Mercury outlasts Fever in overtime

Cappie Pondexter missed a game-winning tip-in at the fourth-quarter buzzer, then scored seven of her 23 points in overtime to help the host Phoenix Mercury win 120-116 over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night in a wild opener of the WNBA Finals.

Pondexter, frustrated and in foul trouble in the first half, scored the final five points in the highest-scoring game in WNBA history.

Penny Taylor added 23 points and league MVP Diana Taurasi had 22 for the Mercury.

Katie Douglas tied it with a three-pointer for Indiana with 7.1 seconds left in regulation, then scored eight in overtime for a career playoff high 30 points. It was only the second 100-point game in the Fever's history.

• Indiana's Tamika Catchings was runner-up to Taurasi in MVP voting, followed by Douglas and Pondexter.

Cavaliers' West is a no-show Cavaliers guard Delonte West was absent from the team's first two workouts of training camp in Independence, Ohio.

The absence surprised coach Mike Brown, but General Manager Danny Ferry said West, who has been treated for bipolar disorder, was not in any harm, and was "addressing a personal matter" in Cleveland.

League to use replacement refs

The NBA has told teams it is going ahead with replacement referees, days after the league thought a deal had been reached with locked-out officials.

The league sent a memo Tuesday informing teams it had "no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract." The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, said the sides had agreed in principle on a new two-year deal Friday.

Coyotes sign center Lang The Phoenix Coyotes signed veteran center Robert Lang to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Lang, 38, has 252 goals and 422 assists in 925 games in his 15-year NHL career. The Czech star was limited by injuries to 50 games last season with Montreal but had 18 goals and 21 assists.

Another honor for Palmer Arnold Palmer said he has been selected to receive a Congressional Gold Medal, awarded for distinguished achievements and contributions. Palmer said he would receive the medal from President Obama during a ceremony today at the White House, during which Obama was to sign the Arnold Palmer Gold Medal Act.

Palmer is the second golfer to receive the medal; Byron Nelson was honored shortly after his death in 2006.

• Verizon said it is ceasing its sponsorship of one of the PGA Tour's longstanding tournaments after the 2010 season. The Verizon Heritage, one of the tour's most popular spring tournaments, is losing its longtime namesake. Verizon Business (formerly MCI) first came on as a sponsor at the Hilton Head Island tour stop in 1987.

Soccer: The United States beat Cameroon 4-1 at the under-20 World Cup in Suez, Egypt, rebounding from an opening 3-0 loss to Germany. The United States, which plays South Korea in its final first-round match Friday, has three points in Group C, one behind leader Germany. ... Mexico withdrew its bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022, leaving the United States as the lone contender from the Americas.

Boxing: Kelly Pavlik will defend his WBO and WBC middleweight titles against Paul Williams on Dec. 5 in Atlantic City, N.J. The bout had been scheduled for October, but Pavlik developed a staph infection.