The Olympian

September 1, 2007

Fever near first WNBA finals with win over Detroit

The Olympian, news services

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Fever are one win away from their first trip to the WNBA Finals.

Tamika Catchings had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help the Fever beat the Detroit Shock 75-65 on Friday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Shock beat the Fever 2-0 in the first round of last year's playoffs on the way to their second championship in four years. Now, Detroit must win at home on Sunday to have a chance to repeat.

Catchings said the pressure is on the Fever, not the Shock.

"We need to make sure we take care of business," she said.

College baseball

• OREGON HIRES COACH TO LEAD PROGRAM: The University of Oregon will hire Cal State-Fullerton baseball coach George Horton to restart its own varsity program, The Oregonian reported Friday night.

College soccer

• SHORTHANDED CLIPPERS FALL: South Puget Sound Community College fought a spirited battled against the odds Friday, suffering a 3-0 loss to Treasure Valley of Idaho in the Walla Walla Preseason Men's Soccer Tournament.

Playing with just 13 players due to injuries, ineligibility and religious reasons, the Clippers nevertheless trailed their opponents just 1-0 at halftime before weakening after the intermission.

South Puget Sound (1-1) plays host Walla Walla today at 2 p.m.

Rowing

• OLYMPIA'S BUCKLAND HELPS U.S. CREW TO SEMIFINAL WIN: Brodie Buckland of Olympia was a member of a United States eight crew that edged Russia by .20 seconds to win its semifinal on Friday and advance to Sunday's finals of the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.

Basketball

• SHELTON'S SAWYER SIGNS WITH GERMAN TEAM: Northwest University All-America post-forward Aaron Sawyer of Shelton has signed a contract to play basketball with SC Rist Wedel of the German third division professional basketball league.

Sawyer graduated from Northwest last spring and was All-Cascade Conference three of four seasons.