• Wahine win WAC tourney • Artest suspended for rest of season • Busch takes Nextel Cup Wahine win WAC tourney RENO, Nev. — The University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team claimed its fifth consecutive Western Athletic Conference Tournament on
• Wahine win WAC tourney
• Artest suspended for rest of season
• Busch takes Nextel Cup
Wahine win WAC tourney
RENO, Nev. — The University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team claimed its fifth consecutive Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday with a 30-21, 28-30, 30-22, 30-27 victory over Nevada.
Susie Boogaard had 19 kills to lead the undefeated Rainbow Wahine, who earned the WAC’s automatic berth in next month’s NCAA Tournament.
Hawaii, 26-0 and ranked second in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll, must first complete its regular season schedule at Utah State on Tuesday and at Utah on Wednesday.
It was the Rainbow Wahine’s 106th consecutive victory over a WAC opponent.
Alicia Arnott had 17 kills for Hawaii, while Victoria Prince, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, had 16 and Tara Hittle added 14.
Artest suspended for rest of season
NEW YORK — Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season Sunday as the NBA came down hard on three members of the Indiana Pacers for fighting with fans as a game against the Detroit Pistons degenerated into a melee.
Nine players from the teams were banned for a combined 143 games, including some of the harshest penalties the league has ever issued. Artest is the first player to be suspended for nearly an entire season for a fight during a game.
Indiana’s Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games and Jermaine O’Neal for 25. Detroit’s Ben
Wallace — whose shove of Artest after a foul led to the five-minute fracas — drew a six-game ban, while Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got five games. Four players were suspended for a game apiece: Indiana’s Reggie Miller and Detroit’s Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman. All the suspensions are without pay.
Busch takes Nextel Cup
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kurt Busch overcame a broken wheel early in Sunday’s race and came back to win the closest championship in NASCAR history.
Busch held on to finish fifth behind teammate Greg Biffle and wrap up the Nextel Cup title by just eight points over Jimmie Johnson and 16 over Jeff Gordon.
The championship battle was too close to call through most of the race, with the lead changing several times — sometimes on consecutive laps. At one point, with 75 laps remaining, the top four drivers were separated by only nine points.
Johnson and four-time champion Gordon finished second and third after Biffle grabbed the lead on a restart on lap 270. He held off Johnson in the last event in NASCAR’s new 10-man, 10-race playoff-style championship.
Busch overcame mistakes and mechanical failures several times during the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship but won by being the most consistent of the contenders, finishing in the top 10 in nine of the 10 events.
