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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fast Break

NFL

Owens casts his lot with Bills

Terrell Owens has found a new team, signing Saturday with the Buffalo Bills only two days after the high-maintenance receiver was cut by the Dallas Cowboys.

Owens caught 69 passes for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, but the Cowboys were looking to improve the atmosphere in the locker room and decided they would be better off without him.

“I’m leaving America’s team (for) North America’s team,” Owens said at a news conference.

The Bills will be Owens’ fourth team, after starting with San Francisco, bouncing to Philadelphia – where he helped the Eagles get to a Super Bowl – and then Dallas.

“I must move on, and it’s another beginning for me,” Owens said. “If I can be that extra added piece to get them to the playoffs, then that’s what I’m here for. I looked at the defensive side of ball and offensive side of the ball, and these guys have all the pieces.”

The Bills were in need of a receiver to take the pressure from Lee Evans. They got one of the biggest names out there.

The question now is how Owens will deal with Trent Edwards, who is only entering his second full year as starter. Owens has made life difficult for quarterbacks in the past and joins an offense that struggled mightily last year.

Women’s basketball

Stanford wins 9th straight title

Jayne Appel scored a season-high 29 points, Jeanette Pohlen added 15 and host No. 2 Stanford (25-4, 17-1) avoided sharing its ninth straight Pac-10 Conference title with Arizona State, snapping the 18th-ranked Sun Devils’ 15-game winning streak with a 77-68 victory.

Arizona State (23-7, 15-3) also lost leading scorer Dymond Simon for the season with a torn left knee ligament midway through the first half.

Lewis and Clark graduate Briann January had 19 points to lead Arizona State, which hasn’t won at Maples Pavilion since 1984.

The conference tournament opens at USC on Thursday with No. 7 seed Oregon playing No. 10 Washington at 6 p.m. and No. 8 seed Washington State playing No. 9 Arizona at 8:15 p.m.

Baseball

U.S. tops Canada in WBC opener

Adam Dunn and Brian McCann each hit two-run homers, and the United States opened the World Baseball Classic by holding off feisty Canada 6-5 in Toronto.

Kevin Youkilis added a solo shot and J.J. Putz closed it out in a nervous ninth inning for Team USA, which lost to Canada in the inaugural WBC three years ago.

In Tokyo, Ichiro Suzuki broke out of a slump with a 3-for-5 day as defending champion Japan trounced South Korea 14-2 in seven innings.

In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic was upset 3-2 by the Netherlands.

Associated Press Associated Press Associated Press