st quarter. What you saw then was a relentless drive to the hole.Agler has talked to his team a lot about staying

NEW YORK -- Rosie Rios had quite a run as U.S. treasurer. Tuesday was pretty cool, too.Rios was honored by the WNBA at its 10th annual Inspiring Women Luncheon. She was instrumental in getting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill set to be unveiled in 2020, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment extending voting rights to women.I cant think of any other organization that provides role models like these, Rios said of the WNBA. The WNBA is the only pipeline opportunity to see a woman on the court.Rios, who stepped down from her post in July, has a teenage daughter who plays basketball and said she was thrilled to have a chance to meet some of the leagues players at the luncheon. The feeling was mutual among the current and former players who attended the event.Im glad we can acknowledge the women who are behind these changes because thats what its about, Indiana Fever guard Briann January said. This is where equality begins and we are doing our part to push forward.All the players took photos with Rios standing behind a giant mock-up of the new $20 bill. Sitting in the lower left-hand corner, like every other bill in the U.S., was Rios signature as treasurer.I never thought to look there but its really cool now that I know, January said. Ive known her name for a while, but it was so great to finally meet her.Past honorees include former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice, Robin Roberts, and U.S. national security adviser and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice.Its our time. I said it before and I will reiterate it again. Women are more than half the population in the United States. I think you could take that across the globe, WNBA president Lisa Borders said. We are talking asset value here. Intellectual capital. Athletic capital. ... This luncheon brings to life all of that energy and all of those results to date and sets a really nice departure point for where we go in the future. Discount Old Skool . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Old Skool Clearance . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. http://www.cheapoldskoolchina.com/ . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Cheap Old Skool . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Cheap Old Skool From China . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. LOS ANGELES -- Nneka Ogwumike remembers a feeling of uncertainty and even butterflies when she was playing in the Womens Final Four and championship games with Stanford. Those games seemed like a whirlwind, where random chance might come into play in the one-and-done nature of the NCAA tournament.These WNBA Finals arent like that for her. Part of it is being older, sure. But its also that as her Sparks try to win the WNBA championship Sunday in Game 4 against Minnesota (ESPN, 8:30 p.m. ET), there is so much familiarity.The Sparks and Lynx have met six times between the regular season and this series. They both know what they need to do Sunday. Now, its about who does it best.The beauty of professional sports is the best team usually does win, because they can sustain it over a series, Ogwumike said. Now, Im not thinking so much about whats at stake. Im staying level.We have a lot of information to work with, and they do, too. Ill probably feel a little anxiety beforehand, but the good kind of anxiety. Not really nerves.The Sparks all reflected that attitude Saturday as they talked about what it would take to knock off the defending champion Lynx. The three games so far have all been different.The opener came down to Alana Beards last-second shot for a 78-76 Sparks victory. The Lynx defense set the tone in the second game, a 79-60 Minnesota win. Then Friday, the Sparks were like a runner who takes off to set a blistering pace in a race and then never falters to let anyone catch up.So many things went right for the Sparks in their 92-75 victory at USCs Galen Center. As was the case in the first game, they made the Lynx pay dearly for turnovers. They won the rebounding battle 29-24. They shot 54.9 percent from the field (39-of-71) and had an offensive rating of 131.4.The Sparks got big offensive games from not just post players Ogwumike (21 points) and Candace Parker (24), but also guards Essence Carson (16) and Beard (15).We just have such a narrow focus right now, Carson said. I cant stress how important it is to continue that. When the picture gets too broad, thats when people get lost. You have to accept the moment for what it is. Were here for a reason. You have to be pretty damn good to be here.At the same time, you have to understand that there are all the little things that youve done all season, that you worked on day in and day out in practice, and they still need to be implemented.The Sparks did all those things Friday, right from tipoff.Im very proud of my teamm and proud of myself, too.dddddddddddd We needed to persevere, Ogwumike said of coming back from the difficult Game 2 loss. It was pivotal, not just getting off to that start but maintaining it. Even through our troubled times during the game, we wanted to stay aggressive, stay on each other, stay positive.Considering the Lynx will have their backs against the wall, it likely will be difficult for the Sparks to dominate Sundays game from an energy standpoint the same way that they did Friday. They expect Game 4 to be very tight throughout.Well get Minnesotas best, Sparks coach Brian Agler said. And even though our players really havent been in this environment before in the WNBA, theyve been in it overseas, in college. So theyve experienced the tension, the edginess you go through.The Sparks also can look to how they came back from the last four minutes of the second quarter Friday, when they didnt score and had such a strong third quarter in response. They drifted briefly into that impatient offense that can hurt them, but then got back on course.We were settling for shots. And thats something we seem to revert to at times when we feel pressure or pushback, Ogwumike said. But at halftime, we said, We have to go back to what we were doing in the first quarter. What you saw then was a relentless drive to the hole.Agler has talked to his team a lot about staying committed to what they do best offensively and not getting rattled.Teams try to force us there, and sometimes we give into that, Agler said. This is a game of will, and its what your expectations are and what you want to get accomplished.For Parker, who won two NCAA titles and also has championships overseas and in the Olympics, this is about being as even-keeled as possible while still playing at peak level.I feel like Ive grown as a person the last two years, just understanding how mental the game of basketball is, Parker said. The skills arent going to change from game to game. But its the mentality. We know were playing a mentally tough team; theyve come back from down to win games before.Beard said one thing she told her teammates is to stay in the moment, because the Sparks ability to do that this season is as big a key as anything to getting them to this point.Thats why these Finals have been something Ive enjoyed, Beard said. Because Ive been able to do that: Be in the moment. ' ' '