Vandersloot invited to draft

Women’s basketball: Gonzaga University senior Courtney Vandersloot is one of 15 college players to be invited to the WNBA draft on Monday at ESPN in Bristol, Conn. Coverage begins at noon. ESPNU and NBA TV will broadcast the second and third rounds.

Vandersloot, the Nancy Lieberman Award winner as the top point guard in Division I and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner, was a consensus All-American.

The GU team was ranked No. 8 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 poll released Wednesday.

Chat online with coach Rob Keefe

Arena football: Do you have a question for Rob Keefe? Don’t miss our live chat with the Spokane Shock coach today at noon.

Just go to spokesman.com to view the live chat and fire away. Keefe will answer as many questions as he can in an hour. If you have a question that you would like to submit prior to the chat, send it via email to sports@spokesman.com.

The Shock, the defending Arena Football League champions, started slowly with three straight losses, but bounced back Friday with a 61-34 win over Kansas City at the Arena. The team has a bye before resuming play at Utah on April 15.

Women’s ski jumping OK’d

Olympics: After an unsuccessful legal battle for inclusion at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, women’s ski jumping won its place Wednesday on the program for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

The International Olympic Committee executive board also approved the addition of men’s and women’s ski halfpipe, mixed relay in biathlon and team events in luge and figure skating.

Proposals for inclusion of slopestyle events in snowboard and freestyle skiing and a team Alpine skiing event were put on hold for further review.

The IOC twice rejected women’s ski jumping for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, saying the sport lacked enough elite competitors. Women jumpers took their case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, but failed to overturn the IOC decision.

Ski jumping and Nordic combined , which features ski jumping and cross-country skiing, have been the only Winter Olympic events open only to men.

Associated Press