Dupree ends Storm season with putback
WNBA: Candice Dupree’s putback with 1.9 seconds remaining lifted Phoenix to a 77-75 victory over the Seattle Storm in Game 3 on Monday night, sending the Mercury to the Western Conference finals.
Dupree finished with 20 points and Diana Taurasi had 19 to help Phoenix advance to the conference finals for the third straight year, and fourth in the last five.
The Mercury will face the winner of tonight’s Game 3 between San Antonio and Minnesota.
Sue Bird scored 22 points to lead defending champion Seattle, and Lauren Jackson added 18.
Bird tied the score at 75 with 10.5 seconds remaining. Phoenix’s Penny Taylor then drove off the inbounds play and missed. A scramble for the rebound ensued and Dupree eventually put the ball in from the center of the lane.
• Fever 72, Liberty 62: At Indianapolis, Katie Douglas scored 21 points and Tamika Catchings added 17 to help Indiana beat New York in Game 3 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
Erin Phillips had 12 points and five steals for the Fever, who scored 26 points off New York’s 20 turnovers.
Indiana will host Atlanta on Thursday in the opener of the conference finals. Atlanta won all four matchups this season, including the finale on Sept. 11.
Stanford loses leader
College football: Hard to imagine a tougher day on The Farm this season than Monday.
In a major blow to No. 5 Stanford’s bid for a Pac-12 title and national championship, the school announced that linebacker and leading tackler Shayne Skov is out for the season with a left knee injury.
Skov led Stanford with 84 tackles last season to go with 7 1/2 sacks. Even though he didn’t play in the second half Saturday, Skov still leads the Cardinal with 19 tackles this year.
The Cardinal have a bye this week and host UCLA on Oct. 1. They still will be heavily favored for the next four games – UCLA, Colorado, at Washington State and back home against Washington – before traveling to Southern California on Oct. 29.
• UW’s Price OK: University of Washington quarterback Keith Price was feeling better two days after getting beat up by the Nebraska defense, but still not at full strength.
The good news for Price this week is that his sprained right knee is almost all the way back to 100 percent, meaning he won’t be wearing a brace to protect it on Saturday against Cal. The hard-luck punchline is that he’ll be wearing a new one, on his left knee, when the Huskies host the Bears.
• Tar Heels forfeit games: North Carolina will vacate all 16 football victories from the 2008 and 2009 seasons, and reduce scholarships as part of self-imposed penalties following an NCAA investigation into the Tar Heels program.
The school also put the football program on two years of probation as a result of the probe into athletes accepting improper benefits and academic misconduct.
The school still must appear before the NCAA infractions committee on Oct. 28 and await word whether the university will face additional penalties from the NCAA.
Tough day in NFL
NFL: The season is over for Jamaal Charles.
The All-Pro running back will go on injured reserve after tearing the ACL in his left knee, a person familiar with the injury told the Associated Press, leaving the winless Kansas City Chiefs without one of their best offensive players.
Charles, the NFL’s second leading rusher last season, sustained the injury after taking an awkward step finishing off a run in the first quarter of Sunday’s 48-3 loss to the Detroit Lions.
• Green Bay loses Collins: Three-time Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins is out for the season after injuring his neck in the Green Bay Packers’ victory at Carolina on Sunday. … Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee for the third time in less than 23 months, forcing him to miss to rest of the season. … Bengals slot receiver Jordan Shipley has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, ending his season.
• Mangold has high ankle sprain: Nick Mangold might have to sit this one out for the New York Jets.
An MRI exam Monday revealed that the All-Pro center has a high ankle sprain that could sideline him for at least this Sunday’s game against the Raiders.
• Vick’s status uncertain: Michael Vick’s status for the Eagles’ next game is uncertain because of a concussion sustained in Sunday night’s 35-31 loss at Atlanta.
Eagles head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder says Vick was “very far along” on the plane ride to Philadelphia, but he wouldn’t give a timetable for his return.
• Robinson’s hit on Maclin costs $40,000: Dunta Robinson will pay for his flagrant hit on the Eagles’ Jeremy Maclin, but he won’t be suspended.
The NFL fined the Falcons’ cornerback $40,000 for the hit in which he led with his helmet and crashed into Maclin in the third quarter of Atlanta’s win over Philadelphia. Robinson was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.
Surgery for Woods
Baseball: Cubs reliever Kerry Wood will not pitch again this season because of a tear in his left knee. The 34-year-old right-hander will have arthroscopic surgery after the season.
Wood said that he hopes to pitch for Chicago again next year if the team offers him a contract. He added that he doesn’t want to pitch anywhere else.
WAC baseball expands to 10
Miscellany: Cal State Bakersfield’s baseball program will join the Western Athletic Conference as an affiliate member in March 2013, along with Dallas Baptist, making the WAC a 10-team baseball conference.
In 2013, the WAC’s baseball members will be Seattle, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio and affiliate members CS Bakersfield, Dallas Baptist and Sacramento State.