Libs clamp down on Sparks; Larson ekes out NASCAR win
Tina Charles scored 21 points and the host Liberty used its biggest run of the season to defeat the Los Angeles Sparks 83-69 on Sunday for its third-straight win. Shavonte Zellous added 19 points and Epiphanny Prince 18 for the Liberty (15-12), who used a 20-0 run in the second quarter to lead 44-35 at the half.
Odyssey Sims had 18 points and Chelsea Gray 15 for the Sparks (19-8). Candace Parker added 14 points, 10 in the first quarter when L.A. hit its first six shots and 7 of 9 overall to take a 27-16 lead.
Kia Vaughn started the comeback with a layup and Prince hit a 3-pointer for a 34-33 lead. Neka Ogwumike’s layup with 32 seconds left ended the Los Angeles drought. The Liberty held the Sparks to eight points in the quarter, the best defensive quarter for the Libs and worse on offense for L.A. this season.
LARSON WINS NASCAR
Kyle Larson slipped between cars on an overtime restart, capping his wild weekend with a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. Team owner Chip Ganassi allowed Larson to go to Iowa to compete in the Knoxville Nationals on Saturday. He finished second at that sprint car event before returning to Michigan and earning his third Cup victory of the season. He has won the last three Cup races at MIS. Teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones finished second and third. Larson won by 0.31 seconds in his No. 42 Chevrolet.
GOLD FOR FELIX
Allyson Felix earned a second gold medal and highlighted the overwhelming performance of the United States at the 10-day track and field world championships in London. Felix won gold in the 4x400-meter relay a day after winning the same color medal in the 4x100 relay. She also earned a bronze medal in the 400-meter race to give her 16 in her career. Usain Bolt finished his career with 14.
Trinidad and Tobago beat the United States in the men’s 4x400, producing only a little dent in an all-powerful performance. The Americans finished with 30 medals, 10 of them gold.
FEDERER LOSES FINAL
Alexander Zverevkept his winning streak alive with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Swiss ace Roger Federer in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal.
The 20-year-old Zverev, the winner last week in Washington, D.C., posted a 10th straight match victory and ended the 36-year-old Federer’s winning streak at 16. The German also tied Federer with a fifth tournament victory this year.
Zverev escaped a break point at 1-0 in the second set with consecutive aces, then broke a mistake-prone Federer for a 4-3 lead.
n Elina Svitolina defeated sixth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-0 to win the Rogers Cup women’s tournament in Toronto. It was Svitolina’s fifth WTA Tour title of the season. A break at love at 4-4 gave the fifth-ranked Svitolina the edge in the first set. She wasn’t threatened again in the 77-minute match.
It was Svitolina’s fourth victory over a top-10 opponent in the tournament and third in two days.