Researchers hope to develop a saliva test to diagnose concussion in female athletes by the end of the year.

Research is now being carried out to see if it can work on female players or if a female-specific one is needed.

The study is jointly funded by World Rugby and Marker Diagnostics, a company which specialises in biomarkers.

"The thing we should be able to uncover by the end of this year will be whether concussion expression is different in women or is it just diagnosed differently, and what happens after that concussion," said Patrick O'Halloran, a senior medical adviser at Marker.

"We've seen differences between men and women at baseline. It could be that you need a different panel of biomarkers in women altogether."

Testing has been carried out in the English women's top flight since 2018, including at the Women's World Cup and the 2022 and 2023 Six Nations.

It is set to continue in the English elite game in this summer's Farah Palmer Cup and, potentially, in other women's competitions where HIAs are conducted.

The saliva test is carried out "from a quick, easy and non-invasive mouth swab", which is taken immediately after an impact during a match, immediately after the match and between 36 and 48 hours after the game.

Marker says that "following a concussive event, a cascade of chemical processes occurs in the brain, altering biomarker profiles" and they "will analyse these changes to provide doctors with an accurate biological tool to diagnose concussions".

The research is being conducted at the University of Birmingham.

"Concussion can be difficult to diagnose, particularly in settings such as grass roots sports where evaluation by a specialist clinician is not possible," said Dr Valentina Di Pietro, of the University of Birmingham.

"Consequently, some concussions may go undiagnosed. A non-invasive and accurate diagnostic test using saliva is a real game changer and will provide an invaluable tool to help doctors diagnose concussions more consistently and accurately."

Here is a list of the 30 teams that will be competing in the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, which will take place May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Arizona. Teams are listed in order of their pre-regionals Golfstat ranking:

(For full recaps of the six regionals, click here.)

COMPETING TEAMS (30)

• 1. Vanderbilt
• 2. North Carolina
• 3. Illinois
• 4. Arizona State
• 5. Texas Tech
• 6. Pepperdine
• 7. Florida State
• 8. Stanford
• 9. Oklahoma
• 10. Florida
• 11. Georgia Tech
• 13. Auburn
• 14. Texas A&M
• 15. Texas
• 16. Virginia
• 17. Alabama
• 18. Mississippi State
• 22. Oregon
• 24. Colorado State
• 25. Ohio State
• 31. Baylor
• 32. Duke
• 33. East Tennessee State
• 34. Georgia
• 35. Arkansas
• 43. BYU
• 45. San Francisco
• 47. New Mexico
• 48. Chattanooga
• 52. Colorado

COMPETING INDIVIDUALS (6)

• Drew Salyers, Indiana
• Luke O'Neill, Kansas State
• Jonas Baumgartner, Oklahoma State
• Riley Lewis, Loyola Marymount
• Will King, Kansas
• Sam Lape, Furman

Sporting Kansas City became the first team to earn a road point against Los Angeles FC this season after Wednesday's 1-1 draw.

The red-hot Denis Bouanga scored in the 13th minute to give LAFC (6-1-4, 22 points) an early lead, but Johnny Russell brought SKC (2-7-4, 10 points) level just seven minutes later.

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Ryan Hollingshead appeared to restore Los Angeles' lead in the 85th minute, but the would-be goal was called back after a video review. The video assistant referee determined that LAFC's Nathan Ordaz was slightly offside during the lead-up to the play.

After scoring only three goals during a 10-game (0-7-3) winless streak to begin the season, Kansas City has rebounded for six goals and a 2-0-1 record in its last three games.

Los Angeles is 4-0-1 in five home games this season.

Sporting KC goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh stopped six of seven shots in his first start of the season, filling in for injured starter Tim Melia.

LAFC backup Eldin Jakupovic was also getting a rare start, stopping two of three shots. Regular goalkeeper John McCarthy didn't play out of precaution over a possible shoulder injury.

Bouanga needed only 13 minutes to extend his scoring streak to four games, as the striker converted a cross from the corner of the box from Kwadwo Opoku. Bouganda has 10 goals in 11 games, with seven of those tallies coming in his last six games.

Sporting KC made a quick response on Russell's equalizer. Russell took the ball into the box and, amidst two defenders, the veteran forward snuck a left-footed shot along the ground past Jakupovic.

It was Russell's second goal of the season, and his 50th regular-season goal over his five-plus seasons with Sporting Kansas City.

The game quieted down after that fast start, as Sporting KC delivered a strong defensive performance to largely contain LAFC's high-powered attack. Los Angeles FC didn't deliver much pressure in the second half until Hollingshead's non-goal sparked a late surge of offense.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Nick Leon scored 15 points and Jeron Belin added 13 as Saint Peter's routed Marist 62-39 on Friday night.

