Leslie, Parker named to Olympic team

Candace Parker was 10 years old when she watched Lisa Leslie win her first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. Twelve years later, Parker gets a chance to help her Los Angeles Sparks teammate win an unprecedented fourth straight gold, in the Beijing Olympics. They were two of the nine players placed on the US women's basketball team yesterday. Also on the team are Olympic veterans Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, Diana Taurasi, and Sue Bird. This will be Smith's third Olympics. Cappie Pondexter, Seimone Augustus, and Sylvia Fowles will make their Olympic debuts. "These nine players are no-brainers," US Olympic coach Anne Donovan said. Choosing the last three players won't be as easy. They will be chosen from the remaining pool of 20 and candidates include Kara Lawson, Swin Cash, Lindsey Harding, and Lindsay Whalen . . . Leslie scored 17 points and Parker had 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Sparks beat the host Washington Mystics, 70-59, in WNBA action . . . Smith scored 19 points and Detroit used a 13-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to beat the host Indiana Fever, 74-65 . . . Augustus scored 22 points as the undefeated Minnesota Lynx beat the winless defending champion Phoenix Mercury, 94-83. Pondexter had 31 points for Phoenix.

San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili said he expects his injured ankle to be healed by the time he and Argentina's national team begin the defense of their 2004 gold medal in Beijing. Practices for the team don't begin until early July, meaning Ginobili will have more than a month to let his ankle recover. The Olympics are Aug. 8-24. Ginobili hurt his left ankle early in the playoffs and it clearly hampered him in the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. . . . Spurs forward Robert Horry said he's considering stepping away from the game after winning seven NBA championships in a 16-season career. "Right now I'm up in the air," Horry said . . . Pistons assistant Terry Porter is expected to be interviewed for a second time by the Phoenix Suns for their head coaching vacancy.

San Diego Padres lefthander Shawn Estes broke the thumb on his throwing hand when he fell on the tunnel stairs between the team's clubhouse and dugout Friday night. The Padres placed the pitcher on the 15-day disabled list after X-rays revealed the broken bone, a discouraging development for a player who didn't pitch in the majors last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The 35-year-old Estes was scheduled to start tomorrow at Petco Park against the Chicago Cubs. The club activated righthanded reliever Carlos Guevara from his rehab assignment at Portland to take Estes's roster spot . . . A Little League team from Vermont and New Hampshire plans to travel to Cuba to play baseball this summer. The members of the Connecticut Valley South Little League all-star team expect to play at least a game a day in the Havana area during a 10-day trip in August, coach Ted Levin said. The Twin-State Peregrines, who are not supported by the Little League, need to raise $45,000 for the trip.

Brittany Rogers had a go-ahead bloop double in a four-run sixth inning and Alabama eliminated two-time defending champion Arizona with a 5-1 win at the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City . . . Mary Ratliff hit a two-run double in the ninth inning as top-seeded Florida finally broke through against Player of the Year Angela Tincher to beat Virginia Tech, 2-0 . . . Christina Enea had an RBI single and Kim Waleszonia scored on a first-inning error by pitcher Anjelica Selden as Florida eliminated second-seeded UCLA, 2-0 . . . Andrew Oliver, the ace of Oklahoma State's pitching staff, was declared ineligible hours before the top-seeded Cowboys lost to second-seeded Wichita State, 5-3, in an NCAA Tournament regional baseball game in Stillwater, Okla.

Frank Resetarits's second goal of the game came at 4:01 of overtime to lift the host Long Island Lizards over the Boston Cannons, 20-19, in Major League Lacrosse . . . Sara Larquier's three-run homer in the eighth lifted the Washington Glory over the New England Riptide, 5-2, in a National Pro Fastpitch League game in Sterling, Va. . . . In Major League Soccer, second-half goals by Julius James and Jeff Cunningham carried host Toronto FC over Los Angeles Galaxy, 2-0 . . . Brian Ching's goal in the 68th minute lifted host Houston over New York, 1-0 . . . Robbie Findley scored in the 48th minute and assisted Javier Morales's goal, leading Real Salt Lake over visiting San Jose, 3-1 . . . Jorge Flores and Jesse Marsch scored first-half goals a minute apart, and Chivas USA beat the Columbus Crew, 2-0, in Carson, Calif. . . . Kimbo Slice had his hands full with James Thompson, eventually winning their mixed martial arts bout by TKO in Newark, N.J.