IN BRIEF

HOCKEY

Wranglers win 11th in row, clinch division title

The Las Vegas Wranglers notched their 11th straight ECHL victory and clinched the Pacific Division title, beating the Long Beach Ice Dogs 4-2 on Wednesday in Long Beach, Calif.

Joe Tallari and Steve Crampton scored in the first period and Arpad Mihaly had the lone goal of the second period as the Wranglers (44-12-14, 102 points) took a 3-0 lead.

The Ice Dogs got both of their goals early in the third, but Mihaly put the game away on an empty-net goal with 1:09 remaining.

PRO BASKETBALL

Ex-Duke star Harding top pick in WNBA Draft

Lindsey Harding was a member of the Phoenix Mercury for about 15 minutes.

Shortly after selecting Harding with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, the Mercury traded the point guard to Minnesota for veteran Tangela Smith.

Harding’s two misses from the foul line with 0.1 seconds remaining allowed Rutgers to upset top-seeded Duke 53-52 in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Moments after Harding was traded, San Antonio sent its No. 2 selection, Ohio State center Jessica Davenport, along with its first round pick in 2008, to New York for guard Becky Hammon and a second-round pick in 2008.

Chicago picked guard Armintie Price of Mississippi at No. 3, Noelle Quinn of UCLA went fourth to Minnesota, and Texas’ Tiffany Jackson went fifth to New York.

Also: The Los Angeles Sparks fired coach Joe “Jellybean” Bryant and replaced him with former coach Michael Cooper, who led the team to WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002.

Bryant, the father of Lakers star Kobe Bryant, led the Sparks to a 25-9 record and a trip to the conference finals last season, where they lost to the Sacramento Monarchs.

The Albany Patroons didn’t renew Micheal Ray Richardson’s coaching contract following his suspension for alleged anti-gay and anti-Semitic remarks.

The former NBA player was suspended March 28 for the team’s last two Continental Basketball Association playoff games.

MISCELLANEOUS

Safety Doss signs deal with Vikings

Safety Mike Doss, who spent the past four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

During his time in Indianapolis, Doss started 42 of the 46 regular-season games he played in. He played in six games last season before he was sidelined by a torn knee ligament.

Also: The Denver Broncos agreed to a one-year deal with free agent Todd Sauerbrun, bringing the troubled punter back to the team that released him last season.

Sauerbrun’s agent, David Canter, said the deal could be worth more than the $1.395 million Sauerbrun was due to make in Denver in 2006 before being jettisoned by the Broncos.

The New England Patriots have a week to match the incentive-laden offer.

UNLV’s Elena Gantcheva was named Mountain West Conference women’s tennis Player of the Week for a school-record fifth time in her career.

Gantcheva, playing singles and doubles, went 5-1 last week, including 5-0 against ranked competition.

Her biggest win came against 11th-ranked Theresa Logar of Stanford, a 7-6, 6-1 rout. Gantcheva went from being unranked to No. 57 in singles with a 15-4 record, and she and Kristina Nedeltcheva moved from 35th to 16th in doubles with an 18-2 mark.