Thomas Clouse

Less than a day after word broke that Kelly Graves accepted the women’s basketball coaching job at Oregon, his photo and biography went missing from the Gonzaga athletics web page.

Kelly Graves is leaving Gonzaga and will become the women’s basketball coach at Oregon. Graves leaves after building the Bulldogs into a nationally-ranked powerhouse that won the last 10 consecutive West Coast Conference championships and made six straight trips to the NCAA tournament.

Shadle Park used a four-run fifth inning to break open a tight game and earn a hard-fought 6-3 victory Thursday over visiting Mt. Spokane. Matt Pulliam pitched for the Wildcats (5-3, 4-2 GSL) two days after he hit a two-run, go-ahead single to rally Mt. Spokane past Shadle Park on Tuesday and hand the Highlanders their only loss. But Shadle (7-1, 5-1) took their revenge Thursday when their bats came alive late to give Pulliam the loss.

Mt. Spokane fireballer Drew Rasmussen barely lets the batter get set before he delivers a fastball that jumps off his hand and pops in the catcher’s mitt. Pitching on a blustery Friday that included a shower of rain mixed with sleet, Rasmussen served a fastball to Rogers hitter Evan Norden, who jumped on it and drove it over the center fielder’s head for a stand-up double.

Seeking a new leader for the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament, the Hoopfest Association Board of Directors turned to a blue blood of Spokane basketball: former Gonzaga star Matt Santangelo. Santangelo, 36, will eventually replace longtime executive director Rick Steltenpohl, who announced in February that he is stepping down to manage similar events elsewhere.

Seeking a new leader for the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament, the Hoopfest Association Board of Directors turned to a blue-blood of Spokane basketball: former Gonzaga star Matt Santangelo.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After years of fighting to join the women’s basketball elite, Gonzaga locked horns Sunday with a hungry James Madison program that beat the team it wants to become. The 11th-seeded Dukes fended off a second-half GU rally and beat the sixth-seeded Bulldogs 72-63 to hand Gonzaga an early exit from the NCAA tournament.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves and his players were all smiles Saturday as they prepared for yet another chance at an immortal run, or quick exit, from the NCAA tournament. The No. 6-seeded Bulldogs face a No. 11 seed James Madison team at 2:30 p.m. today that Graves repea- tedly has said looks very much like themselves: tall, athletic and defensive-oriented.

Just moments after learning that the Gonzaga women’s basketball team would be playing James Madison in the first round of the NCAA tournament, coach Kelly Graves said he remembered watching the Dukes play on television earlier in the season. “They are similar to us. They had one marquee player, Burkholder, I believe her name was,” Graves said.

As the nation’s economy gradually grinds out of low gear, those willing to spend money in the outdoors of Washington and Idaho appear to have loosened their grip on the fewer dollars available for everything from bird watching to paying guides to hunt elk. Both states saw crashes in 2009 in the number of people buying hunting licenses – which hit Idaho especially hard – and Idaho Fish and Game officials fear they may never again attain the number of non-residents willing to pay what many consider to be steep fees to hunt the Gem State.

Having already punched their ticket to the Big Dance, Gonzaga women’s basketball players sat on folding chairs in front of a big-screen television Monday waiting to find out who they would play in the NCAA tournament. After initially showing excitement after EPSN played a cameo of Stephanie Golden dancing in front of her teammates in the selection show’s opening segment, the bracket flashing Gonzaga’s name drew a collective thud when it showed the Bulldogs were headed to College Station, Texas, as a No. 6 seed to play 11th-seeded James Madison (28-5).

The Washington State women’s basketball team was invited Monday to play in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, marking the first time in 23 years the Cougars have been selected to play in the post season.

The Gonzaga women's basketball team has been awarded a No. 6 seed and will play No. 11 James Madison in College Station, Texas, on Sunday in a first-round game of the NCAA women's tournament.

SEATTLE – The Washington State women’s basketball team could almost hear the music of the Big Dance, but a night of flat shooting doomed its run with a 70-60 loss to Oregon State in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals on Saturday. The all-conference scoring tandem of Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley lost their touch in the first half as the Beavers (23-9) raced to a lead that the Cougars (17-16) were never able to overcome.

SEATTLE – The Washington State women’s basketball team shot lights-out for a second consecutive night as the Cougars knocked off No. 20 California 91-83 in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament. The seventh-seeded Cougars scored just enough to keep ahead of the rebounding and scoring forwards of the second-seeded Golden Bears, who last year advanced to the Final Four. The Cougars (17-15) face Oregon State (22-9) tonight in a semifinal.

SEATTLE – The Washington State women’s basketball team found itself in a track meet with an Oregon team that loves to run. But fire came off the fingertips of Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley as both scored 31 points in a 107-100 win. In what may be the last game ever coached by 75-year-old Paul Westhead, the Cougars and Ducks traded shots all night en route to the highest scoring game in Pac-12 Tournament history. The Cougars (16-15) advance to play No. 20 California (21-8) tonight at 6 p.m.

The Whitworth men’s and women’s basketball teams find themselves exactly where they wanted to be when all those grueling practices started last fall: Playing in the NCAA Division III Tournament.