Overnight State Sports Briefs: Bucks still haven't overcome injury problems

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MILWAUKEE - Two Milwaukee Bucks’ starters are ailing. Center Andrew Bogut has a migraine headache, and shooting guard John Salmons was having back spasms today. And both may-or-may-not start tonight when the Bucks play the Spurs in San Antonio.

Bogut is going through his third migraine of the season. He missed the Bucks’ shoot-around today. And if Bogut can’t start, Drew Gooden will take his place. If Salmons can’t start, Keyon Dooling will go in his place. Also, coach Scott Skiles announced two other switches for tonight’s starting lineup. Chris Douglas-Roberts will replace Luc Richard Mbah a Moute at small forward. And Ersan Ilyasova will start in place of rookie Larry Sanders at the power forward spot. Skiles says Douglas-Roberts and Ilyasova both give the Bucks a better chance to get off to a strong start against the Spurs – the team with the NBA’s best record at 20-3. San Antonio has won five straight. The Bucks are going for a season-high four-game winning streak, after upsetting the Mavericks in Dallas on Monday night to end their 12-game winning streak.

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The Bucks’ home arena made more money than it did a year ago. Bradley Center officials said today that the building’s operating revenue totaled just under $15-million dollars for the year ending June 30th. That’s up by just over one-and-a-half million from the previous year. Also, when depreciation is considered, the Bradley Center reported a two-million-dollar loss in its net assets for the fiscal year. But that’s only half the loss from the year before. A reserve fund for arena improvements fell from three-point-two million dollars to two-point-one million. Bradley Center CEO Steve Costello said the arena is in a stable position right now – but it still faces a long-term challenge of finding new ways to generate enough revenue to meet its operating needs. The increase in this year’s revenue stemmed from more attractive concerts, plus the NCAA men’s basketball first-and-second-round games held in March.

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The UW-Green Bay women’s basketball team has lost senior guard Heather Golden. Her career with the Phoenix is over, after she tried to come back following micro-fracture surgery in her right knee. Golden was hurt in a pick-up game this past spring – and she’s had a total of five surgeries on both her knees in recent years. Golden received a standing ovation when she made her season debut at home last Friday night against Southeast Missouri State. But her right knee did not respond well on Saturday. And on Sunday, coach Matt Bollant said Golden could hardly warm up because she had so much pain. And she decided she could go no further. Golden tied for the Green Bay lead with 37 three-pointers last season, and she had nine games in double figures. Last year was her first as a starter, and she scored a career-high 20 points against Marquette last December.

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Two University of Wisconsin women’s hockey players have received weekly honors from the WCHA. Junior forward Brooke Ammerman was named the league’s offensive player-of-the-week. And freshman goal-tender Alex Rigsby was the top player on defense. Ammerman had three goals and three assists last weekend in a pair of Wisconsin victories at Saint Cloud State. She recorded her second hat trick of the season last Saturday. Rigsby had 22 saves on Friday night as she improved to 11-and-1 on the year.

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Next year’s Elkhart Lake Triathlon will also serve as Midwest Regional for the USA Triathlon Championships. Race organizer Jeff Grady says many events compete to be one of the 10 regionals – and it’s a real honor to get it. Swimming, biking, and running events at both the Olympic and Sprint levels will take place on June 11th at Elkhart Lake. Athletes can start signing up January first, and officials expect the designation to boost the participation from around 900 athletes to 11-hundred. At the regionals, finishers in the top third of every age group advance to national competition. At other sanctioned events, only the top 10-percent get to advance. More information about the Elkhart Lake Triathlon is available on-line at ElkhartLakeMultiSports-Dot-Com.

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, proam