Sports in brief

wnba

atlanta to face seattle in finals

ATLANTA — Angel McCoughtry scored a playoff-record 42 points to win a high-scoring duel with Cappie Pondexter, and Atlanta beat New York 105-93 on Tuesday to advance to the league finals. Pondexter led New York with 36 points, the third-highest total in a playoff game. Eastern Conference champ Atlanta, a third-year expansion franchise, faces West champ Seattle in the best-of-five finals beginning Sunday in Seattle. McCoughtry surpassed the 41 points Tamika Whitmore scored against Detroit while with Indiana in 2006.

more basketball

Argentina, Lithuania advance at worlds

The Rockets' Luis Scola scored 37 points, carrying Argentina to a 93-89 win over Brazil and into the quarterfinals of the world championships at Istanbul. Scola, the tournament's leading scorer, had 10 of the final 12 points for Argentina, which plays Lithuania on Thursday. Lithuania advanced by beating China 78-67.

soccer

World Cup failures start to make amends

France's recovery from a humiliating World Cup finally began with its first win in European Championship qualifying. The French had begun with a surprising loss in Group D to Belarus on Friday, but they won 2-0 at Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Italy and England also continued to put miserable World Cup campaigns behind them by making it two wins out of two in Euro 2012 qualifying. Following Sunday tabloid stories alleging he cheated on his pregnant wife last year with a prostitute, Wayne Rooney ended his yearlong goal drought for England in a 3-1 win over Switzerland. Italy cruised 5-0 over the Faeroe Islands.

Spain loses big: Spain lost for the first time since winning the World Cup, allowing its most goals in a decade in a 4-1 exhibition defeat to host Argentina.

ET CETERA

horses: The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission unanimously approved an aggressive random drug-testing measure in hopes of further curbing blood doping and drug use. The measure allows testing of any horse eligible to race in the state anywhere at any time. It goes into effect when signed by Gov. Steve Beshear and filed with the state government.

track: Former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin lost the 100 meters in a photo finish at Arazana, Sardinia, but won his first 200 since returning from a four-year doping ban. Gatlin's 100 time was 10.15 seconds, the same time as winner and fellow American Mike Rodgers. Britain's Dwain Chambers, also previously banned for doping, was third in 10.26. Gatlin won the 200 in 20.63. … A report by South Africa's Olympic committee accused suspended South African athletics president Leonard Chuene of "gross misconduct" and ignoring medical advice after he allowed Caster Semenya to compete at the 2009 world championships. Semenya won the women's 800 world title, had gender tests and did not compete again for 11 months. The sport's governing body, IAAF, cleared her in July but said the "medical details" would remain confidential.

Times wires