The Peacocks (16-12, 11-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), coming off a 77-75 overtime loss to Buffalo, never trailed and held the Red Foxes to only one point in the first 4:52.

Saint Peter's led 20-3 with 10:31 to go in the first half and went into the break ahead 36-14. The Peacocks led by as many as 34 in the second half en route to sweeping the season series.

Devin Price scored 12 points to lead Marist (1-27, 1-16), which had its second-lowest scoring output of the season. The Red Foxes lost to Hartford 75-38 on Nov. 18.

Saint Peter's held a 38-28 rebounding edge and was 8-for-21 from beyond the arc while Marist was 3-for-15.

The Peacocks shot 40 percent from the field (22-for-55) compared to 30.2 percent (13-for-43) for the Red Foxes.

Los Angeles Clippers general manager Michael Winger has interviewed to become the Washington Wizards' head of basketball operations -- the second known candidate to meet with franchise officials, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Winger joins New Orleans GM Trajan Langdon as the two executives known to have had substantial in-person meetings with Washington owner Ted Leonsis and organizational leadership, sources said.

The Wizards have been conducting a methodical month-long search for a new top basketball executive to replace Tommy Sheppard, who was dismissed in April. The Wizards missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

Winger has previously spurned overtures to remain with the Clippers, where he has worked with president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank and owner Steve Ballmer. The Clippers reached the Western Conference finals for the first time in history in 2021.

Prior to his seven years working as an executive with the Oklahoma City Thunder and president Sam Presti, Winger was an executive with the Cleveland Cavaliers under GM Danny Ferry from 2005 to 2010.

BOSTON -- Jimmy Butler's belief in himself and his team is so strong that it is palpable within the Miami Heat's locker room.

After the superstar swingman dominated yet another postseason game -- scoring 35 points while racking up seven assists, six steals and five rebounds in Wednesday night's 123-116 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals -- he acknowledged that he always believed this kind of run was possible for the eighth-seeded Heat, despite all the obstacles that have appeared in their way throughout the season.

"Damn right I did," Butler said. "Damn right we did. And the best part about it is we still don't care what none of y'all think, honestly speaking. We don't care if you pick us to win. We never have. We never will. We know the group of guys we have in this locker room. We know that Coach [Erik Spoelstra] puts so much confidence and belief in each and every one of us. Coach Pat [Riley] as well.

"So our circle is small, but the circle got so much love for one another. We pump constant confidence into everybody. We go out there and we hoop and we play basketball the right way, knowing that we've always got a chance."

The Heat continue to play their best basketball in the midst of a dream run through the playoffs that only they believed was possible. After squeaking out a win over the Chicago Bulls in the final Eastern Conference play-in game last month, the Heat knocked off the No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games and the No. 5-seeded New York Knicks in six. Now they have a 1-0 lead over the Celtics -- the team that beat them last year to advance to the NBA Finals.

The Heat, who have won Game 1 in each of their first three series during the 2023 postseason, are thriving in an underdog role -- a feeling underscored by their torrid play over the past month after an up-and-down regular season.

"I would say that everybody counted us out from the beginning was kind of what builds that chip," Heat big man Bam Adebayo said. "But also the adversity that we've been through the whole season, the ups and downs, the games we should have won but didn't win. Going to the locker room and trying to figure it out, rewrite whatever we did wrong, and going through that put us in this position.

"Now I feel like we are, like you said, one of the best teams in the league, because adversity built this. We all looked each other in the face and said, this is the second play-in game, this is our last run. This is it. From there, man, I just felt like everybody just bought into that will. I feel like we've just been willing wins."

Nobody is willing more wins in the league right now than Butler. After the Heat fell down by nine at halftime Wednesday, Butler helped engineer a third-quarter rally during which Miami outscored Boston 46-25, shooting 17-for-26 from the field.

"You can't quantify it," Spoelstra said of the belief Butler is bringing to the rest of the Heat's roster right now. "There's no analytic to it. Just the feeling of stability in the locker room. Even when you're down nine in the first half ... there's just a settling effect that is impossible to quantify.

"Like, all right, we are in striking distance. Let's just settle into our game, and Jimmy will make a bunch of plays, Bam will make a bunch of plays and everybody will be all right and everybody will just fit into their roles. But that's what the great players do."

Heat guard Gabe Vincent spoke for many in the locker room while describing what it's like to play with Butler right now.

"When Jimmy's playing like that, we feel like we can play with anybody, beat anybody," he said. "We got a couple guys in this locker room like that, but Jimmy's one of a kind."

The scary part for the rest of the league is that Butler brushed off the notion that this is the highest level his game has been at through the years.

"I don't think so," Butler said. "I really feel as though with anything in life, if you get the opportunity and you have the belief that my teammates, my coaches, Coach Pat, ownership have in me to kind of lead the charge, along with Bam right now, anything is possible.

