Sports briefs for February 8, 2005

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

Reserves selected for NBA All-Star Game

Miami's Dwyane Wade and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili were among six players picked as NBA All-Stars for the first time when reserves were announced today.

Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison of the Washington Wizards, Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns, and Rashard Lewis of the Seattle SuperSonics also gained their first All-Star selections in balloting by the NBA's 30 head coaches.

Cleveland's LeBron James, chosen as an Eastern Conference starter last week, is a first-time All-Star, too.

The East's other reserves are centers Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Cleveland and Ben Wallace of Detroit, forward Jermaine O'Neal of Indiana, and guard Paul Pierce of Boston.

Guards Steve Nash of Dallas and Ray Allen of Seattle, and forwards Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and Shawn Marion of Phoenix were selected for the Western Conference team.

The All-Star Game is Feb. 20 in Denver.

The East's starters are Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Miami's Shaquille O'Neal, New Jersey's Vince Carter, Orlando's Grant Hill and James. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming of Houston, Kevin Garnett of Minnesota and Tim Duncan of San Antonio will start for the West.

Duerson quits ND board

Former Notre Dame defensive back Dave Duerson, who earned two Super Bowl rings in the NFL, was charged Monday with hitting his wife and has resigned from the university's board of trustees. St. Joseph County Prosecutor Mike Dvorak filed two counts of battery and two counts of domestic battery, all misdemeanors, against Duerson, 43.

UNLV women struggle

The No. 25 UNLV women'steam had a difficult beginning to its spring season Monday afternoon, shooting a 32-over-par 316 at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif. UCLA opened the tournament with a first-round low of 5-over 289, as the No. 3 Bruins had three players finish in the top four. Brittany Lang of No. 1 Duke shot a three-under 68, which was the lowi ndividual round of the day. The Blue Devils are in second place as a team after carding a 9-over 293. UNLV sits in 15th place.

Dokic loses in India

Former Wimbledon semifinalist Jelena Dokic lost 7-6 (2), 6-3 to Mara Santangelo of Italy today in the first round of the Hyderabad Open in India. Hoping to make a mark in her return from a thigh injury, Dokic struggled against Santangelo, who hit 15 aces in the 70-minute match. Dokic was once ranked as high as No. 4 but has fallen to 209th. She reached the final four at Wimbledon in 2000 but she's lost in the first round at her past three Grand Slam tournaments. All the seeded players in action today won.

Astros add pitchers

The Houston Astros agreed to one-year contracts with pitchers Pete Munro and Tim Redding, avoiding salary arbitration with both. Redding got a $750,000 deal, averting a hearing that was scheduled for later in the day. Munro agreed to a $700,000 contract -- his hearing had been set for today.