In brief: Mercury finish sweep of Sky for third WNBA title

WNBA: Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree scored 24 points each and the visiting Phoenix Mercury, playing without star center Brittney Griner, beat the Chicago Sky 87-82 Friday night to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA Finals for their third championship.

DeWanna Bonner added 12 points for the Mercury, who also won titles in 2007 and 2009. Griner sat out following surgery to correct a retinal issue after she was hit in the right eye in Game 2.

Elena Delle Donne scored 23 points, Sylvia Fowles had 20 points and Allie Quigley had 19 for the Sky.

Taurasi hit a tiebreaking short jumper and was fouled with 14.3 seconds left and she made the ensuing free throw to put Phoenix up 85-82.

Delle Donne missed a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, and the Sky fouled Penny Taylor, who made both free throws with 9.3 seconds left for the final score.

Horschel in lead at Tour Championship

Golf: Billy Horschel had another 4-under 66 to build a two-shot lead at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, putting him halfway home to a $10 million bonus.

Rory McIlroy finished with three big putts for a 65. He was two shots out of the lead and will play with Horschel in the final group today. Chris Kirk, the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup finale, had four bogeys in his round of 68. He also was two shots behind, along with Jason Day (67).

Horschel, Kirk and McIlroy only have to win the Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus.

• Lincicome out front at Evian: Brittany Lincicome had six birdies in a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead from Hyo-Joo Kim of South Korea at the halfway stage of the Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France.

The day after making history with the lowest ever score in a women’s or men’s major with a 10-under 61, Kim had four bogeys and rescued her round with three birdies on the back nine, including a 35-footer on the last hole.

• Fathauer leads Web.com Tour Finals event: Derek Fathauer shot a 2-under 69 to take a three-stroke lead in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio, the third of four events in the Web.com Tour Finals.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh is five strokes off the lead in a tie for 11th after a 69 for a 140 total.

Busch on pole for opening Chase race

Motorsports: Kyle Busch will start the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship on the pole for Sunday’s opening race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

Busch got the top spot when rain washed out the qualifying session and the field was set by practice times from earlier in the day. Starting next to Busch on the front row will be Ryan Newman, with Carl Edwards right behind him.

• Rain delays trucks: The NASCAR Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway has been postponed by rain.

The race was pushed back to today at approximately 4 p.m. Pacific time after the Nationwide race. Johnny Sauter will be on the pole for the Trucks stop, followed by Brennan Newberry and Jeb Burton.

France one win away from ousting Czechs

Tennis: France made big steps toward its first Davis Cup final since 2010 after Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave the hosts a 2-0 lead over two-time defending champion Czech Republic in the semifinals in Paris.

Opening on Roland Garros center court, Gasquet stormed to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych, then France’s No. 1 player, Tsonga, proved too strong for Lukas Rosol, dispatching him 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in 91 minutes.

• Swiss lead Italy: Stan Wawrinka followed Roger Federer’s straight-sets win with a quick victory in Geneva, giving Switzerland a 2-0 lead over Italy in the Davis Cup semifinals.

Wawrinka beat Italian No. 1 Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Earlier, Federer beat 76th-ranked Simone Bolelli 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 without dropping serve.

Federer and Wawrinka have a chance in today’s doubles match to clinch a 3-0 series victory and send Switzerland to its first Davis Cup final in 22 years. The Swiss have never won the title.

• U.S. up 2-0 on Slovakia: Sam Querrey gave the U.S. a commanding 2-0 lead in its Davis Cup World Group playoff against Slovakia with a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3 win over Martin Klizan in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

In the opening match of the night, American John Isner hit 29 aces in a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 win over Norbert Gombos.

• Brazil, Spain at 1-1: Thomaz Bellucci rallied from two sets down and saved a match point in a 3-6, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Pablo Andujar that helped Brazil level the Davis Cup World Group playoff against Spain at 1-1 in Sao Paulo. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain’s top player, beat the 201st-ranked Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 in the first match.

• Israel, Argentina even: Dudi Sela’s four-set win over Carlos Berlocq on lifted Israel into a 1-1 tie with Argentina in their Davis Cup World Group playoff in Sunrise, Florida.

Leonardo Mayer defeated Bar Botzer 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the first match of the day, but Sela responded with a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-2 victory against Berlocq at the Sunrise Tennis Center.

The event was originally a home match for Israel in Tel Aviv. But the International Tennis Federation moved it because of safety concerns.

Petty leads Baylor to rout of Buffalo

Miscellany: Bryce Petty threw four touchdown passes, leading No. 8 Baylor to a 63-21 victory against Buffalo in Amherst, New York.

Petty went 23 of 34 for 416 yards through three quarters, and Shock Linwood had 98 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Baylor. Hawthorne Lynx and Jay Lee each caught two touchdowns passes.

It was Petty’s first game since he cracked two small bones in his back during a season-opening 45-0 win against SMU.

• Serbia reaches basketball worlds final: Milos Teodosic scored 24 points and Serbia reached the championship game of the Basketball World Cup by beating France 90-85 in Madrid.

The Serbians will face the defending champion and unbeaten U.S. on Sunday.

Teodosic helped Serbia lead by as much as 18, but Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers nearly brought the French all the way back, finishing with 35 points.

Boris Diaw of the San Antonio Spurs added 13 for France, which will play Lithuania today for the bronze medal.

• Contador maintains Vuelta lead: Australian cyclist Adam Hansen won the hilly 19th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, while Alberto Contador maintained the red leader’s jersey with two days to go.

Contador maintained his lead of 1 minute, 19 seconds over Chris Froome.

Today’s penultimate stage is a demanding mountainous route of 115.3 miles. The 21-stage race finishes with an individual time trial on Sunday.