UPDATE: 10:40.

Portland State, with strong games from GSL grads Kelli Valentine (Mead) and Lexi Bishop (Shadle Park) turned back Eastern Washington in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament (will link after hockey). Chene Cooper, Brianne Ryan and Julie Piper had big games for the Eagles. The Vikings play Montana for the NCAA berth after the Grizzlies, behind Katie Baker (Lake City) beat Northern Colorado.

The season ended for freshman Kate Loper (Post Falls) as Hofstra falls in the CAA tournament but Heidi Heintz (Central Valley) and UC Davis plays for the the Big West title.

Interesting nationally, Houston falls, which I think opens the door for Gonzaga to be a No. 7 seed, instead of a No. 10.

One and one is the verdicdt in women's basketball tonight. Eastern Washington, behind a career high 25 from Tatjana Sparavalo, beat Montana State, and Lyndi Seidensticker (Lewis and Clark) who had 14 points,  for the first time in three tries this season, maybe a little payback for a year ago, but Idaho runs out of gas close to the finish line and bows out of the WAC tournament against Nevada. The Eagles, losers to Montana State in the Big Sky Tournament in Cheney last year, now face league champion Portland State, and GSL grads Lexi Bishop (Shadle Park) and Kelli Valentine (Mead) on Friday night. In the other game, Montana, with 12 points from Katie Baker (Lake City)  turns back Idaho State and faces Northern Colorado.

Also, freshman Kate Loper and Hofstra win the first game of CAA tournament and tonight UC Davis and Heidi Heintz (Central Valley) play in the second round of the Big West. Loper had 8 points in her first postseason game, Heintz had 10 in the Aggies opening win.

Loyal readers, you may not have believed this day would get here, the end of the line checking in with the area Division I women's basketball players from the Class of 2007 … at least those who are coming to the end of the line of their college careers.

Our final installment is two-time State Player of the Year Angie Bjorklund (University), who went off to Tennessee and reached heights no other Spokane basketball player did, winning a national championship and being ranked No. 1. There were also a few lower moments playing for that storied program, but overall it is a dream come true and more.

As for games, despite Jazmine Perkins reaching 1,000 career points, Washington State's season came to an end with a loss to USC in the Pac-10 tournament but Idaho overcame illness with Yinka Olorunnife to beat Boise State for the third time this season at the WAC Tournament and plays Nevada tonight. Eastern Washington swings into action tonight against Montana State in the Big Sky Tournament.

The updated ESPN Bracketology keeps Gonzaga as a No. 10, the opponent is now Houston, with UCLA a No. 2 and the Big Sky champ a 15, in the Dallas Regional. … That's probably close although if Houston doesn't win its conference tournament but is deemed good enough for an at-large bid, the same thing could be accomplished with the Zags at No. 7, the seeding they had last year with an identical record. 

Idaho got a key win for seeding purposes but Washington State couldn't close in Los Angeles and Eastern Washington can't find the touch. Our women's basketball roundup, read on.

Welcome from the State B basketball tournament at the oud Arena, where I'm set up for coverage of the 2B boys. But there is still some women's basketball news, starting with Hofstra freshman Katie Loper (Post Falls) scoring a career high in a win. Read on.

Gonzaga's expected wrap-up of a perfect West Coast Conference season wasn't the only big news in women's basketball on Saturday.

Eastern Washington won at Montana for the first time in two dozen years - yes, 24 - a 27-game losing streak back to 1987 when the Eagles won their only Big Sky Conference tournament. … Washington State just can't beat Washington. (I'll link a different story on Sunday when I file my Top 25 vote.)

For other news, keep reading and I'll be back, if possible, during the hockey game, to give you the Washington-Washington State game, which the Cougars trail 30-25 at halftime.

Good morning … a little slow on the uptake. Staying up late for a truly great basketball game on TV and awaking to the sound of a roadgrader with its blade down … five driveways, two cups of coffee and a hot chocolate later, the fingers work.

Onward, there was more news in women's basketball on Thursday than just Gonzaga's well-orchastrated symphony. Read on.

Wow, what a morning, but five clean driveways and a friend's rig now functional, it's time to get going.

First news: game on. Despite no classes, Gonzaga women's basketball team is going to take the court tonight to face second-place Saint Mary's. Read on for the rest of the area roundup (and pardon the typos that sneak through, my fingers may never unthaw).

The news is starting to pile up on the women's basketball beat and time is running out to post it. Read on.

Going to take care of business, starting with women's basketball, because if have to get in a Top 25 vote, posted below, with other links.

The area Division I teams broke even on Thursday. The big, but not not surprising news is that No. 25 Gonzaga clinched a tie for its seventh-straight WCC title. The most important news is Eastern Washington finished strong to inch closer to a Big Sky tournament berth. Washington State and Idaho lost, but both those teams are going to be in league tournaments. Read on.

