Minnesota Sports Briefs: T-Wolves snap losing streak

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MINNEAPOLIS (Sports Network) - Dante Cunningham scored 18 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the field and Nikola Pekovic added 14 points and seven rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves crushed the New Orleans Hornets, 115-86, at Target Center.

Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved netted 12 points apiece for the Timberwolves, who emphatically ended a six-game losing streak. Mickael Gelabale contributed 11 points and five rebounds in the win. Anthony Davis scored 18 points and Robin Lopez donated 16 for the Hornets, who have lost four straight road tilts and six of their last seven games overall.After Derrick Williams nailed two free throws to increase the home team's lead to 17-11, the offense didn't stop and the Wolves ended the first stanza on a 16-3 flurry which gave them a convincing, 33-14 edge. The lead even grew to 30 points (55-25), with Pekovic's layup at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter. One night after Minnesota allowed the Lakers to put up 68 first-half points in Friday's loss, the Timberwolves came close to matching Los Angeles' output, and led 58-31 at halftime. The Hornets connected on just 10 field goals in the first half, compared to the Wolves, who connected on 23-of-38 shots from the field.

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Former Minnesota Viking wide receiver Chris Carter was finally voted into the NFL Hall of Fame. The announcement was made Saturday in New Orleans. Carter was part of a class of seven new members were elected including modern-era players Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, and Warren Sapp, along with coach Bill Parcells. Also getting the nod were lineman Curley Culp and linebacker Dave Robinson, who were elected as senior nominees. The selection process took nearly eight hours as a 44-member committee whittled the list of modern-day candidates from 15 down to 10. All four modern-era players, along with two-time Super Bowl champion coach Parcells received at least 80 percent of the vote to be selected. "It's not because I'm sad," an emotional Carter said of the tears welling in his eyes. "This is the happiest day of my life." Carter, a finalist for the sixth straight year, was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection with the Eagles, Vikings and Dolphins from 1987-2002. He compiled 1,101 receptions with 13,899 yards and 130 touchdowns over his 16-year career. "Those years I didn't make it, I took 2-3 hours to cry and mourn," Carter admitted. "This year I believed I was going to get in the Hall."

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In front of a record crowd of over 3,000 fans at Ridder Areana in Minneapolis the University of Minnesota women's hockey continue their winning streak with a 6-2 victory over Minnesota-Duluth Saturday. UMD actually led early after scoring a goal in the first period but the No. 1 Golden Gophers put two on the board in the second and exploded for four more goals in the third after the Bulldogs tied the score 2-2. Amanda Kessel, Rachel Bona, Meghan Lorence and Jordyn Burns all scored for U during their third period floruish. Kessel had three assists in the game and Hannah Brandt had a goal and two assists as well. Gopher goalie Noora Raty finished with 16 saves as the Gophers still outshot UMD 34-18.

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