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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

SATURDAY, DEC. 31, 2011

Gonzaga earns big road win 

Gonzaga, playing just its second true road game of the season, knocked off Xavier 72-65 on Saturday in Cincinnati. The Bulldogs' sixth straight win hiked their record to 11-2 and could trigger a return to the Top 25 rankings. GU and Xavier (9-4) were receiving…

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Idaho falls flat late again

The new year, and a new month, will be a welcome sight for the Idaho Vandals. They dropped their third straight game and fourth in December -- each coming by no more than three points -- with a 76-73 loss to Boise State at the…

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WSU set to face Oregon State 

COUGARS We got to the Spokane Arena early today for a lot of reasons, but the main one is simple. This is my final day as The Spokesman-Review's Washington State beat writer and we wanted it to last as long as possible. Read on.

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Another in a long line of morning posts 

COUGARS What is it with dogs and squirrels? No reason, and no relevance, but just wondered if you knew of some longstanding war between the two species. Our dog, Yogi (named after a certain catcher) and the gray-white squirrel that lives in our maple tree,…

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FRIDAY, DEC. 30, 2011

Zags face full-strength Xavier

Mark Few isn't putting much stock in Xavier's recent three-game losing streak. The team wasn't at full strength following the suspensions from a brawl near the end of the Cincinnati game. For the first time since thumping Cincinnati, the Musketeers will have their complete roster,…

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THURSDAY, DEC. 29, 2011


WSU ready to play Oregon in Spokane 

COUGARS Welcome from the Spokane Arena, home of the Inland Northwest Hall of Fame and now the second home of the Washington State Cougars. Like any second home, it's a bit different. Rather it will be as crowded as the lake place on the 15th…

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A busy Thursday morning from WSU 

COUGARS I can't remember when we had so much news to pass along this late in December. There are so many links, we're going back to our football-season format, which lists each school individually. Yes, there is at least one story for each. And quite…

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Guy Landry Edi of Gonzaga flies over the defense of Ryan Nicholas of Portland on Dec. 28, 2011. (Christopher Anderson)

Day after Portland

Gonzaga took care of business last night, drubbing cold-shooting Portland (that seems strange to write) 90-51 at the MAC. The Pilots, who have had multiple perimeter threats and solid interior play the last 4-5 years under coach Eric Reveno, have struggled this season with a…

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WEDNESDAY, DEC. 28, 2011

Gonzaga cruises in WCC opener

Back with my game story from GU's 90-51 rout over Portland tonight. It was by far the Bulldogs' easiest win over the season. GU had a pair of 20-point wins over Notre Dame and Western Michigan. Read on below for my unedited game story and…

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Pac-12/Big Ten football and WSU basketball 

COUGARS There was an interesting conference call today among two college sports bigwigs and the media. I know, an interesting conference call. Wow, what an upset. It featured Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott and his Big 10 counterpart Jim Delany. Instead of going into all the…

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Spokane Chiefs Tanner Mort (5) and Prince Albert's Todd Fiddler chase the puck in the second period, Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, in the Spokane Arena. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

Chiefs deal Bardaro for goalie

Looking to strengthen their goal tending and to shake up the roster, the Spokane Chiefs made a big move Wednesday morning, trading leading scorer Anthony Bardaro to Prince. To pick up goalie Eric Williams and forward Todd Fiddler (above in October matchup, going against now…

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2011 winds down for WSU in Spokane 

COUGARS Not many of these WSU-centric blog posts remaining – blog posts, yes, but they'll be more well-rounded – so we better fill them up with interesting items as often as possible before we pass the baton. Luckily, today we can do that. Read on.

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Eastern Washington University’s Chene Cooper leads the Big Sky in assists.

Zags eye 8th title; Cooper leads EWU

Three of the four area Division I women's basketball teams start conference play on Thursday. That is the topic for this week's notebook, leading off with Gonzaga's quest for an eighth-straight WCC title. I also realize I neglected to link to last week's story on…

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TUESDAY, DEC. 27, 2011

Zags open WCC play against Pilots

Gonzaga enters WCC play against the visiting Portland Pilots on Wednesday night. The Pilots have won 60 games the last three seasons, but they haven't beaten Gonzaga under sixth-year coach Eric Reveno (0-10). Gonzaga is 23-1 against the Pilots under 13th-year coach Mark Few. Here's…

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MONDAY, DEC. 26, 2011

A Boxing Day post from WSU 

COUGARS I guess it's traditional on the day after Christmas to write about boxing on most sports blogs. It is, after all, boxing day. But being the only thing I know about the sweet science these days is Andre Ward is the best super middleweight…

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SATURDAY, DEC. 24, 2011

WCC on the upswing 

An early post today because 16 hungry people are about to arrive and I've got an appointment with a deep fryer. Gonzaga isn't done with non-conference play (at Xavier on Dec. 31), but its next ball game will begin the WCC slate. Struggling Portland visits…

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FRIDAY, DEC. 23, 2011

Chasing a rebound, Gonzaga center Robert Sacre (00) parts the way between Air Force guard Taylor Stewart (15) and center Taylor Broekhuis (34) during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, in the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash. COLIN MULVANY colinm@spokesman (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

Day after Air Force 

Round two. First attempt at my day-after Air Force post vanished before my eyes. So here we go again. Here are the links: S-R game story, photos. Other links of interest: Butler, two days after losing at GU, toppled Stanford, Saint Mary's lost to No.…

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WSU's win over Pepperdine, next-day edition 

COUGARS Merry Christmas Eve Eve from SeaTac. Sorry I was just too worn out last night to blog after Washington State's easier-than-it-might-seem 67-56 victory over Pepperdine in the seventh Cougar Hardwood Classic, but between the game, the crappy – no other way to put it…

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THURSDAY, DEC. 22, 2011

GU beats Air Force for 4th straight 'W'

Gonzaga had its hands full with Air Force, which, as advertised, crisply ran its Princeton offense and made things difficult for the Bulldogs' offense for the first 20 minutes. GU used a 19-7 run in the second half to knock off the Falcons 70-60. Here's…

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