As you might expect with just a couple of weeks left in the regular season, there are some big women's basketball games this weekend. Read on.

Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologists confirm the authenticity of this remote camera photo made in the Moses Coulee area near Soap Lake, Wash. Biologists the rare shot of eight cougars in one spot — on the carcass of a dead animal — is the result of a female cougar with a litter converging with the adult cats from her pervious litter. The woman who forwarded the photos to Fish and Wildlife biologists was not identified.

Before I get to the women's basketball preview for the weekend, kudos to Eastern Washington senior guard Kyla Evans. Despite missing too many games with a bad back that has hampered her throughout her career, she returned Tuesday night to set the Eagles' career record for 3-pointers. However, the struggling Big Sky Conference champions lost badly at Seattle.

Read on for more, including an injury update for the most heralded member of the local Class of 2007 we've been following this year.

UPDATED: A link that dicusses the professional potential of Angie Bjorklund.

Totally remiss in my women's basketball duties … enjoying a lovely day downtown on Saturday, especially the walk through the park but the basketball game at the Arena was less satisfying. Today, don't ask but it involved a lot of honey-do's if the Super Bowl gets on the calendar. But first, a Top 25 and roundup of what happened around here. Read on.

It was a split decision for area women's basketball teams Thursday night, but only half were in action. But there was other news as well as a local player returns to action pretty quickly after surgery. Read on.

A number of important games this weekend for the area D-I women's basketball teams. It started off well with Idaho winning big at home against San Jose State before heading off to Hawaii on Saturday in the first of three road games. Yinka Olorunnife set a WCC record in the win.

Eastern Washington is home against Big Sky-leading Northern Colorado tonight and Idaho State on Saturday, a pair of teams that edged the visiting Eagles. A pair of wins would solidify EWU, which spent most of January on the road,  for the Big Sky Tournament.

Washington State is home against the Oregon schools, Oregon State tonight and Oregon on Saturday. The inconsistent Cougars have shown some flashes lately and it's important they get the second half of the Pac-10 season off to a good start at home against a team below them and the Ducks, just a game ahead.

Gonzaga starts the second half of WCC at home against Portland and Tara Cronin (G-Prep) on Friday. The Bulldogs get five of their last seven at home in their quest for a seventh-straight title.

OLYMPIA – The east-west split in Washington is probably never as interesting as in the early weeks of a legislative session, when hope springs eternal in the breasts of legislators with novel if not always practical ideas.

This period sometimes births proposals from Eastern Washington solons to divide the state along the crest of the Cascades and divest the right-thinking folks on the dry side from those people whose repeated exposure to rain, Microsoft money and ferry commutes makes them terrible spend thrifts intent on saddling every business owner, farmer and local official with a mountain of red tape and an army of bureaucrats. The proposal to set up this 51st state, possibly named Lincoln or Columbia, generally gets, at most, a hearing where some west siders have a chance to suggest good riddance to eastern brethren.

This year a small group of Western Washington legislators propose a remedy for an imbalance they see against their side of the mountains: Counties that receive far more in state money than they send to Olympia in taxes could be dissolved and attached to a neighboring county or divvied up among several….

To read the rest of this item, click to go inside the blog

Another game, another win, another record, another PR, that seems the way it goes for the Gonzaga women's basketball team. Read on.

Before we get to the women's basketball advances for this weekend's game, tough news out of Missoula where sophomore Katie Baker (Lake City) had an emergency appendectomy and could miss the rest of the season.

Also, senior Angie Bjorklund (U-Hi) is likely to miss Tennessee's game tonight with a foot problem. “It's time for (teammates) to tell Angie 'Don't worry about it. We've got your back,' ” Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt said.

Read on for the roundup.

UPDATE: 2 p.m. (links fixed),  For more on Gonzaga's game with Saint Mary's, LeftCoastHoops checks in with Gaels' coach.

Plenty happening in women's basketball this Saturday. With the four Division I teams playing at four different starting times, I'll update throughout the evening as time allows at tonight's hockey game, so keep checking back, I'll make it worth your while.

Update: 10:45, Idaho crushes Boise State; Eastern wins at Sac.

Our women's basketball roundup: As expected the Gonzaga women rolled past Santa Clara, Eastern Washington got a solid road win at Northern Arizona but Idaho fell at previously winless San Jose State, despite a monster game from Yinka Olorunnife (above, center). All that to go with an earlier win by Washington State at Arizona State. Read on.

A busy night and weekend for area Division I women's basketball teams.

Gonzaga is home for the first time in West Coast Conference play, facing former assistant Jen Mountain and Santa Clara tonight, San Francisco and first-year coach Jennifer Azzi on Saturday.

