BASKETBALL

Kahleah Copper scored 22 points, Allie Quigley added 18 and the hot-shooting Chicago Sky opened the WNBA finals with a 91-77 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday.

The Sky withstood Phoenix’s fast start and took control with a 21-2 run spanning halftime to go up 17. Courtney Vandersloot had 12 points and 11 assists, helping Chicago shoot 53% and snatch home-court advantage from the Mercury in the best-of-five series.

Game 2 is Wednesday in Phoenix.

The Mercury played without guards Kia Nurse (torn ACL) and Sophie Cunningham (left calf strain), and the lack of depth seemed to hurt them against one of the WNBA’s best offensive teams.

Brittney Griner had 20 points and Diana Taurasi 17 for the Mercury, who pulled within eight late before running out of steam and time.

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GOLF

PGA: Sungjae Im made seven birdies in eight holes around the turn for a 9-under 62 and a four-shot victory over Matthew Wolff in the Shriners Children’s Open at Las Vegas.

Rory Sabbatini shot 28 on the front nine and was briefly tied for the lead, but could only manage even par on the back nine for a 64 that left him tied for third with Marc Leishman (63) and 54-hole leader Adam Schenk (70).

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Phil Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions, closing with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory over Miguel Angel Jimenez in the Constellation Furyk & Friends at Jacksonville, Florida.

LPGA: Jin Young Ko finished off a wire-to-wire victory in the Cognizant Founders Cup in West Caldwell, New Jersey, with her 14th consecutive round in the 60s, matching a 16-year-old record held by Annika Sorenstam.

Even in a steady rain at Mountain Ridge, the 26-year-old South Korean star made it look easy. She closed with a 5-under 66 for a four-shot victory over Caroline Masson of Germany. She finished at 18-under 266.

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EUROPEAN TOUR: With Jon Rahm out of contention, Rafa Cabrera Bello prevailed in a Spanish duel with Adri Arnaus on the first playoff hole to win the Spanish Open in Madrid.

Cabrera Bello shot a 2-under 69 to finish tied at 19 under. Arnaus closed with a 4-under 67 but fell just short of his first European Tour victory.

Top-ranked Rahm, who was a two-time defending champion, couldn’t make a move in the final round and shot 69, leaving him in a disappointing tie for 17th at 13 under.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: Georgia is the new No. 1 team in The Associated Press poll by a unanimous vote, taking the top spot during the regular season for the first time since November 1982.

Defending national champion Alabama slipped four spots to No. 5 after its loss Saturday night against Texas A&M.

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Iowa is No 2, up one spot after winning a top-five matchup with Penn State. The Hawkeyes have their best ranking since they reached No. 1 in 1985.

No. 3 Cincinnati has its best ranking ever, and No. 4 Oklahoma moved up two spots after a come-from-behind victory against Texas.

ROAD RACING

CHICAGO MARATHON: Seifu Tura Abdiwak of Ethiopia and Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya won in the return of a race that was scrapped last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Abdiwak, who placed sixth in 2019, finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 12 seconds. Galen Rupp of the U.S. was second in 2:06:35, followed by Kenya’s Eric Kiptanui with a time of 2:06:51.

Chepngetich took the women’s race, finishing in 2:22:31. Emma Bates of the U.S. was second at 2:24:20.

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AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: While his teammate Valtteri Bottas enjoyed his first win of the season at the Turkish Grand Prix, it was a frustrating day for Lewis Hamilton as he missed out on a podium spot and also lost the overall championship lead to Max Verstappen.

Hamilton started 11th because of a 10-place grid penalty, drove his way to third, but wound up a disappointing fifth after his team ordered a late-race tire change. The Mercedes strategy allowed Verstappen to swing the championship race from down two points to Hamilton to leading by six with six races remaining.

SOCCER

NATIONS LEAGUE: Kylian Mbappe scored a late winner as world champion France came from behind to beat Spain 2-1 in the Nations League final in Milan.

Mikel Oyarzabal fired Spain in front shortly after the hour mark, but the lead lasted less than two minutes before a magnificent finish from Karim Benzema.

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WORLD CUP QUALIFYING: Brazil’s run of consecutive wins in World Cup qualifying ended when it was held to a 0-0 at Colombia.

Brazil leads qualifying with 28 points from 10 matches and Colombia is in fifth place with 15. The top four earn direct entry to the World Cup in Qatar next year. The fifth-place team can still qualify via an inter-continental playoff.

HOCKEY

NHL: The New York Rangers and top center Mika Zibanejad have agreed to an eight-year contract worth $68 million.

Zibanejad will count $8.5 million against the salary cap beginning next season and through 2029-30. The 28-year-old Swede had 24 goals and 26 assists in 50 games last season, and has 283 points in 323 regular-season games since the Rangers acquired him from Ottawa in 2016.

TENNIS

BNP PARIBAS OPEN: No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek routed 25th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-0 to reach the third round at Indian Wells, California.

On the men’s side, No. 5 seed Matteo Berrettini defeated Alejandro Tabilbo 6-5, 7-5 in his opening match. He’ll next face 31st-seeded Taylor Fritz, who beat Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup.


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