Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas goes up to shoot against Chicago’s Azura Stevens during the Sky’s 86-83 win in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals on Sunday in Chicago. Paul Beaty/Associated Press
BASKETBALL
Kahleah Copper scored 26 points and Allie Quigley added 21 to help the Chicago Sky edge the top-seeded Connecticut Sun 86-83 in Game 3 of a WNBA semifinals on Sunday.
The sixth-seeded Sky can win the best-of-five series and secure the franchise’s second trip to the league finals with a victory at home Wednesday.
Copper completed a three-point play and made a running layup to cap a 9-0 run midway through the final period to give the hosts the lead for good.
• Brianna Turner scored 23 points, Brittney Griner added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-60 in Tempe, Arizona, to take a 2-1 lead in the WNBA semifinals.
The Mercury got off to another fast start and never let up, winning a second straight rout as members of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns cheered from the front row of Arizona State’s Desert Financial Arena.
Phoenix held 2020 league MVP A’Ja Wilson to eight points on 2-of-14 shooting, and limited Las Vegas to 31% shooting to move within one win of its first WNBA Finals since winning the 2014 title.
Game 4 is Wednesday in downtown Phoenix.
NBA: Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins has received his COVID-19 vaccine and will be eligible to play in all games.
The Warriors said Coach Steve Kerr made the announcement to reporters after practice before the team traveled to Portland to play its first preseason game.
Wiggins faced the possibility of not being allowed into Golden State’s home building at Chase Center for games starting Oct. 13 when the San Francisco Department of Public Health begins requiring proof of vaccination for large indoor events.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: NASCAR’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway was washed out and rescheduled for Monday because persistent rain backed the series into too tight of a window to run as scheduled.
The race was initially delayed almost two hours and NASCAR made one attempt Sunday at starting the 500-miler. But it began to rain again as the cars circled the 2.66-mile superspeedway behind the pace car.
Talladega does not have lights – the Xfinity Series race on Saturday ended six laps early because of impending darkness – and the lengthy delay meant NASCAR would flirt with sunset if it even started the race. Talladega’s 500 miles average a 3 hour, 41 minute runtime and NASCAR does not like to start a race unless it expects to run to completion.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Iowa is gearing up for its biggest home game since the 1980s, Cincinnati has its highest ranking in 12 years and Clemson is on the outside looking in at The Associated Press poll for the first time since 2014.
Alabama and Georgia are the only constants during this topsy-turvy college football season. They held down the top two spots for a fifth straight week in the AP Top 25.
Alabama received 53 of a possible 62 first-place votes Sunday, with Georgia picking up the rest.
Iowa leapfrogged Penn State to take the No. 3 spot after its 51-14 road win over previously unbeaten Maryland. The Hawkeyes have their highest ranking since 2015. Penn State beat Indiana 24-0 at home and remained No. 4.
No. 5 Cincinnati, coming off a 24-13 road win over Notre Dame, has its best ranking since Brian Kelly’s 2009 Bearcats were No. 4 in the first week of November.
Oklahoma, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan and BYU round out the top 10.
ROAD RACING
LONDON MARATHON: Sisay Lemma won the London Marathon for the first time but was kept off the podium due to coronavirus protocols.
Testing negative allowed the 30-year-old Lemma to race after being deemed a close contact of fellow Ethiopian Kinde Atanaw, who withdrew after a positive test on Saturday.
But as a precaution Lemma was taken back to his hotel after completing the 26.2-mile route in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 1 second.
Vincent Kipchumba of Kenya, who finished 27 seconds behind Lemma, and third-placed Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia were allowed on the podium. The top place was taken by Lemma’s agent, Gianni Demadonna.
In the women’s race, Joyciline Jepkosgei was victorious on her debut after opting to to compete in London over the defense of her New York title next month. The Kenyan, who won the Beach to Beacon 10K in 2019, won in 2:17:43. Degitu Azimeraw of Ethiopia was second with compatriot Ashete Bekere third.
GOLF
PGA: Sam Burns ran off four birdies in a six-hole stretch to start the back nine and pulled away for a 5-under 67 to win the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi for his second PGA Tour victory this year.
Against a list of contenders looking for their first win, Burns showed what it takes at the Country Club of Jackson by playing flawlessly on the back nine until it didn’t matter.
Staked to a two-shot lead going down the 18th, he took a safe bogey from the greenside bunker to secure a one-shot win over resurgent Nick Watney and PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Danny Willett celebrated his birthday by winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship by two strokes.
The Englishman took a three-shot lead into the European Tour event’s final round, which was played over the Old Course at St. Andrews. Willett shot a 4-under 68 and finished on 18 under par overall to claim his eighth professional win and first since the BMW PGA Championship in September 2019.
Fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, a two-time champion of the event, shot 67 and finished tied for second with Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren (66).
LPGA: Celine Boutier birdied two of her last three holes for an 8-under 63 and won the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey when South Korea’s best two players faltered down the stretch.
Starting the final round five shots behind, Boutier ran off six birdies on the front nine of the windy Bayside Course at Seaview to join a growing list of contenders.
The 27-year-old from France holed a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16 and then birdied the par-5 18th from 5 feet to set the target at 14-under 199.
Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park, who shared the lead going into the final round, couldn’t catch her.
SOCCER
PREMIER LEAUE: Watford fired Xisco Munoz after less than a year in charge, making him the first managerial departure of the Premier League season.
The Spaniard is the 14th manager to leave the club in a decade. His dismissal came with Watford 14th in the standings with seven points from the opening seven games – the last a 1-0 loss at Leeds on Saturday.
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