BASKETBALL

New York Liberty tops Indiana Fever 78-57, sets franchise record with ninth straight win

Leilani Mitchell scored 19 points, Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 14 points and 10 rebounds and the New York Liberty beat the first-place Indiana Fever 78-57 on Tuesday night, extending their franchise record with their ninth straight win. Cappie Pondexter scored 13 points and Nicole Powell added 10 to help New York (20-11) win at home. Tamika Catchings scored 25 points to lead the Fever (21-11). n Renee Montgomery scored 22 points and Asjha Jones added 18 to help the Connecticut Sun (16-16) rout the visiting Tulsa Shock 90-62. Scholanda Robinson led Tulsa (5-27) with 18 points. n Sylvia Fowles had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Epiphanny Prince scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Chicago Sky (14-18) rallied to defeat the Atlanta Dream 84-79. Castro Marques had 19 points to lead the Dream (18-14).

COLLEGES

MAINE SOCCER: The University of Maine women’s soccer team will have a new assistant this season: Jim Dyer, the former athletic director at Maine Maritime Academy who previously coached at Maine. Dyer, who coached current Maine coach Scott Atherley, will be the goaltending coach. n The team was picked to finish fifth in the America East preseason coaches poll. Maine graduated six players from last season’s team, which finished second.

HIGH SCHOOLS

WEIGHTLIFTING: Powerlifter Garrett Allen, 14, of Hampden was named Youth Athlete of the Year by the National Congress of State Games. Allen is the second Maine Games powerlifter to receive the group’s top award. Chris Page of Hermon won the NCSG Male Athlete of the Year Award in 2008. Allen will be a freshman at Hampden Academy this fall. 

AUTO RACING

SPRINT CUP: Budweiser has teamed with Sprint Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick as a primary sponsor for most of the 2011 season. n Australian Marcos Ambrose signed a multiyear deal with Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the No. 9 Ford beginning in 2011.

SOCCER

HONDURAS: Juan de Dios Castillo is Honduras’ new national team coach, replacing Reinaldo Rueda, who guided the Central Americans at the recent World Cup. The Honduran football federation said the 59-year-old Mexican will debut with the national team on Sept. 3 against El Salvador in Los Angeles.

TENNIS

ROGERS CUP: Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in her opening match in Montreal. Kuznetsova, the No. 11 seed, reached a career-best No. 2 in the rankings in 2007.

CINCINNATI MASTERS: Twelfth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny and 16th-seed Gael Monfils were the latest seeded players to get knocked out in Mason, Ohio. Youzhny fell to 41st-ranked Frenchman Richard Gasquet 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 just after Monfils was upset by 67th-ranked Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-4. n Former top-five player James Blake is getting a wild-card invitation for this year’s U.S. Open.