BASKETBALL

Fever beat Sun to advance to WNBA finals against defending champion Minnesota

Tamika Catchings scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Indiana Fever into the WNBA finals for the second time in four seasons with an 87-71 win over host Connecticut Sun on Thursday night.

The Fever, who have won four games while facing elimination, rallied after losing top scorer Katie Douglas to an ankle injury just five minutes into the game.

Minnesota hosts Game 1 of the finals Sunday.

GOLF

EUROPEAN TOUR: Ross Fisher of England and Stephen Gallacher of Scotland each shot a 6-under 65 to share the lead at the Portugal Masters after the opening round.

WORLD GOLF FINAL: Justin Rose beat Tiger Woods by a stroke to set up a title match against Lee Westwood in Belek, Turkey. The two Englishmen, teammates on the victorious European Ryder Cup team, will meet Saturday in the eight-player exhibition.

LPGA: Defending champion Na Yeon Choi shot a 6-under 65 to share the lead with Hall of Famer Karrie Webb.

TENNIS

GENERALI LADIES: Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and two-time former champion Ana Ivanovic won in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals at Linz, Austria.

Azarenka beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-1, 6-1, and Ivanovic defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany, 6-4, 6-3

SHANGHAI MASTERS: Roger Federer assured himself the No. 1 ranking for the 300th week of his career by beating Davis Cup teammate Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0 in the third round.

FOOTBALL

NCAA: Beano Cook, the college football commentator with an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport he dearly loved, died in his sleep, according to his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as sports information director from 1956-66. The 81-year-old Boston native had worked for ESPN since 1986.

RUNNING

BOSTON MARATHON: Registration for the April 15 race has closed with more than 20,000 runners who met a new, more difficult qualifying standard. Other runners still have a chance to participate as part of a charity.

COLLEGES

MEN’S SOCCER: Five players scored for host Stony Brook (8-5-2, 2-3 America East) in a 5-1 win over Maine (6-6-2, 2-3-1). Alex Abrahams curled in a free kick from 25 yards in the 80th minute for Maine.

field hockey: The University of Maine-Farmington’s Lily Barry scored twice, and Kaitlyn Bullen once, to lead the Beavers (5-5, 5-1 North Atlantic Conference) to a 3-2 win over St. Joseph’s (8-5, 4-3).

Elizabeth Andersen and Theresa Hendrix scored for the Monks. Taylor Allison charted four saves in the Monks’ cage, while Felisha Taylor did not record a save for Farmington.

— From staff and news services