BASKETBALL

Lynx edge Dream for 2-0 series lead in WNBA finals

Seimone Augustus scored 36 points to lead Minnesota’s second-half surge, and the Lynx moved within one win of their first WNBA title by beating the Atlanta Dream 101-95 in Game 2 of the league championship series on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

Jessica Adair added 13 points in 18 minutes in a reserve role for the Lynx, who took a commanding 2-0 lead by overcoming 38 points by the Dream’s Angel McCoughtry. Game 3 in the best-of-five matchup is set for Friday night in Atlanta.

FOOTBALL

PATRIOTS CONTEST: Kayem Foods and Shaw’s Supermarkets are sponsoring the Ultimate Pats Fan Experience to celebrate a distribution deal that makes Kayem Patriots Franks available at Shaw’s.

The promotion gives fans a chance to win a VIP Patriots experience.

The grand-prize winner will receive two mid-field tickets to the Patriots’ game against the Colts on Dec. 4, a pregame official Patriots tailgate, a tour of the field before the game, pictures with cheerleaders, an official Patriots jersey, an autographed football and a chance to retrieve the tee after kickoff.

Fans can enter to win on www.Kayem.com or by visiting Shaw’s through Nov. 17.

ROAD RACING

NEW YORK CITY MARATHON: Edna Kiplagat won’t defend her New York City Marathon title next month after hurting her knee while winning at the world championships.

The 32-year-old Kenyan injured her left knee in a fall during the 26.2-mile race in Daegu, South Korea, in August.

Kiplagat says she no longer has any pain, but her training was too limited during September because of physical therapy to prepare her to run well in New York.

HOCKEY

NHL: Sean Avery’s days with the New York Rangers appear over.

The noted agitator cleared waivers and was assigned to the Connecticut Whale of the AHL. The move clears his $1.93 million from the team’s salary cap.

Avery was in the final season of the contract he originally signed with the Dallas Stars.

• Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby skated with the team but still doesn’t know when he will be able to play in a game.

The star center has been sidelined since Jan. 5 because of post-concussion symptoms.

Crosby hasn’t been cleared for contact in practice and will miss at least the first few games of the regular season, which opens tonight when the Penguins face the Vancouver Canucks.

• The Phoenix Coyotes signed enforcer Paul Bissonnette to a two-year contract extension.

Coyotes GM Don Maloney announced the deal, but didn’t release financial details. Phoenix claimed the 26-year-old Bissonnette off waivers from Pittsburgh on Sept. 30, 2009.

The 6-foot-2, 216-pound forward had one goal and a team-high 71 penalty minutes in 48 regular-season games last season.

• Researchers studying the brain of seven-time All-Star Rick Martin found damage consistent with the trauma they found in other former NHL players.

The difference is Martin wasn’t a fighter. He’s the first non-enforcer who has been diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy by researchers at a Boston University brain bank.

Martin died of a heart attack at the age of 59 in March. All three former NHL players who have donated their brains for research so far have been diagnosed with CTE, a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated brain trauma.

Martin played 13 NHL seasons for the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings. He scored 382 goals as part of the legendary “French Connection” line with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert.

TENNIS

CHINA OPEN: Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka moved into the third round in Beijing with a 7-6 (8), 6-3 victory over Polona Hercog, while in the men’s draw third-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced with a win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Azarenka will next face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. 

— From staff and news services