"I'm playing at an incredible level because they are allowing me to do so. They are not putting a limit on my game. They are trusting me with the ball, on the defensive end. I think that's what any basketball player wants. That's what anybody wants out of life is just to be wanted, be appreciated and just let you go out there and rock."

Butler's teammates and coaches appreciate him because they know how much better he is making the group every night.

"It's fun," Heat guard Kyle Lowry said. "He's one of the best players in the world for a reason. It's just a joy to watch it. For a guy that wants it so bad and works so hard at his craft, it's important to enjoy his success. He gives us all the confidence to be successful and be aggressive and be assertive. That's what makes him special, that it's not all about him. He's about our group and our team and everyone else."

BOSTON -- At halftime of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, things looked pretty darned good for the Boston Celtics. They'd controlled the paint, taken care of the ball and made shots, and as a result they had a 66-57 lead over the Miami Heat 24 minutes into this best-of-seven affair.

Then the third quarter started. And, yet again, the Dr. Jekyll version of Boston disappeared and the Mr. Hyde version took over.

By the time those 12 minutes had expired, the game had been turned on its head. The Heat had outscored the Celtics 46-25, turning a nine-point deficit into a 12-point lead, and Miami was on its way to a stunning 123-116 win to steal back home-court advantage in this series and leave the second-seeded Celtics reeling from how quickly things got away from them.

"It's a choice. It's a decision," Jaylen Brown said when asked what happened in the second half. "Just come out and play with a different mentality. We came out too cool. It was just almost like we were just playing a regular-season game. It's the Eastern Conference finals. Like, come on.

"We've got to play with more intensity than we did today. We've just got to be better, including me."

If there was something that could have shifted from the first half to the second, it did. Boston had 15 assists and five turnovers in the first half; it had seven assists and 10 turnovers in the second. On the other side, Miami took much better care of the ball, going from nine assists and 11 turnovers in the first half to 11 assists and four turnovers in the second.

The Celtics dominated points in the paint in the first half, outscoring the Heat 40-16. In the second half, Miami edged Boston 24-22. There was a similar change in second-chance points, for which Boston had an 11-2 edge in the first half compared with a 10-7 advantage for Miami in the second.

Sprinkle in the Heat shooting 16-for-31 from 3-point range on the night and Boston found itself, for the second straight series, stumbling out of TD Garden trailing 1-0 to an underdog.

"The only thing we need to adjust to is picking up our physicality and playing some damn defense," Marcus Smart said. "That's the only thing they switched. They didn't change anything from the first half that they weren't doing, they just upped their physicality and that's it.

"There's nothing tactical, X's and O's, it's just come out and guard your yard. They scored 46 in that third, and they got going, and they made us pay, and they led into the fourth quarter."

And while Boston's defense cost the team dearly in the third quarter, it was the offense that fell apart in the fourth. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla tends to make observations and adjustments with an offensive mindset -- unlike predecessor Ime Udoka, who would typically lean into more physical and defense-oriented lineups. Mazzulla typically goes the other way: smaller, quicker lineups with more spacing and more shooting.

Going to reserve guard Payton Pritchard in both halves Wednesday night over Grant Williams, who was a key part of last year's playoff rotation but has disappeared this year, was a prime example. It also shows up whenever Mazzulla explains what is giving Boston issues in a game, his answers typically centering on problems on offense.

After Boston's strong ball movement in the first half disappeared down the stretch, with the team failing to make a field goal over more than four minutes late in the fourth quarter, Smart -- who had 10 assists in the first half and just one in the second -- said Boston got "antsy," trying too hard to make plays individually rather than collectively.

No one exemplified that better than Jayson Tatum, who had 30 points but didn't take a shot in the fourth. He made three of his four turnovers inside the final three minutes, including on back-to-back possessions with under two minutes to go.

"I turned the ball over, threw it to Jimmy," Tatum said, referring to his turnover out of a Mazzulla timeout with just under three minutes remaining. "That was on me. Doing a shot fake, I just got sped up a little bit. Just got to slow down a little bit in those moments."

Mazzulla chose not to call any timeouts in that disastrous third quarter, reviving a season-long storyline around his penchant for letting his players sort things out themselves.

"I called two in the first quarter," Mazzulla said when asked about his lack of timeouts in the third.

When asked again, he said, "Don't call two in the first quarter. Save it for the third-quarter run."

Smart defended Mazzulla, saying it's not on the coach to bail the players out.

"Joe is real big on a lot of times not bailing us out on stuff when we're playing like s---," Smart said. "So, we've got to look ourselves in the mirror. Joe can call a timeout, and then what? We come out and do the same thing? It's on us.

"Joe and his coaching staff, they put in a lot of work to come up with a game plan and put us in the right spots to succeed, but they're not out there playing. We've got to come together and we've got to start helping each other out on both ends."