NW Sports from the AP

AP-NW–1st SportsMinute,505
Here is the latest Washington, Oregon and Alaska sports news from
The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Nicolas Batum (bah-TOOM’) scored 19 points
and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak
with an 86-74 victory over the New Orleans Hornets last night.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who had just two points and three rebounds in
the first half, finished with 10 points and 11 boards for Portland,
which led by as many as 26 points and got a morale-boosting win
before heading out on a seven-game, 12-night road trip. Aldridge
did not play in the fourth quarter.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Matthew Dellavedova scored 22 points to lead
Saint Mary’s to a 78-74 win over No. 24 Gonzaga last night to claim
its second West Coast Conference tournament title and automatic
NCAA bid in three years. It was the first time the Gaels have won
the regular-season title outright and claimed the tourney
championship the same year. Elias Harris led Gonzaga with 22
points, including a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in regulation to
force OT. Rob Jones added 18 points for the Gaels.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Dani Peterson scored a career-high 18 points
and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Brigham Young women beat
three-time defending champion Gonzaga 78-66 for the West Coast
Conference tournament title yesterday. The Cougars won their first
WCC tournament after 12 years in the Mountain West Conference. The
victory earned them an automatic bid for their first NCAA
tournament appearance since 2007. Haiden Palmer led No. 23 Gonzaga
with a career-high 28 points.

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) – Dustin Ackley had three hits and the
Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres 13-7 yesterday in a
spring training game in Arizona. Hitting in the leadoff spot,
Ackley doubled to left-center against Dustin Moseley in the first
inning. Ackley, who scored two runs, singled to right in the third
and also tripled to center to start the fifth. Padres outfielder
Carlos Quentin doubled, singled and walked in his spring debut. M’s
starter Hisashi Iwakuma allowed a run and three hits in one inning.

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) – The San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners
have agreed to a 20-year lease extension with the city of Peoria,
Ariz., that will keep both teams’ spring training camps in the
Phoenix suburb through 2034. The agreement announced yesterday
calls for the city to invest $48 million in both clubs’ training
facilities and their shared stadium over the course of the lease.
The deal includes renovations of the Padres and Mariners’
clubhouses scheduled to begin after spring training in 2013.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A grandson of race co-founder Joe
Redington, Ray Redington Jr., was among the leaders last night for
the 40th running of the Iditarod. The race started Sunday for 66
mushers and their dog teams. The goal is to be the first to reach
the old gold rush town of Nome, with the winner expected sometime
early next week. Redington and Hugh Neff, who won the 1,000-mile
Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race last month, were among the
first mushers into the Rohn checkpoint.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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