Sports briefs

NBA going ahead with replacement refs

The NBA has told teams it's going ahead with replacement referees, days after the league thought a deal had been reached with locked-out officials.

The league sent a memo Tuesday informing teams it had "no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract." The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, follows the latest failure in negotiations.

According to the memo, the sides had agreed in principle on a new two-year deal Friday. But the National Basketball Referees Association rejected the NBA's proposal Sunday.

The NBA held referees training camp with replacements over the weekend and will release its roster of backups before the first preseason game, scheduled for Thursday when the Utah Jazz host the Denver Nuggets.

The union's five-person executive board originally voted to recommend the approval of the league's proposal to the membership, according to an official familiar with the talks. However, one of the board members then switched his vote, and the full membership then rejected the deal as well.

Taurasi is WNBA's most valuable player

PHOENIX — Diana Taurasi has been named the WNBA's most valuable player.

The Phoenix Mercury star was presented the award at a news conference Tuesday prior to the team's WNBA Finals opener against the Indiana Fever.

Taurasi, a four-time WNBA all-star, led the league in scoring at 23.8 points per game. She and fellow first-team all-star Cappie Pondexter led the high-scoring Mercury to a 23-11 regular season record, best in the WNBA.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Taurasi is in her sixth WNBA season after being drafted No. 1 by the Mercury out of Connecticut in 2004.

Wyoming coach out with kidney stone

LARAMIE, Wyo. — Wyoming coach Dave Christensen missed football practice and a media conference call Tuesday while being treated for a kidney stone.

Athletic department spokesman Tim Harkins says the 48-year-old went to the hospital Tuesday morning shortly after arriving at his office for a meeting. Assistant head coach Dan Hammerschmidt filled in for Christensen later in the morning on the weekly Mountain West Conference coaches teleconference.

Harkins said Christensen remained in the hospital when the team began practice Tuesday afternoon. Christensen is in his first year as head coach at Wyoming, which plays Florida Atlantic at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday.