U.S. Recovers in Time to Rout Brazil, 110-76

Tim Duncan made eight of 10 shots, Elton Brand scored 17 points and the U.S. dominated the second half to beat Brazil, 110-76, on Wednesday night in its opener at the FIBA-Americas Olympic qualifying tournament at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“They didn’t surprise us. We had to play our best to win,” U.S. Coach Larry Brown said.

In the first half, the U.S. was sloppy with the ball, failed to defend the three-point line and fell behind by as many as 10 points. But the U.S. closed the half with an 11-5 run, then outscored Brazil, 31-8, in the third quarter to turn it into a blowout.

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Tennis

Fourth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova was upset by qualifier Cara Black, 6-3, 6-2, in the second round of the Pilot Pen hard-court tournament at New Haven, Conn.

Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil defeated Karol Beck of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of the TD Waterhouse Cup at Commack, N.Y.

James Blake upset third-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain, 6-3, 6-4.

Top doubles player Leander Paes is still suffering headaches from a brain lesion but is in stable condition, a cancer specialist said.

“He is physically strong and currently able to exercise and perform yoga,” said Dr. Clarence H. Brown III, president and chief executive of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando, Fla.

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Golf

Third-seeded Trip Kuehne of Dallas and fourth-seeded Camilo Villegas of Colombia avoided upsets in the first round of match play in the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont, Pa.

Kuehne trailed for much of the front nine before rallying for a 2-up victory over Ty Harris of Tampa, Fla.

Villegas won the final five holes to defeat Terrence Miskell of New Braunfels, Texas, 2 up.

In matches involving Southland players, Chris Botsford of Pasadena defeated Kenny Cook of Muncie, Ind., 3 and 2; Peter Tomasulo of Long Beach beat Don DuBois of Newport Beach, 1 up; and Travis Johnson of Long Beach beat Marc Lawless of Aptos, Calif., 1 up.

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WNBA

Janell Burse scored 16 points and blocked a last-second three-point attempt as the Minnesota Lynx (18-14) earned the franchise’s first playoff berth in its five-year history with a 69-66 win over the Phoenix Mercury (7-25) in front of 9,757 at Phoenix.... Adrienne Goodson had a season-high 26 points and Marie Ferdinand scored six of her 25 points in overtime as the San Antonio Silver Stars (12-20) beat the Seattle Storm (16-16), 78-70, in front of 9,045 at San Antonio.... Dawn Staley scored 20 points as the Charlotte Sting (17-14) beat the Indiana Fever (14-17), 80-50, in front of 6,110 at Charlotte, N.C., for the second-most lopsided victory in team history.

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College Basketball

San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher has been given a contract extension through the 2007-08 season.... Former USC guard Aisha Hollans is transferring to Long Beach State. She averaged 14.3 points in three years at USC.

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Motor Sports

Travis Kvapil, apparently headed for his fourth second-place finish of the season, won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly 200 race when leader Kevin Harvick wrecked on the next-to-last lap at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. Harvick took the lead on the 75th lap and stayed in front until Lap 199, when his tire melted in Turn 4 of the .533-mile track.

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Jurisprudence

Former tennis star Roscoe Tanner, jailed in Clearwater, Fla., on theft and bad check charges stemming from a boat purchase, was indicted on a charge of failing to pay child support. He owed $82,400 after failing since 2000 to pay the $310 a week he had been ordered to pay in 1997 by a Superior Court judge in New Jersey.

Tanner faces up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

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T.J. Simers is on vacation.