WSU topples Saint Mary’s

Kate Benz had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Adriane Ferguson added 12 points and nine rebounds to lead the Washington State Cougars (2-0) to a 53-43 non-conference victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels (0-2) on Sunday in Pullman.

Benz posted her 12th career double-double and WSU outscored St. Mary’s 35-23 in the second half.

•Amy Ridings and her younger sister Holly each hit five of Whitworth’s school-record 18 3-pointers and the Pirates (2-0) breezed to a 78-56 non-conference victory over the visiting Montana Tech Orediggers (1-6).

•Amber Harmon tossed in 16 points to lead the Wenatchee Valley Knights to a 63-55 win over the Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch in the Tip-Off tournament at Spokane Falls CC.

Men’s basketball

Humberto Perez tallied 16 points and eight rebounds to power the CC Spokane Sasquatch to a 76-49 win over the Blue Mountain Timberwolves in the championship game of the Hannigan preseason tournament at Treasure Valley CC in Ontario, Ore.

Tournament MVP Erik Bell added 16 points and six rebounds and Jordan Hammond chipped in with 15 points and five rebounds for the Sasquatch (3-0). Teammate Jeremy Mangum handed out 13 assists and was named to the tourney’s first team.

Swimming

The Washington State Cougars won four of six events on the final day of the Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis.

Erin McCleave won the women’s 1,650 freestyle with an NCAA automatic qualifier and school-record time of 16:17.06 – 25 seconds better than her previous best. McCleave also swam an NCAA qualifier in winning the 100 freestyle with a career best time of 50.69 seconds.

Afton Pickett won the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:01.07.

Jane Copland finished first in the 200 breaststroke at 2:14.92.

Junior hockey

Josh Pickens scored two goals and Evan Witt added a goal and four assists to lead the Spokane Braves to an 8-4 win over the Beaver Valley Nighthawks in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League play.