Minnesota’s 83-71 win evens WNBA finals

Seimone Augustus scored 23 of her 27 points in the second half to help the Minnesota Lynx surge past the Indiana Fever, 83-71, at Minneapolis to even the WNBA finals at one game apiece.

Tamika Catchings led the way as usual for Indiana with 27 points and eight rebounds, but the Fever’s defense faded after a dominant start.

The series now moves to Indiana. Game 3 is on Friday and Game 4 is on Sunday.

ETC.

Tiger Woods announces World Challenge field

Tiger Woods announced the 18-man field for his annual World Challenge, to be played the week after Thanksgiving at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. Woods is the defending champion, having outlasted Zach Johnson to end a two-year drought.

The field features 13 players from the Ryder Cup — all but Phil Mickelson from the United States, only Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter from Europe — along with Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney, Bo Van Pelt, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day. All of them are among the top 30 in the world.

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Kentucky freshman forward Nerlens Noel has been cleared by the NCAA to play this season.

NCAA spokesman Cameron Schuh said the 6-foot-10, 228-pound Noel was “cleared to practice and play” after an investigation into the funding of unofficial visits to Kentucky.

Schuh did not provide any details or findings of the NCAA’s investigation.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s sister said the NASCAR driver could be back racing next week at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

Earnhardt will miss his second consecutive race Sunday at Kansas because of two concussions suffered in a six-week span.

Kelley Earnhardt Miller wrote in a post Wednesday on JRNation.com that Earnhardt is on schedule to test a car early next week. If all goes well, she said, he can race again Oct. 28 at Martinsville.

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Nicolas Almagro of Spain advanced to the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open, beating Marius Copil of Romania, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Almagro will next face former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, who beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4. Also, Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis beat Florian Mayer of Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia ousted Swedish wild-card entry Patrik Rosenholm, 6-0, 6-2.

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Juan Martin del Potro outlasted Daniel Brands of Germany, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), in the Erste Bank Open at Vienna in the top-seeded Argentine’s first match since recovering from a right wrist injury that sidelined him for a month.

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Eddie Yost, nicknamed “The Walking Man” because of his penchant for drawing bases on balls during an 18-year major league career, has died. He was 86.

The Boston Red Sox said Yost died Tuesday in Weston, Mass., but did not announce a cause.

After his playing days, Yost was a third base coach for the Red Sox, New York Mets and Washington Senators.

Primarily a third baseman from 1944 to 1962, Yost drew 1,614 walks — a total that still ranks 11th all-time. He spent his first 14 seasons with the original Senators, receiving All-Star honors in 1952, and also played for the Detroit Tigers and the Angels.