WCC tabs Dower player of week

College basketball: Senior forward Sam Dower Jr., who had 46 points and 22 rebounds in Gonzaga’s two road wins and became the 37th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points, was named the men’s WCC Player of the Week.

Dower, nearing full strength after suffering a lower back injury against Kansas State on Dec. 21, has 44 points and 20 rebounds in his last 46 minutes of playing. He’s averaging 14 points on 61.5-percent shooting this season. He leads GU in scoring (14.6) in WCC games.

• Gonzaga (16-3, 6-1 WCC) moved up three spots to No. 21 in the USA Today rankings. GU is 28th with 59 votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

• The Gonzaga women returned to the AP Top 25 poll at No. 25. The Bulldogs (16-3, 6-1), the third team among “others receiving votes” last week, made the Top 25 after road wins at San Francisco and Santa Clara.

Rapinoe will be full-time Reign

Soccer: Seattle Reign FC already had Megan Rapinoe on the roster, but the team announced it will have, well, more of the U.S. national team star this season.

Rapinoe has terminated her loan deal with France’s Lyon and will be with Seattle for the March 10 start of training camp. The 28-year-old had been set to join the Reign in the summer, like she did last season.

“Megan is a brilliant player and a critical part of our squad,” said Laura Harvey, coach and general manager. “We’re very happy that she’ll be in Seattle for the entire 2014 season and beyond.”

Rapinoe, a Portland native, played in 12 of Seattle’s 22 games last year, but still scored a team-leading five goals. She told the Women’s Football Podcast there was not “one specific reason” for leaving Lyon, but it was more of “an overall happiness and wellness thing.”

“I feel like there’s some really exciting things going on at home that I want to be a part of,” said said.

French newspaper L’Equipe, citing an unnamed source, said Rapinoe had a strained relationship with coach Patrice Lair, which may have led to the move.

Seattle Times