SIGULDA, Latvia -- Canadian Alex Gough is on a nice roll heading into the Sochi Winter Games. The 26-year-old from Calgary capped the World Cup season off in style, finishing second in a second straight womens singles luge event Saturday. American Kate Hansen claimed the gold medal with a two-run time of one minute 23.976 seconds. Gough, the first-run leader, finished second, 0.076 seconds behind. Russian Natalia Khoreva was third, 0.176 seconds back. Gough claimed her 17th career World Cup medal. "That was a very good race today with two solid runs," said Canadian team coach Wolfgang Staudinger. "We are only at this track once every two years so to be able to perform on a track where we have minimal runs is impressive." Calgarys Kimberley McRae finished sixth in 1:24.37 while Arianne Jones, also of Calgary, was 16th in 1:24.790. In mens doubles, Tristan Walker of Cochrane, Alta., and Calgarys Justin Snith were eighth in 1:23.304. Hansen was a surprise winner Saturday, becoming the first American to prevail in a singles race on the circuit since Nov. 22, 1997. It gave both her and the team a major infusion of confidence heading into next months Sochi Games. "Of course its a great surprise for me," Hansen said. "Ive never dreamed of winning the event." Hansen was a five-year-old when Cameron Myler gave the U.S. its most recent singles victory on the World Cup circuit, which also came in Sigulda. And she wasnt even born when Germany last failed to have a woman reach the medal podium after a race on tour. Improbable as it sounds, both things happened Saturday. The 21-year-old Hansen capped her win with a track-record run in the second heat, while Germany -- which in fairness kept its top three sliders, including World Cup champion Natalie Geisenberger, out of the competition so they could prepare for the Olympics instead -- had no one finish better than seventh, an absolute rarity for the deepest team in the world. Hansens gold is the first for the U.S. in any major international race since Erin Hamlin won the world championship in 2009. "This is a momentous occasion," USA Luge spokesman Sandy Caligiore said. Germanys top slider was Dajana Eitberger, about a half-second behind Hansen. Germany had earned a medal in every World Cup womens singles race since 1988. Whether the German best were there or not, it was still a breakthrough for Hansen. The U.S. national champion held the lead at the midway point of the season-opening race at Lillehammer, Norway, then slipped all the way back to 12th in the second heat. And before Saturday, she had never even earned a medal in a World Cup race. Now shes heading to her first Olympics knowing how winning feels. "I dont know if the pressure with regard to the upcoming Olympic Games will be greater now," Hansen said. "Its a good question. But well see." Geisenberger, who clinched the World Cup title a week earlier, finished the season with 785 standings points. Gough was second with 626, Germanys Tatjana Huefner was third with 551, followed by Germanys Anke Wischnewski (493) and Eitberger (432). Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys .com) - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were among the third-round winners Friday at the French Open. Erick Aybar Jersey . On the eve of the 2013-14 NBA season, he can finally take a step back and allow his team to do the talking. http://www.authenticpadrespgear.com/ . JOHNS, N. Travis Wood Jersey . Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were left fretting over an MRI on the stars left knee. Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and the Pacers used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out the Cavaliers 91-76 on Tuesday The Pacers (25-5) have won eight in a row over Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent. Tony Gwynn Jersey . Of course that doesnt mean hes ignoring it. Thats actually rather impossible given the behind-the-scenes access to the Toronto Maple Leafs the network is getting.San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - With their first West Coast Conference win under their belts, the Gonzaga Bulldogs return to action on Monday night when they challenge the San Diego Toreros at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Gonzaga is off to another sensational start, the team winning 12 of its first 13 games, including the last five in a row. The Zags won at BYU in their conference opener on Saturday, 87-80, running their current winning streak in WCC lid lifters under head coach Mark Few to 16 in the row, and 19 straight overall. San Diego enters this fray a game over .500 on the season (7-6), but it is coming off a 61-58 loss to visiting Portland in Saturdays WCC opener. That setback snapped a three-game win streak for the Toreros, who are hoping to get back on track and improve to 5-1 at home this season with an upset victory tonight. Gonzaga owns a 63-21 lead in the all-time series with San Diego. Three of the last four matchups have been decided by three points or less, including the last meeting (last season) in which the Toreros earned a 69-66 win at home. Kyle Wiltjer scored 24 points and Kevin Pangos finished with 21 points and seven assists in leading Gonzaga to its recent win at BYU. With his effort, Pangos became the 14th player in school history to reach 1,500 career points. Byron Wesley added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, while Przemek Karnowski chipped in with nine points and 10 boards. GU outscored BYU in the paint, 36-24, and had 22 assists to just 13 for the hosts. The Cougars did manage to score 40 bench points to only 15 for the Zags. Overall, Gonzaga made good on 49.2 of its field goal attempts, draining 8-of-19 3-point tries along the way,, while permitting just 39.dddddddddddd7 percent success to the Cougars, who made 7-of-25 long-range launches while logging a 27-15 edge in points at the foul line. Gonzaga boasts five double-digit scorers on the season, led by Wiltjer and his 17.3 ppg. The Bulldogs net 83.9 ppg, while yielding 61.5 ppg. The Zags are hitting an eye-popping 53.2 percent of their field goal attempts, which includes a 3-point shooting percentage of .398. Foes are shooting just 38.7 percent from the floor, which includes a 31.0 percent showing from beyond the arc, and the Bulldogs are +10.4 in rebounding margin and +2.2 in turnover differential. San Diego played well on defense in Saturdays clash with Portland, holding the Pilots to 37 percent field goal efficiency, although that included an 8- of-14 showing from beyond the arc. UofP was also guilty of 19 turnovers, but scored 13 points at the foul line compared to only five for the Toreros, who made good on only 37.1 percent of their total shots, missing eight of their nine 3-point tries in the process. Chris Anderson was high man for USD with 14 points, while Thomas Jacobs tallied a dozen and Johnny Dee had 11. Dee is the only player netting double figures for San Diego this season, as he is shooting a stellar 44.1 percent from long range in averaging 18.8 ppg. Anderson is close to joining him, as he puts up 9.3 ppg, but his real worth is as a playmaker as evidenced by his whopping 93 assists (7.2 apg). 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