Gonzaga women drop opener in OT

The season opener for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team featured five lead changes and two ties in the overtime period alone, but ended bitterly for the Bulldogs with a 75-71 loss to South Dakota State (1-0) in Brookings, S.D.

Coming back from a season-ending injury last season, Tiffanie Shives scored 17 points for the Bulldogs (0-1), including a 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime.

Junior Courtney Vandersloot added 20 points to go along with 11 steals and nine assists. Senior Heather Bowman scored 13 points.

Women’s soccer

Kate Deines’ goal in the 26th minute gave Washington an early lead and the Huskies held throughout the rest of the game, beating Ole Miss 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Portland. In the second round they will play Portland, which beat Denver 4-0 in its opening game.

Volleyball

Jackie Albright and Meagan Ganzer each contributed 16 kills, but Washington State (16-9, 5-9 Pac-10) could not hold of No. 6 UCLA (20-6, 10-3), falling 3-1 in Los Angeles.

•Hayley Hills had 17 kills and 14 digs and Chenoa Coviare added 13 kills and eight blocks as Eastern Washington (16-9, 10-4 Big Sky) swept Northern Colorado (18-10, 11-3) 3-0 in Cheney.

•Despite a season-high 17.5 total blocks, No. 4 Washington (20-4, 10-4 Pac-10) dropped its third five-set match this year to No. 17 USC (16-9, 5-8) in Los Angeles.

•Washington State announced the signing of three players for next season. Stephanie Hagins from Elverta, Calif., and Marcelina Glab of Watertown, S.D., were both named to the AVCA Under Armour Girls’ High School All-American team.

Also joining the Cougars is Heather Wilson of Concord, N.C.

•Idaho will enter the 2010 season with three new frontline players, announcing the signing of Ashley Christman, Alyssa Schultz and Jessica Tiffany.

Men’s soccer

Zach Smith’s goal in the final minute of regulation was the only offense Gonzaga (6-10-3, 3-8-1 WCC) could muster against San Francisco (7-9-2, 4-6-1), dropping its season finale 2-1 in Spokane.

Wrestling

Celic Bell’s back-to-back performances at the Muskegon Duals gave a small window to the dominance of North Idaho College in knocking off Lincoln College 24-18 and then Niagara CC 33-3 in Muskegon, Mich.

Bell, in the 184-pound class, recorded a pair of first-round pinfalls against Beau Callery (1:42) and Donald Schildhauer (1:02).

Hockey

Nelson (12-6-1-1) scored one goal in each period and Billy Faust snagged 27 saves in a 3-0 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League win over visiting Spokane (15-8-0-1).

Football

The Spokane Shock announced the signing of defensive back Dahnel Signfield, offensive lineman Antonio Narcisse and linebacker Aaron Robbins for the upcoming 2010 season.