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

Chiefs secure spot in playoffs

HOCKEY: In earning their first shutout of the season on Sunday night with a 3-0 win at Seattle, the Spokane Chiefs also officially clinched a Western Hockey League playoff berth.

The Chiefs (32-20-4-3, 71 points) are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings, trailing Vancouver for fourth by three points with two games in hand.

The Chiefs have 13 regular-season games remaining. They travel to Portland on Friday to take on the Winterhawks and return home on Saturday to host the Tri-City Americans.

First-place Portland has 85 points and second-place Tri-City has 83.

Jess Brown

GU women 25th; loss costs men

College BASKETBALL: A week after dropping out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Gonzaga University women returned at No. 25 on Monday.

Also Monday, senior forward Kelly Bowen was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week for the first time in her career at Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs clinched at least a share of their eighth straight WCC regular-season title by beating Santa Clara and Pepperdine last week. The Zags (24-4, 13-2 WCC) can win the title outright Saturday with a victory over BYU, which received votes in the AP poll this week but is not among the Top 25. 

Bowen had an impressive week for the Bulldogs, averaging 14.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in their two wins.

• The Gonzaga men slipped out of the Top 25 rankings in both major polls following a 66-65 loss at San Francisco on Saturday.

BYU visits Gonzaga on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN2).

Jess Brown/

Jim Meehan

Barone repeats honor in WAC

College basketball: Idaho’s Kyle Barone has been named the WAC Player of the Week for a second straight week.

The junior center had a career game on Saturday in Idaho’s 77-68 win over Portland State.

Barone scored 25 points, connecting on 10 of 11 shots (90.9 percent shooting) from the floor and added eight rebounds.