Jim Allen

For the California women’s basketball team, adversity is like a useless rear-view mirror, tossed aside on the road to the Sweet 16. For LSU, tough times are seemingly their own reward, something to cherish almost as much as a chance to advance another step in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Two legendary women’s college basketball coaches took turns telling stories about each other and expressing their respect for one another’s programs during press conferences Friday at the Arena in preparation for tonight’s Sweet 16 NCAA tournament matchups.

There’s nothing like a few losses to build some confidence. Ironically, that’s what happened in November to the Whitworth men’s basketball team, which dropped its first two games of the year but learned about itself in the process.

The sweet science of boxing is on a sugar high. Dr Pepper’s latest “One of a Kind” commercial features the fast hands and fit physique of Mikaela Mayer, the new face of women’s boxing in the United States.

It happened Feb. 28 at Reese Court: the final insult added to the injuries that defined the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball season. Inside a minute to play, a 30-footer by Northern Colorado’s Tate Unruh found the backboard and then the net. Tie game. The Eagles couldn’t find an answer in overtime, losing a crucial game and eventually falling one game short of a spot in the Big Sky Conference tournament.

Everything moves a little faster in Arena League Football. After practice Tuesday afternoon, the Spokane Shock receivers had worn out the live quarterbacks and turned to the automatic passing machine. Then they turned up the speed. At 88 miles an hour, the ball is just a blur and barely catchable.

Everything moves a little faster in Arena League Football. After practice Tuesday afternoon, the Spokane Shock receivers had worn out the live quarterbacks and turned to the automatic passing machine.

Their emotions didn’t go down any easier than the shots for the Whitworth Pirates on Saturday night. Another wrenching loss in the Division III men’s basketball playoffs was a little easier to take because it was at home, but just barely.

Their emotions didn’t go down any easier than the shots for the Whitworth Pirates on Saturday night. Another wrenching loss in the Division III men’s basketball playoffs was a little easier to take because it was at home, but just barely.

The Whitworth Pirates are in uncharted waters, even more so because they’re at home. Saturday’s basketball NCAA Division III third-round playoff game against Mary Hardin-Baylor figures to be one of biggest sports events ever contested north of Francis Avenue, a fact not lost on the Pirates.

Mack Larkin prides himself on hard-nosed defense. If only his nose were a bit harder. “It’s been broken a few times,” Larkin says with a shrug. He pauses to count: “Five times, I guess. The last three playing basketball, but it’s just part of the game.”

Patrick Simon and Shawn Reid were starving for minutes. Andy Poling was simply starving. All have moved far from the big arenas of Spokane, Pullman and Bozeman, finding basketball fulfillment in the remoteness of … Seattle.

For the Spokane Shock, the journey back to the Arena Football League playoffs better have a few stops along the way. That wasn’t the case last year, when the Shock finished last in the AFL in total defense, time of possession, first downs given up, and a few other numbers that added up to a 10-8 record and a spot on the sidelines during the postseason.

In almost every respect, American basketball was an unknown quantity for Venky Jois. The same could be said of Jois himself, who on Monday was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year by the league’s men’s coaches.

Call it Shock Lite. Sunday’s Orange and White Game at the Arena was a low-voltage affair for almost everyone: coaches, players – even the P.A. announcer, who finally got the crowd charged up in the third quarter despite the lack of free footballs.

The Whitworth players fed off the emotion of the crowd Saturday night. Then they fed the ball to Colton McCargar. When the frenzy was over, the Pirates had earned an 86-67 win over Emory in the second round of the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament and a spot in the Sweet 16.

Whitworth has been catching a few breaks this month from the NCAA, which is far better than catching another plane flight.

Warming the bench never felt this good. Not that it stays warm for long, the seat Colton McCargar leaves behind before he puts the heat on another team at Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Warming the bench never felt this good. Not that it stays warm for long, the seat Colton McCargar leaves behind before he puts the heat on another team at Whitworth Fieldhouse. McCargar put on another benchmark performance last week in the first round of the Division III basketball tournament, scoring a career-high 21 points to lead Whitworth to a 75-69 win over Redlands of California. His jump shot with less than a minute remaining gave the Pirates a five-point lead and sent them on to a second-round matchup Saturday against Emory of Atlanta.