Grip on Sports: The cacophony that is the NCAA tournaments will have to go on without Gonzaga’s women

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The next couple days are pretty barren in the local sports scene. The two-day period of blah-ness was ushered in by the sounds of whistles. And a big thud. Read on.

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• The NCAA Tournament is taking its weekly break. Baseball’s 2019 season really begins Thursday. In between, nada, nothing.

Oh, there are a couple NIT games to watch on TV, if you are hooked so badly you need that type of fix. And, finally, the high school spring sports season hopes to get going a little more consistently. But that’s about all.

So what to do? Sorry, we don’t have an answer. We will be too busy being outside trying to clean up the mess made in the winter. Lots of messes, actually.

But we can tell you what not to do. Don’t stew about the loss suffered by the Gonzaga women in Corvallis last night. It isn’t worth it.

Despite missing two key players – Oregon State has also been missing a key contributor, but for a longer period – and playing a true road game, the Zags kept it close. They actually led for much of the first three quarters. But the inability to keep their better players on the floor ate away at their opportunity to get separation. Foul trouble killed them.

That’s what road basketball is about way too often. The Beavers attacked and whistles blew. The Bulldogs attacked and crickets. Zykera Rice, Jenn and LeAnne Wirth, Chandler Smith, Jesse Loera, all forced to sit for stretches due to foul trouble. Twenty-seven fouls called.

The Beavers hit 23 of 28 free throws. Gonzaga 11 of 15. That’s tough to overcome.

Still, the game was tied late until two defensive lapses led to a layup and a 3-pointer for the Beavers, giving them a separation the Zags could not overcome. And ended their season.

A season filled with almost 30 wins, another WCC regular season title and their highest NCAA-seeding ever. But one that also saw three losses to BYU cost them a chance to be the home team for the first two games, a failing that may have made the difference between a Sweet 16 appearance and what happened last night. A whistle-marred loss.

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Gonzaga: Watching the game on ESPN last night, we happened to notice Jim Allen sitting on press row. And wondered what he was writing. We found out when we turned on the computer this morning. He has a game story and the three keys to Oregon State’s victory. He also has a story on the foul discrepancy. … There is also a photo report to pass along. … The Beavers will move on in the Albany Regional to face top-seeded Louisville. … There are stories from the men’s side of things as well, with Jim Meehan sharing the news one of Florida State’s starters won’t be available Thursday for a sad reason. … This game is a rematch of a Sweet 16 matchup last year, won by the Seminoles. Jim has more on that. … And he spoke with Larry Weir yesterday for the latest edition of the Press Box pod. … A writer in a Pac-12 city has admitted the obvious: Gonzaga is the West’s best basketball program. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the BYU women had an awful third quarter and fell to Stanford at Stanford. …. Breaking: It looks as if Dave Rose is headed out at BYU.

WSU: Around the Pac-12, the conference is at least picking up a lot more NCAA Tournament money this year than last. … Only Oregon is alive to add to that total and the Ducks face Virginia on Thursday night. … Colorado is playing in the NIT and won again last night. … Will Tres Tinkle return for his senior year at Oregon State? … The Huskies will have to rebuild a bit after their outstanding season. … There is football news from Arizona and Washington.

Idaho: Spring football isn’t about depth this year for the Vandals. Just getting enough players on the field for reps has been a challenge. Peter Harriman has more in this story.

Mariners: The M’s lost to San Diego last night but this one didn’t count. … Ryon Healy is filling in for Kyle Seager at this base. … The M’s have prospects now. You may see them a lot this season.

Seahawks: Mychal Kendricks won’t find out his fate for a while longer. … Though former top pick Malik McDowell is out looking for a team, the Hawks weren’t comfortable having him play. … Russell Wilson. NFL meetings. A match made in financial heaven? … The Hawks are still looking at free agents.

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• If your taxes aren’t done or your car needs a lube and oil or your hair should be cut or the roof repaired, the next couple days are it. After Thursday, you will be inundated with sports. And no one wants to miss a minute of it. Until later …