NEW YORK — Katie Douglas and the Indiana Fever stole the spotlight — under the moonlight — from the New York Liberty in the WNBA’s first outdoor game.
On a basketball court laid on top of the tennis court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Douglas scored nine of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, Tamika Catchings had 15 points and nine rebounds, and the Fever routed the Liberty 71-55 on Saturday night before 19,393 fans.
• Seimone Augustus made 11 straight shots from the floor and finished with a season-high 30 points to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 87-74 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars.
Becky Hammon scored 24 points to lead the Silver Stars.
• Michelle Snow scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Houston Comets to a 75-72 overtime win over the Los Angeles Sparks.
• Diana Taurasi scored 21 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury to a 110-84 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
• The Washington Mystics fired Tree Rollins as coach and promoted assistant Jessie Kenlaw on an interim basis.
Knee injury sidelines Serena
STANFORD, Calif. — Serena Williams’ busy schedule caught up with her, making her the latest U.S. Olympian dealing with a knee injury as the Beijing Games approach.
Williams injured her left knee and pulled out of the Bank of the West Classic, becoming the third singles player on the U.S. women’s tennis team with a knee injury.
Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport, the other U.S. Olympic singles players, have already pulled out of next week’s East West Bank Classic in Carson, Calif., with right knee injuries.
Aleksandra Wozniak will meet sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli, who beat Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3, in today’s final.
• Top-seeded James Blake struggled after a rain delay and was upset by defending champion Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.
Tursunov, the third seed, will meet second-seeded Gilles Simon, who defeated fourth-seeded Sam Querrey 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
U.S. divers lose their appeal
LOS ANGELES — Laura Wilkinson and her diving partner Jessica Livingston lost their appeal to compete in synchronized platform diving at the Beijing Games.
An arbitrator ruled to keep 15-year-olds Haley Ishimatsu and Mary Beth Dunnichay as the synchro platform team for next month’s Olympics.
• Sprinters Craig Pickering and Tyrone Edgar were selected for Britain’s Olympic 100-meter squad, a day after a judge refused to overturn Dwain Chambers’ lifetime doping Olympic ban.
Wild signs Veilleux.
Stephane Veilleux, who scored a career-high 11 goals and added seven assists last season, and the Minnesota Wild agreed on a one-year contract.
• Danish center Frans Nielsen agreed to a four-year, $2.1 million contract with the New York Islanders.
