Sports in Brief: Bird's shot lifts Storm, 79-77

Sue Bird made a tiebreaking jumper from the foul line with 2.6 seconds left and the Seattle Storm beat the Atlanta Dream, 79-77, in Game 1 of the WNBA finals in Seattle on Sunday.

Angel McCoughtry had a last-second try for the Dream, but her long three-pointer from the left side bounced off the far side of the rim at the buzzer.

"I was able to get a real good look," Bird said, "and it was a pull-up, which is what I like, and swish. It's just something that, situations like this, I was put into at a very early age. At this point in my career, it's something I enjoy. Those situations are fun - especially when they go in."

The best-of-five series will resume Tuesday night in Seattle.

WNBA commissioner Donna Orender said the league remained interested in putting a franchise in the San Francisco area, but would not rush the process.

NHL: Former Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour is now the club's director of forwards development.

The popular center, who also played for the Flyers and retired this summer, would be responsible for working with all forwards in the organization.

TRIATHLON: Emma Moffatt of Australia successfully defended her triathlon world championship title, finishing second behind compatriot Emma Snowsill in the last race of the season in Budapest, Hungary.

Snowsill won in 1 hour, 49 minutes, 43 seconds, with Moffatt 1:42 behind. Nicola Spirig of Switzerland was third, ahead of Sweden's Lisa Norden. In the overall standings, Spirig finished second and Norden third.

CYCLING: QuickStep rider Carlos Barredo won the 15th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, while Italy's Vincenzo Nibali kept the overall lead. The Spaniard won the tough 116.4-mile mountain ride, starting at Solares and ending with a special category finish at Lagos de Covadongain, in 4:33:09.

BOXING: Undefeated WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa unanimously outpointed Orlando Salido to take the IBF crown Saturday night in a title-unification bout at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Gamboa (19-0) had winning scores of 116-109, 114-109, and 115-109 from the judges.

Referee Joe Cortez ruled that Salido (34-11-2) had knocked down Gamboa in the eighth round, but replays indicated that the 28-year-old Cuban had slipped.

In the WBA lightweight title eliminator, Brandon Rios won by disqualification over previously unbeaten Anthony Peterson due to low blows in the seventh round.

WRESTLING: Bilyal Makhov and Denis Tsargush completed Russia's domination in men's freestyle wrestling by winning gold medals at the world championships.

Russia hasn't missed a podium in any of seven men's freestyle events, winning four gold medals, two silver, and a bronze.

JUDO: Haruna Asami has won the women's 48-kilogram title as Japan won three more gold medals on the fourth day of the world judo championships in Tokyo.

Japan has won eight gold, four silver, and six bronze medals in the five-day tournament, which concludes Monday with the open-weight category.

HORSE RACING: Uncle T Seven rallied to beat Pocket Cowboys by 11/2 lengths in the $100,000 Ashley T. Cole Stakes for New York breds at Belmont Park.

Etched pulled away from Chirac in the stretch to win the $75,000 Formal Gold Stakes at Monmouth Park by a length.