Former North Idaho College basketball player Tugce Canitez (shown above) is competing for her homeland, Turkey, in the 2012 London Olympics. Canitez played on the NIC women’s basketball team that won the 2011 National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship. This is the first time the Turkish women have ever fielded an Olympic basketball team, but are currently 2-0 after upsetting the Czech Republic on Day 3 of the London Olympics. The Turkish team plays USA’s team at 2:15 p.m. (22:15 London time) Wednesday. (NIC Press Room photo)

Gonzaga sets up a third showdown with Saint Mary’s, with a 71-67 win over San Francisco in the WCC men's tournament tonight. Jim Meehan's SportsLink story.

• Gonzaga 71, San Francisco 67 (boxscore)
• Saint Mary's 73, Santa Clara 64 (game story + boxscore)

Gonzaga women defeat Portland 96-71 in the semifinal game of the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas on Sunday, March 6, 2011. The Zags won the game to advance to the Monday final.

It was pretty much an inside job. San Diego State senior forward Billy White poured in a career-high 30 points and the Aztecs enjoyed a 39-29 rebounding edge, which fueled a 79-76 men’s basketball victory over 11th-ranked Gonzaga in front of 6,000 Tuesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The loss was just Gonzaga’s fifth in 82 games at the McCarthey Athletic Center. To make matters worse, Gonzaga standout sophomore forward Elias Harris left with an injury late in the game. “I think it’s my Achilles’ (tendon),” said Harris, who will have an MRI today. “I heard something pop. I couldn’t get up in the air and I couldn’t run any more”/Jim Meehan, SR. More here.

• Cutline: Gonzaga’s Elias Harris tries to get a ball past San Diego State’s Billy White, left, but ends up in a tussle where White got called for the foul on Tuesday. Harris was hurt later in the game. (SR photo: Jesse Tinsley)
  

Question: Do you see Gonzaga’s loss to San Diego State last night as a reality check re: great expectations for 2011-12? Or a bump on the road to another great season?

“With an LCSC scrimmage Thursday night (no score kept) the NIC men’s power packed basketball team is ready to begin another successful year,” e-mails Don Sausser with this photo. “Preseason NJCAA rankings place the Cardinals 3rd in the nation while the women’s team is ranked 6th. With this quality in our backyard there is no reason to travel far to enjoy highly competitive basketball.” Pictured is a young NIC Cardinal round baller in training!

DFO: Feel free to post a possible cutline, if you’d like.

All three of North Idaho College’s winter teams are ranked in the top 10 by the National Junior College Athletic Association. Wrestling is ranked No. 2, men’s basketball is ranked No. 3 and women’s basketball is ranked No. 6 in the NJCAA pre-season polls that came out this week. “This is the first time all three of those teams have been in the pre-season top 10,” said NIC Athletics Director Al Williams. “This should be a tremendous season for all the players and fans.”

Question: When did you last see a North Idaho College sports event?

Coeur d’Alene’s Devon Austin, left, comes around to harass Lake City’s Logan Frederickson Friday at Coeur d’Alene High. Behind Frederickson is Coeur d’Alene’s Chris Reed. Lake City defeated Coeur d’Alene 68-63 in overtime. You can read Greg Lee’s Sportslink blog account here. Jesse Tinsley/SR.