San Francisco State Player Collapses, Dies

San Francisco State forward-center Richard Saunders collapsed during practice Wednesday night and later died, school officials said.

The cause of death was not known, said a school spokeswoman.

Saunders, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was working out with the team in preparation for Friday night’s home opener against Cal State Bakersfield.

The 6-foot-5 senior collapsed about 6:16 p.m.

The athletic trainer and other school personnel administered CPR to Saunders until paramedics arrived.

Tennis

Lindsay Davenport ousted Anke Huber from the $3.5-million Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York, 6-2, 6-3.

In later matches, fifth-seeded Mary Pierce ousted South African Amanda Coetzer, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, and third-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated Natalia Zvereva of Belarus, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

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Boris Becker produced one of the best matches of his already impressive year and frustrated Pete Sampras with a 7-5, 7-5 victory at the IBM/ATP Tour World Championship in Frankfurt, Germany.

In other matches, Michael Chang defeated Alberto Berasategui, 6-1, 6-0, and Stefan Edberg beat Goran Ivanisevic, 6-3, 6-4.

Baseball

Cy Young winner Greg Maddux earned his fifth consecutive Gold Glove and most valuable player Jeff Bagwell won for the first time when National League awards for fielding were announced.

The San Francisco Giants led the majors with three Gold Glove winners--outfielders Barry Bonds and Darren Lewis and third baseman Matt Williams.

A $15.6-million minor league baseball stadium complex has been approved by the Oxnard and Ventura city councils and is awaiting a vote by Camarillo, the third city involved in the project. The proposed stadium is to be built on a 35-acre parcel in Ventura. Financing has yet to be considered.

The Angels have decided to pursue free-agent reliever Lee Smith, baseball’s all-time saves leader who pitched for the Baltimore Orioles last season. . . . Davey Lopes and Craig Nettles were named to the San Diego Padres’ coaching staff. Lopes will coach first base, Nettles third base. . . . Pitcher Jason Varitek of Georgia Tech won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur player.

Hockey

NHL general managers, after meeting in Toronto, reaffirmed their intention of overhauling the league’s salary structure even if that means canceling the season. Asked at a news conference if any of them is optimistic about the season starting, not one of the 26 responded.

“He (union chief Bob Goodenow) hasn’t given any of us any indication that he wants to say anything other than no,” Edmonton General Manager Glen Sather said. “If you want to make compromise and get a deal, there are ways you can do it. I don’t think he wants to do it. . . .”

Commissioner Gary Bettman will meet with Goodenow today in Boston to reject the limited entry-level salary concessions last offered by the union. Bettman said he has not set a deadline for canceling the season but said 50 games would be the minimum for a meaningful season. In that case, an agreement would have to exist by mid-December. Fourteen games have been erased from each club’s schedule and more cancellations are imminent.

Miscellany

Fourth-ranked UCLA defeated 12th-ranked USC, 15-6, 15-7, 0-15, 12-15, 15-9, in a women’s volleyball match at USC.

Baylor basketball coach Darrel Johnson was fired after the university administration concluded the basketball program violated school and NCAA rules during his two-year tenure. Assistant Harry Miller will take over temporarily. Johnson denied any wrongdoing.

Romania and the United States held first and second place, respectively, at the Gymnastics World Team Championships in Dortmund, Germany, after the women’s compulsories. Americans Larissa Fontaine and Kerri Strug both fell off the uneven bars and Shannon Miller, the two-time world champion, struggled with her dismount, costing the United States first place.

Erica Gomez, one of the nation’s top girls’ high school point guards, has signed a letter of intent to attend UCLA. Gomez, a 5-foot-9 senior from Holmdel, N.J., averaged 16.8 points and five assists last season. She led St. John Vianney High to three state titles.

The Nevada Ethics Commission has ruled that Robert C. Maxson, president of Long Beach State, wrongly concealed an arrangement to pay basketball coach Rollie Massimino $375,000 a year over and above his public salary of $511,000 when he was president of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Maxson, who became the Long Beach president five months ago after 10 years at UNLV, called the finding “the silliest thing I’ve ever heard” and denied that he had concealed parts of Massimino’s contract from state authorities.

Placentia El Dorado High was removed from the Southern Section football playoffs after it was learned the team used an ineligible player all season. Anaheim Loara replaces El Dorado in the Division V first-round game against Anaheim Canyon, and the game has been moved from Friday to Saturday night at 7:30.

Michael Moorer, knocked out by George Foreman on Nov. 5, said he’s finished with boxing and wants to pursue a career in law enforcement. . . . Jeremy Williams of Long Beach scored a second-round technical knockout over Levi Billups of San Diego in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight fight at Las Vegas.