidence to back up that complaint, according to the lawsuit.The school violated its own policies and procedures throughout the semester by offering the players no chance to appeal or contest the decision, according to the lawsuit.After their expulsions, the college withheld the womens transcripts, making it impossible for them to enroll in another school the next semester. The women are now trying to enroll at other institutions for this fall, said their attorney, Daniel Zmijewski.Cottey officials did not immediately respond Thursday to a phone call and email seeking comment. The non-denominational college was founded in 1884 by Virginia Alice Cottey, who bequeathed it in 1927 to the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization that supports womens education.The lawsuit comes about four months after Iowa State womens basketball coach Bill Fennelly was sued by a former player for race discrimination and retaliation. Nikki Moody, who is black, sued Fennelly in April, saying the coach demeaned, harassed and discriminated against her while she played point guard for the Cyclones from 2012-15. She also sued the university and the state of Iowa.Fennelly has declined to address her allegations, except to deny that hes not the person Ive been accused of being. Iowa States administration has said the universitys Office of Equal Opportunity could not substantiate Moodys complaints of racial discrimination. Fred Lynn Jersey . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Jerry Remy Angels Jersey .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. https://www.cheapangels.com/1793j-rickey-henderson-jersey-angels.html . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Andrew Bailey Angels Jersey . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Shohei Ohtani Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. With one performance left on the biggest night of her career, Laurie Hernandez paused, placed her right hand over her belly and closed her eyes. She inhaled. Paused. Exhaled. She felt her belly expand and contract. She became aware of her breath. And slowly, the anxiety and adrenaline melted away. Then she raised that same arm toward the judges and turned to face the beam.I was really calm before beam, Hernandez said. I was able to calm myself down and go out there and enjoy the moment. Its a technique Hernandez learned from sports psychology coach Robert Andrews, who heads Houstons Institute of Sports Performance and also works with three-time world champion Simone Biles. Watch Hernandez closely before she presents to the judges at each rotation and there she is: hand over belly, gaze softened yet focused, her shoulders rising and falling with each inhalation.And I pray, she said.Her pre-performance ritual is working. Over two days of competition, Hernandez -- the freshest face on this powerhouse team -- was a rock. She was as consistent as any woman in the competition, her confidence and composure decades beyond her 16 years. As Hernandez moved from rotation to rotation, she energized the crowd like a portable charging station. Her floor routine is so electric it should be measured in wattage.When we choreographed her routine, we tried to focus on her personality and let her be herself, said Maggie Haney, Hernandezs longtime coach at MG Elite in Morganville, New Jersey. Besides being a showcase for Hernandezs outsized personality and dance ability, her floor routine, which she debuted at national championships in June, also pays homage to her 10-year career in gymnastics.You can see dance choreography from her floor routines when she was 9, 10, 11, all through the years, Haney said. But with added sass, because she is naturally so sassy.That sass is what has made Hernandez, the first Latina gymnast since Annia Hatch in 2004 to represent the U.S. in womens gymnastics, a thunder-stealing crowd favorite. But it is her maturity and consistency that landed her in second place overall and a spot on the U.S. team.When she stuck her double pike dismount after performing what she called the best beam routine of her life, the crowd broke into the same raucous, foot-stomping singsong it had earrlier in the night, when Hernandez prepared to perform on floor.ddddddddddddLau-rie! Lau-rie! Lau-rie!The chorus grew only louder when Hernandezs score of 15.70, the best of the weekend on beam, flashed overhead.After beam, I couldnt hear anything, Hernandez said. I was still in focus. I cant hear anything when Im focused. But before floor, I heard them chanting my name.Six months ago, casual gymnastics fans didnt know the her name. By Sunday, Laurie Hernandez?was a star. From the outside, Hernandezs rise seems meteoric, an overnight sensation amid a boldfaced team of Olympic and world champions. But to those close to her, this moment has been inevitable.She has been in our program for so long. She grew up in our system, said U.S. national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, who remembers first seeing Hernandez at a national developmental camp when Hernandez was about 9. Its not like she just popped up here.Hernandez began appearing on Olympic watch lists last year after winning the 2015 junior national championship. She turned senior at the beginning of 2016 and celebrated her 16th birthday on June 9, but her relative lack of elite international experience makes what she has done over the past six months even more incredible. From March until June, she took a trio of bronze medals in the all-around at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, Pac Rim Championships and the national championships.She proved herself over these two days and throughout the year, Karolyi said. She had no falls in any competitions that she presented this year. She had very good consistency.In San Jose, Hernandez was the top finisher both nights on beam, an apparatus that took down both Gabby Douglas and Biles during two nights of competition, and finished third on floor, fourth on vault and second in the all-around. In the Olympics three-up, no-drop team competition format, Hernandez could compete as many as three events and has a legitimate shot at being one of only two U.S. women who will contest the individual all-around.Thats what we want, said Haney, That would be the best thing ever.A few months ago, Hernandez wasnt even part of that conversation. Today, crowds are chanting her name. ' ' '