Sports briefs

Skeleton champ fighting stress fracture

Former world skeleton champion Noelle Pikus-Pace has a stress fracture in her right leg, the same limb that was shattered by a runaway bobsled and derailed her quest to compete for the 2006 Olympics.

It's keeping her from doing certain training exercises like sprinting, she said, but does not believe it will affect her season.

"My leg has been hurting really badly," Pikus-Pace said from her home in Eagle Mountain, Utah. "It doesn't hurt all the time. It would kind of come and go, and after I got X-rays they said it couldn't look better. But it kept hurting and hurting, so eventually, I went and got a bone scan."

That scan revealed numerous areas of stress around the rod that's holding her tibia in place, plus a stress fracture in her fibula. Doctors have advised Pikus-Pace that the rod eventually will have to be removed, and that her leg will likely be fractured again after that procedure.

With not enough time to go through surgery and recovery before team trials start in October, Pikus-Pace said she'll wait.

Pikus-Pace plans to retire after this season, meaning if she makes the Olympic team, the Vancouver Games will likely be the final competition of her career.

WNBA star suspended for DUI charges

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Mercury have suspended guard Diana Taurasi for two games without pay after she was cited on drunken-driving related charges.

In a release Thursday, the team said Taurasi was suspended "for conduct detrimental to the team." Taurasi will miss Saturday's game against Detroit and next Wednesday's game against Minnesota.

"I am deeply sorry and embarrassed for causing this distraction for my teammates, the Phoenix Mercury, the WNBA, family and fans," Taurasi said in a statement.

Taurasi faces three drunken-driving related charges, including extreme DUI, for a July 2 incident.

Twin brothers to coach Montana team

HELENA, Mont. — Take a look down the Carroll College men's basketball bench this fall, and you might think you're seeing double.

Coach Brandon Veltri on Thursday announced the hiring of his identical twin, Brock Veltri, as assistant coach and sports information director at the NAIA school in Montana.

Cricket league may be created in U.S.

LONDON — Cricket's governing body in the United States wants to create an elite Twenty20 competition along the lines of the lucrative Indian Premier League.

The USA Cricket Association announced Thursday it hopes "top-class international cricket" will finally take root in America by launching the first professional competition, the USA Premier League.

A Twenty20 game is a shortened version of cricket, completed in about 3 1/2 hours to bring it closer to the length of other sports.

— Deseret News wire reports