Storm rally, beat Sun in final minute
WNBA: Tanisha Wright made the tying and go-ahead free throws with 53.9 seconds left, and Lauren Jackson scored 31 points as the Seattle Storm rallied in the final 3 minutes to beat the Connecticut Sun 83-82 Thursday night in Seattle.
Swin Cash had 21 points and Camille Little added 10 to help the league-best Storm (23-4) snap a two-game losing streak, their only skid of the season.
Tina Charless scored 23 points and Renee Montgomery added 22 for the Sun (13-14), who lost their fourth straight.
Trailing 81-76, Sue Bird made a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:07 left and Cash hit two free throws 47 seconds later to tie the score.
Watson takes first- round Firestone lead
Golf: Bubba Watson sure didn’t look as though he was making his debut at Firestone. He opened with a 6-under 64 to build a two-shot lead after one round of the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.
Watson sits two shots clear of Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry and Adam Scott.
Seven-time champion Tiger Woods looked as if he had never been here before. Woods got off to an atrocious start on his way to a 4-over 74.
• Sabbatini and Uresti share lead at Turning Stone: Rory Sabbatini and Omar Uresti shot 7-under 65s and were tied for the lead in the rain-delayed first round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship at Verona, N.Y.
Sabbatini and Uresti both had seven birdies without a bogey and they were one stroke in front of Brad Faxon, Brian Davis, Steve Elkington and Alex Cejka.
Spokane’s Alex Prugh shot an even-par 72.
• Isagawa, McCarthy win Junior PGA Championships:
Cassy Isagawa won the 35th Junior PGA Championship with a par putt on the third playoff hole at Fort Wayne, Ind.
The 16-year-old Isagawa defeated Ginger Howard of Bradenton, Fla., at Sycamore Hills. Both finished the 54-hole tournament at 3-under 213 after shooting final-round 69s.
Phelps, Soni win titles at US nationals
Swimming: World and Olympic champion Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. national championships at Irvine, Calif., with the fastest time in the world this year.
Phelps led all the way and touched in 50.65 seconds, easily topping the previous quickest time of 51.70 set by Evgeny Korotyshkin of Russia.
World champion Rebecca Soni won the 100 breaststroke with the world’s fastest time. Soni was second at the turn, then poured it on down the stretch to win easily in 1 minute, 5.73 seconds.
She was 2.34 seconds ahead of second-place Ann Chandler, who touched in 1:08.07.
The men’s 50 freestyle was won by Olympian Nathan Adrian in 21.70 seconds. Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce won the 50 free in 24.86.
Modano, Wings agree to one-year deal
NHL: Mike Modano wanted to prove there’s still a spot for him in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings are giving him a chance, agreeing to terms on a one-year contract.
The 40-year-old Modano is expected to be on Detroit’s third line with Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary. Modano had 14 goals and 30 points in 59 games, fading to being a fourth-line center with the Dallas Stars.
Ky. Woman found guilty of extortion
Miscellany: A Kentucky woman was convicted in a Louisville courtroom of demanding millions of dollars from Rick Pitino to keep secret their one-night stand in a restaurant, then claiming the Louisville basketball coach raped her after he reported the extortion.
Karen Cunagin Sypher, 50, of Louisville, was found guilty of three counts of extortion, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of retaliating against a witness.
Pitino testified she came on to him in 2003 at the Italian restaurant, and that the sex was consensual.
• NCAA says WVU football commits rules violations: West Virginia student managers, graduate assistants and other non-coaching staff worked with football players on their skills and techniques in violation of NCAA limits during the Rich Rodriguez era and under current coach Bill Stewart, according to NCAA allegations.
The NCAA said this week that there were five major and one secondary rules violations committed by the Mountaineer football program from 2005 to 2009.
The NCAA also said both Rodriguez and Stewart failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.
• Report: Ex-Armstrong teammate alleges drug use: Lance Armstrong’s attorney lashed out at a report that a former teammate of the seven-time Tour de France champion told investigators Armstrong knew of widespread performance-enhancing drug use on the U.S. Postal Service team.
The New York Times reported that a cyclist, who was identified only as a former Armstrong teammate, backed up claims by Floyd Landis that the Postal Service team engaged in systematic doping.
• Suns lure Blanks from Cleveland to be GM: Lon Babby’s first priority after being named president of basketball operations for the Phoenix Suns was to find a top-level talent assessor.
Babby got the man he wanted, hiring Lance Blanks as general manager.
Considered one of the league’s top up-and-coming executives, Blanks joins the Suns after consecutive five-year runs with two highly successful NBA teams, the San Antonio Spurs and then the Cleveland Cavaliers.