WNBA
Moore, Minnesota roll in Game 1 of WNBA Finals
MINNEAPOLIS – Maya Moore had 23 points, including three 3-pointers in the first quarter to propel Minnesota from the start, and the Lynx delivered a dominant 84-59 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday night.
Moore shot 10-for-16 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds, and Monica Wright pitched in 20 points off the bench. Seimone Augustus scored her usual 19 points, and the Lynx overwhelmed the Dream by leading the entire game and shooting 49.4 percent from the field.
Angel McCoughtry finished with 17 points for the Dream, but she needed 24 shots to get there.
college football
Another week, same old story atop AP top 25 poll
NEW YORK – For the fourth consecutive week, the top five teams in The Associated Press college football poll are unchanged, led by No. 1 Alabama.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide received 55 of 60 first-place votes after an easy victory, and No. 2 Oregon received the other five after its latest blowout. Clemson is No. 3, followed by Ohio State and Stanford.
No. 23 Northern Illinois, No. 24 Virginia Tech and No. 25 Missouri moved into the rankings for the first time this season. Arizona State, Mississippi and Maryland dropped out.
soccer
U.S. will be without Dempsey and Bradley to wrap qualifying
CHICAGO – The United States will be missing Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley for its World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica and Panama.
Dempsey has not played since Sept. 13 because of a strained right hamstring, and Bradley has been sidelined since spraining his left ankle during pregame warmups at Costa Rica on Sept. 6.
The U.S., which already has clinched its seventh consecutive World Cup berth, selected only 20 players for Friday night’s game against Jamaica and the match four days later at Panama, which concludes qualifying.
Three of the players were not in camp ahead of the September qualifiers: defender Brad Evans, midfielder Sacha Kljestan and forward Terrence Boyd.
auto racing
Dixon wins in Houston; Franchitti, fans hurt by crash
HOUSTON – Scott Dixon took control of the IndyCar championship race when Helio Castroneves suffered his second mechanical failure in two days at the Grand Prix of Houston, where the race ended when Dario Franchitti’s car went airborne into the fence on the final lap.
The accident in Turn 5 happened when the car of four-time IndyCar champion Franchitti launched over Takuma Sato’s and sailed into the fence. Debris was showered into the grandstand from both the cars colliding and the impact with the fence, and Franchitti’s badly damaged car bounced back onto the track. E.J. Viso then hit Sato’s car.
IndyCar said one series official was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries, and Houston Fire Department spokesman Ruy Lozano said 13 fans suffered injuries, with two transported to hospitals. Franchitti has two fractured vertebra that will not require surgery, a fractured right ankle and a concussion. He was held overnight at the hospital.
Vettel wins to close in on fourth Formula One crown
YEONGAM, South Korea – Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won an eventful Korean Grand Prix on Sunday to close in on his fourth consecutive Formula One championship.
The German led throughout the race, but two safety-car periods and significant graining on his tires made for a hard-fought win.
He finished 4.2 seconds ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen, who was just ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean.
Vettel now leads the drivers’ championship by 77 points with only five races remaining.
Associated Press