Idaho is at San Jose tonight and then returns home to join the men for the rivalary doubleheader with Boise State.

Eastern Washington has made the trek to Northern Arizona for a game tonight and then comes back to meet Sacramento State on Saturday, a rare home game this month.

Washington State is on its desert swing at Arizona State for an early game today (10 a.m.) and Arizona on Saturday afternoon. Also, with the big UCLA-Stanford game tonight, we'll take you to LeftCoastHoops and Michelle Smith's look at the Bruins, the latest PAC-10 team to challenge the Cardinals.

It's been kind of a long, but fun, day with the outdoor hockey game but there is still time to catch up with women's basketball before calling it a night.

Thursday was a busy night in women's basketball, including a historic win for Idaho and easy road wins for Gonzaga and Eastern Washington.

Full slate of games for women's basketball teams, though the Washington State schedule is Friday-Sunday.

Gonzaga plays one of its tougher WCC foes, at Pepperdine (game on TV, CBS college sports, hopefully my kids can find that channel for me), with LMU on Saturday. Idaho goes for 500th win against visiting Hawaii in only game. Eastern goes to Sacramento State and then Northern Colorado. Cougars get Cal (game on FSN NW) first then No. 4 Stanford Sunday afternoon. 

We start our women's basketball news today with an update.

We got to know the Maryland women's basketball program a few years ago when the Terrapins were the No. 1 seed in the 2008 regional at the Arena. First we found the local connection, a Valley lady whose son was an assistant coach. Then we did a story about the challenges of motherhood, focusing on coach Brenda Frese, who had just delivered twins. Then, of course, Stanford and Maryland played an epic game with the Cardinal earning the berth to the Final Four.

 Well, I've stumbled into a story by Milton Nelson to update you on the twins Frese delivered a month before arriving in Spokane. The boys are now 2 and sadly the story I found on fanhouse.com, dated Dec. 24, is about Tyler and his battle with lukemia. Sure puts the game in perspective.

Our notebook today was about EWU senior Tatjana Sparavalo (EWU photo above). We'll have links for the weekend games on Thursday.

Doug Clark was able to find an Eastern Washington University band uniform to fit on his body after practice Thursday in Cheney.At left areformer student Holly Amend and EWU band uniform manager Amanda Goede. Clark, an EWU alum, traveled to Frisco, Texas, with the band to perform during the Eagles 20-19 victory in the national championship game with Delaware. You can read his column here. (SR photo: Dan Pelle)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Huckleberries: Names give storms homey feeling/D.F. Oliveria, SR
• Winter storm watch issued for Tuesday night, Wednesday/Mike Prager, SR
• Opinion: A preview of Otter's State of the State speech today/Idaho Statesman
• CdA, Post Falls school boards to consider levies tonight/Jody Lawrence-Turner, SR
• Budget crunch dominates talk about Idaho legislators/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Post Falls Senior Center relocated activities after flood damage/CdA Press
• Cougar Bay dock storage on agenda tonight/Alecia Warren, CdA Press
• Spokane, North Idaho pols react to Arizona shootings/Colleen O'Brien, KXLY
• World record bull elk shot in Idaho, sort of/Randy King, Boise Weekly
• One year later: Idahoans recall ravaged Haiti/Anna Webb, Statesman

The Eastern Washington women's basketball team began defense of its Big Sky Conference title by beating Portland State at Reese Court. The win came despite a sub-par performance from reigning league MVP Julie Piper, although she came through when it counted.

Washington State got its first Pac-10 win, pulling away at Oregon State, and Gonzaga started after  its seventh straight WCC title by rolling at Portland.

Next game for the local teams is at Idaho Monday when defending WAC champion Fresno State visits. EWU, GU on road next weekend, No. 4 Stanford and Cal call on Cougars.

Delaware running back Andrew Pierce (30) jumps over Eastern Washington cornerback Jesse Hoffman (21) during the first half of the FCS Championship football game tonight in Frisco, Texas. After trailing 19-0 in the third quarter, EWU scored 20 straight points to win 20-19. ESPN game activity & score here (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Bo Levi Mitchell led three straight late touchdown drives, the finale coming with 2:47 left, leading Eastern Washington a 20-19 victory over Delaware and its first FCS championship. The Eagles (13-2) trailed 19-0 and had gained only 92 yards midway through the third quarter Saturday night. Facing the defense that gave up the fewest points per game in the FCS, their title hopes looked shot. But Mitchell took them on drives of 80, 89 and 69 yards. He converted a fourth-and-8 on the second of those series and needed two video replays to uphold a fourth-and-1 conversion a few plays before the winning touchdown. Delaware (12-3) — with Vice President Joe Biden, an alum, watching five rows behind the team’s bench — had one last try, but turned the ball over on downs with 47 seconds left/Steve Bergum, SR.

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