Today’S Best Bets

Fri., Jan. 8, 1999

Women’s basketball

UC Santa Barbara at Idaho

Time, site: 7 p.m., Memorial Gym, Moscow.

Summary: The Gauchos (8-3) are the best in the Big West Conference - and an early-season AP Top 25 team - and bring the talented backcourt of sophomore Erin Buescher and Spokane’s Stacy Clinesmith, a junior point guard. Idaho is coming off a stinging loss to Gonzaga and begins the conference season at 7-5.

UI forward Alli Nieman leads the Big West in scoring with 20.5 ppg (tied for 29th nationally with Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw). Buescher is second in the conference with 17.1 ppg and leads in rebounds with 10.0.

Boys basketball

Medical Lake at Pullman

Time, site: 6:15 p.m., Pullman High.

Summary: The Great Northern League opens with a bang, as defending champion Pullman (6-0) tackles Medical Lake (4-2), the team that ended Pullman’s perfect record last year at 11-0. Pullman rolled into last year’s state tournament with a 19-3 record, but Medical Lake knocked off the Greyhounds 59-52 to advance to the state semifinals and place sixth.

University of Montana-bound Brent Cummings averages 28 ppg for Pullman, which is averaging an area-tops 79 ppg after scoring 108 vs. Clarkston on Tuesday. Senior Jeff Nichols, who matches Cummings at 6-foot-6, has returned from a dangerous staph infection to lead the Cardinals with 14 ppg.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.

Today’S Best Bets

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

Report: MGM Grand to host Pac-12 basketball tournament through 2027-28 season

Dallas Mavericks exercise team option of former Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard

Former Gonzaga forward Zach Collins reaches two-year, $17 million extension with Bulls