The United States beat Germany, 3-2, yesterday at Faro, Portugal to capture the women's Algarve Cup for the seventh time.

Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer fumbled the ball in the 70th minute and Lauren Cheney tapped it in for a 3-1 lead.

"That was the only way I was scoring today, I had a few bad touches, but the goalie bounced it off my face," Cheney said. "I even looked around me to make sure no one was by me so I couldn't mess it up."

U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said the team did a fantastic job after winning all three of its group games to reach the 12-nation tournament final, and then beat Germany on a muddy pitch.

"I am impressed. We play against Germany, one of the best teams in the world, we play on a bad pitch, it's a bit muddy and we play in a final, but we performed in such a way that's nice to see that kind of attacking soccer with solid defending," Sundhage said.

The Americans dominated in the first half of their eighth straight Algarve final, taking a 2-0 lead when Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach scored within a five-minute span. It was Wambach's 104th international goal.

MORE SOCCER

HOST NETHERLANDS DEFEAT U.S. MEN, 2-1,

The United States fell flat in Europe once again, losing to the Netherlands, 2-1, last night at Amsterdam in the Americans' last match before coach Bob Bradley picks his World Cup roster.

"We had some moments in the first half that were OK, but I don't think we put enough pressure on them," said U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan. "It took us too long in the second half before we made some real plays."

Dirk Kuyt converted a penalty kick in the 40th minute after Jonathan Bornstein pushed Wesley Sneijder in the penalty area. Kuyt sent his kick to the right of goalkeeper Tim Howard, who dived the other way.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made it 2-0 for the third-ranked Dutch in the 73rd minute with a shot that deflected off Bornstein and left Howard with no chance to stop it.

U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra scored in the 88th minute, beating Maarten Stekelenburg to the 6-yard box to head in DaMarcus Beasley's 35-yard free kick. It was his 12th goal in 77 international appearances.

COLLEGE HOOPS

NO. 2 KANSAS WINS SIXTH STRAIGHT BIG 12

Sherron Collins had 17 points in his final home game at Allen Fieldhouse and No. 2 Kansas beat No. 5 Kansas State, 82-65, last night to clinch its sixth straight Big 12 regular-season title outright.

"This is it, it's the last one," said Collins, 1 of 7 from 3-point range and 5 for 15 overall. "I didn't want to get off the court. I wanted it to go on all night, but it couldn't."

Xavier Henry scored 15 of his 19 points in a tight first half and Kansas (28-2, 14-1) wore down Kansas State (24-5, 11-4) to extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 59 games. The Jayhawks will have the No. 1 seed in next week's Big 12 tournament.

NO. 3 NEBRASKA WOMEN GO TO 28-0

Kelsey Griffin scored 18 points as No. 3 Nebraska routed Kansas, 77-52, last night in Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska (28-0, 15-0 Big 12), which clinched the Big 12 regular-season championship a week ago, would become the second team in the conference's 13-year history to go unbeaten in league play if it wins Saturday at Kansas State. Oklahoma did it first in 2005-06.

"We couldn't have scripted it any better than this," Nebraska coach Connie Yori said. "We played really, really well on offense."

The Cornhuskers posted their 11th win by 20 points or more and handed the Jayhawks (15-13, 5-10) their most lopsided loss of the season.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

EX-BOXING CHAMP TONEY TO TRY UFC

Boxer James Toney is taking a crack at mixed martial arts, signing a multi-fight deal with UFC.

The 41-year-old Toney is a former super middleweight and cruiserweight champion who fought Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman. But he hasn't had a significant title shot since March 2006, and he also tested positive for steroids twice.

The UFC hasn't determined the date or opponent for Toney's MMA debut.

TENNIS

U.S. WITHOUT A-ROD, BLAKE FOR DAVIS CUP

Serbia looks to qualify for its first Davis Cup quarterfinal this weekend in Belgrade when it hosts a U.S. team that is missing Andy Roddick and James Blake.

This will be the first time since 2000 that neither Roddick nor Blake will be on the Davis Cup roster.

The U.S. team of John Isner, Sam Querrey and the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan will play on an indoor clay court in Belgrade Arena.

Led by second-ranked Novak Djokovic, Serbia will counter with Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic.

Singles play begins tomorrow, followed by doubles Saturday in the best-of-three series.