USOC chief steps down under fire

Six months of shaky decisions and turmoil came to a head for the U.S. Olympic Committee on Wednesday when its acting chief executive said she would step down, bringing more chaos to an organization that was humiliated when Chicago’s bid to stage the 2016 Games fell flat.

Stephanie Streeter said that she would not seek the USOC’s chief executive job on a permanent basis, and that she would leave in the next five months.

The decision came only five days after Chicago’s humbling, first-round exit in a vote by International Olympic Committee members, who ultimately picked Rio de Janeiro. It also happened on the same day leaders of America’s Olympic sports organizations said “no” in a 40-0 vote to this question on a survey they conducted: “Do you believe the acting CEO has the ability to be an effective leader of the Olympic movement?”

The USOC will hire a national recruiting firm by the end of the month to search for Streeter’s successor. The next chief executive will be the third to sit in that chair in the span of about a year.

BASKETBALL

Mercury evens finals

Cappie Pondexter scored 22 points and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Indiana Fever, 90-77, in Game 4 of the WNBA finals at Indianapolis to avoid elimination.

Penny Taylor had 17 points for the Mercury, and Diana Taurasi and Tangela Smith each scored 16 to even the series, 2-2, and force Game 5 on Friday in Phoenix.

Tamika Catchings led Indiana with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Ebony Hoffman scored 17 points.

The MRI on the injured left shoulder of UCLA forward James Keefe was negative, but instability in the joint will keep him in rehabilitation for four to six weeks.

That should put him back in action at roughly the same time the Bruins play their opener against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 16.

Keefe is one of three seniors returning to a distinctly young UCLA team.

Last season, he averaged 3.0 points and 3.4 rebounds.

-- David Wharton

Memphis Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson could sit out up to three weeks after an MRI exam revealed a partial tear in his left hamstring.

If the timetable is correct, Iverson would sit out all of the preseason, and his status for the season opener at home against the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 28 would be uncertain.

GOLF

Woods paired with Stricker

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker will be partners in today’s opening session of the Presidents Cup, and will face Ryo Ishikawa, the 18-year-old Japanese sensation who generates the kind of buzz in Japan that Woods gets around the world. Ishikawa will play with Geoff Ogilvy, one of the best in match play over the last four years.

Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim, a strong partnership at the Ryder Cup, will lead off the foursomes matches at San Francisco’s Harding Park against Mike Weir and Tim Clark.

There are six matches in the first session.

ETC.

Fein, ex-Raven, dies at 27

Tony Fein, an Iraq war veteran and NFL rookie linebacker who played with the Baltimore Ravens during the preseason, died of unexplained causes after collapsing at a friend’s house in what his agent said appears to be “an accidental situation.”

Fein, 27, an undrafted rookie free agent from Mississippi, was lying face down and unconscious, vomiting and barely breathing when medics arrived at a house outside Port Orchard, Wash., on the Kitsap Peninsula just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, said Mike Wernet, a battalion chief and medical officer with South Kitsap Fire & Rescue.

Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will be available for fans to see via security Web cam installed above his stall at Santa Anita.

Mine That Bird is set to run in Saturday’s $300,000 Goodwood Stakes in preparation for the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita.

Fans can view live video streaming of Mine That Bird at oaktreeracing.com.