Glenn Kasses

PULLMAN — Today is the last day of spring break at Washington State University. While most students and faculty members might be coming back into town to exhale after a vacation, things look a little different around the football offices. There, no post-break mellow mood is allowed – it's time to go back to work.

Washington State University played Stanford twice this season and twice the Cougars upset the Cardinal. Neither time, first on Dec. 31 in Spokane then in Palo Alto, Calif., six days ago, was the game close. So, having outscored Stanford by 20 this year, it should be no problem to grab a third win in the Pac-10 tournament, right? "Normally you're asked that if you're the favorite," chuckled WSU head coach Dick Bennett, whose sixth-seeded team has held the mysterious edge over third-seeded Stanford. The two teams tip off at 8:45 p.m. Thursday night in the first round. "Like last year, Stanford had to play us a third time. I'm sure they were asked that question, and I'm sure they said, 'It's really hard to beat a team three times in a row.' Well, the tables have flip-flopped. If ever there's an appropriate statement – it's really hard to beat a team three times in a row. I don't know what to think, to be very, very honest."

Lorenzo Romar, the Pac-10 coach of the year this season, shouldn't have to worry too much. Romar's Washington Huskies went run-and-gun through the league to 14 conference wins. His team is a good bet to make it to the conference tournament final in the Staples Center this week.

PULLMAN – Director of athletics Jim Sterk said the $5 facility fee being added to all Washington State football tickets this year will help finance the design phase for the expansion of Martin Stadium. The fee is being charged on both home and away tickets purchased through WSU for the 2005 season, and means a $25 fee for season tickets. As a result, all fans purchasing a ticket from WSU will be credited with a donation to the school.

PULLMAN – Washington State senior guard Thomas Kelati was named to the All-Pac-10 team Monday, the first Cougar so honored since 1998. Arizona State's Ike Diogu was named the conference's Player of the Year, Washington's Lorenzo Romar Coach of the Year and UCLA's Jordan Farmar the Freshman of the Year.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Washington State thought that this season's Pac-10 tournament might turn out differently than the previous three. Head coach Sherri Murrell's team had shown significant improvement over the course of the season and had reason to believe that it would show when the Cougars took on California in the first round of the conference gathering at the HP Pavilion. But in this case, progress did not end up translating into a victory as the Golden Bears pulled away late to a 70-52 win that ended the Cougar season.

PULLMAN – Washington State University's student conduct board has cleared two men's basketball players of harassment charges brought after an incident at the school's multicultural center. Freshmen Robbie Cowgill and Alex Kirk had been brought before the board following a student's complaint that the two had made racially insensitive gestures and noises while passing by the office, where the student worked in the reception area.

PULLMAN – Senior forward Chris Schlatter, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer for the Washington State men's basketball team against Arizona State on Saturday in his last home game, hyperextended his left elbow in practice on Monday.

PULLMAN — After watching their boys team beat LaCrosse-Washtucna a day before to advance to the state tournament in Spokane, the DeSales girls knew they could do the same thing Saturday. "We should have let them play first Friday night," joked head coach Tim Duncan, whose team lost by 10 in the championship game against Garfield-Palouse.

PULLMAN — There have been plenty of near misses for LaCrosse-Washtucna over the last three seasons, but now head coach Brian Koller and his gang can finally book their bus ride to Spokane for the first time since 2002. L-W had some flashbacks to past losses at the worst times — including one from the night before in the District 9 B championship game on Friday — but managed to hang on for a 53-47 win over Tekoa-Oakesdale at Friel Court and a No. 2 seed out of the Southeast for a berth in the state tournament.

Washington State has released its official 2005 schedule after many difficult months of trying to find an 11th opponent. Athletic director Jim Sterk and head coach Bill Doba held a news conference Friday afternoon from Qwest Field in Seattle, the site of that 11th game, which will be held Sept. 17 against Division I-AA Grambling State University, as reported here last week.

PULLMAN — Even though DeSales hadn't trailed since the first quarter, head coach Greg Fazzari knew he had a reason to be concerned. LaCrosse-Washtucna had climbed back within five with 38 seconds left in the third quarter and appeared to be on its way to completing the comeback as center Kyle Lepper and power forward Matt Martin dominated his Fighting Irish inside.

PULLMAN – Two Washington State University basketball players have been accused by a student of making racist gestures, sparking a series of protests, including one in Beasley Coliseum during Thursday night's game. Head coach Dick Bennett has vehemently denied that the players did anything wrong.

PULLMAN – Thomas Kelati sprinted off the McKale Center court having played the game of his life as Washington State University pulled off its first win against Arizona since 1986. In the immediate reviews, most everyone focused on how Kelati drilled seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points to match a career high and put away the Wildcats in the 70-63 win. Now, nearly four weeks later, it has become apparent that Kelati's offensive exploits may have paled in comparison to the job he did on the other end of the floor.

PULLMAN — The Cougars had their biggest crowd at Friel Court on Saturday for men's basketball since a game against Oregon State more than nine years ago. In theory, that alone should have set a tone much different than the one in Seattle when they lost to the Huskies by 18 earlier this year. Instead, the rematch looked almost exactly like the first edition of the 2005 intrastate matchup. Just as it did on its home court, Washington jumped out to a big lead – thanks to a run in the middle of the first half – and never looked back, pressuring and pushing Washington State into one mistake after another to win 68-55.