Single mother's simple error earns her $14 million lottery prize

At the intersection of Fate and Lotto, Thuan Le made a very fortunate error.

The California single mother of four is thanking her lucky stars after mistakenly slipping an extra dollar into the self-service Lotto machine at her local CVS store in Mission Viejo.

That superfluous dollar wound up getting Le the SuperLotto Plus ticket holding the five winning numbers -- 5, 33, 25, 46, 32 -- plus the Mega number, 26, selected randomly in the April 24 drawing.

In all, Le won a $14 million jackpot.

“Thuan Le is a hardworking single mother of four sons,” according to a release from the California Lottery.

“She is also very excitable. In fact, when she ran her SuperLotto Plus ticket through the terminal and realized she had won a $14 million jackpot, she ran screaming out of the store!”

Le reportedly plans to buy a house, travel, and visit her parents in Vietnam with the proceeds.

According to the lottery website, Le and a friend would normally go together and buy their lottery tickets at the same time. But on that fateful April day, Le went by herself to purchase her usual $4 worth of POWERBALL® and $1 in SuperLotto Plus.

“She accidentally put $6 in the self-service terminal and bought her tickets,” the lottery reported. “When she realized she still had $1 in credit, she thought, ‘I might as well get another SuperLotto Plus ticket.’ That sixth ticket was the winner.”

It had been approximately a month – and eight unsuccessful drawings -- since anyone picked all six numbers to win the SuperLotto Plus jackpot when Le won the grand prize, according to a local Patch.com website.

 The odds of winning are about 1 in 42 million, according to the California lottery.

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Louisville downs Purdue, earns spot in Sweet 16

Published March 26, 2013

Sports Network

Louisville, KY –  For the second time in the last three seasons the Louisville Cardinals will be in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament after they posted a 76-63 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers at the KFC Yum! Center.

Sara Hammond recorded a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to pace the fifth-seeded Cardinals (26-8) who advance to face either top-seed Baylor or eighth-seed Florida State in the next round. Antonita Slaughter contributed 16 points and seven boards and Shoni Schimmel tacked on 14 points but did have 10 turnovers. Louisville is returning to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.

Sam Ostarello registered 16 points and 12 rebounds and K.K. Housera added 10 points and five assists but also had nine turnovers for Purdue (25-9).

On their home floor, the Cardinals ran out to a 38-23 lead at halftime by shooting 43.3 percent from the field while connecting on 5-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. Purdue shot just 32.3 percent and had a single 3-pointer to fall behind.

The 3-point line was not so kind to Louisville after the break when it hit just 2-of-7 attempts but by shooting 50 percent overall was able to hold off the Boilermakers.

Louisville owned a 38-32 edge in rebounds. The two teams combined for 43 turnovers.

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Gonzaga earns school's first No. 1 seed, headlines West Region

The No. 1-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs might not have received the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the team did position itself well, earning the top-spot in the West Region on Sunday.

The West Coast Conference champion Bulldogs (31-2) have had plenty of post season success in the past, but it's the first time in program history that the Zags have been awarded a No. 1 seed.

"Well it's an honor," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of receiving a No. 1 seed. "It was an overwhelming feeling of just being honored."

Although Gonzaga has made a name as the "under-dog" in season's past, the Bulldogs reached new heights this year with 31 wins -- the most in school history -- and enter the tournament winners of 14 straight games.

Plus, the Zags have plenty of experience on their roster, as they've had an impressive run of 15 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

"It's great to be in that mix of teams," Few added after listing off the other top seeds in the tournament. "We have been remarkably consistent this entire year. I think when this team plays at its highest level, we can definitely beat any team in this country."

Up first for Gonzaga is 16th-seeded SWAC champion, Southern University. The contest takes place in Salt Lake City, UT on Thursday.

Ohio State picked up the No. 2 seed in the West after the Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin to win the Big Ten Conference title -- their third in the last four years. Coach Thad Matta's squad takes on the Iona Gaels, who head back to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year after winning the MAAC Championship.

The winner of that contest in Dayton, OH, faces the victor of Friday's other contest between 7 seed Notre Dame against 10th-seeded Iowa State.

After New Mexico earned the Mountain West's automatic bid by defeating UNLV on Saturday, stud guard Tony Snell declared, "I think we deserve a No. 2 seed or higher (in the NCAA Tournament) 'cause we definitely proved ourselves all year. That's what I think."

While some may have dismissed Snell's statement, it turns out he wasn't far off, as the Lobos landed the No. 3 seed in the West Region. They will play on Thursday and face Ivy League champion Harvard, which earned back-to-back NCAA berths for the first time in program history.

The Arizona Wildcats earned the West's sixth seed and play on Thursday in Salt Lake City versus a dangerous Belmont squad which won the Ohio Valley Conference over Murray State in overtime. The Bruins, who advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season -- after consecutive appearances from the Atlantic Sun Conference -- are one of three Division I programs to earn a bid in six of the last eight years.

Eighth-seeded Pittsburgh out the Big East Conference, faces ninth seed Wichita State on Thursday, also in Salt Lake City.

The other Friday games taking place in Kansas City, pit No. 4 Kansas State against the winner of Boise State/La Salle and fifth-seeded Wisconsin against 12th-seeded SEC champion Ole Miss.

The West's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on March 28 and 30.

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