Arizona's Olson reaches divorce settlement with second wife

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona coach Lute Olson and his second wife, Christine Olson, have reached a divorce settlement, a court spokesman said Thursday.

Pima County Superior Court spokesman David Ricker said the judge in the case told him the lawyers had canceled a planned meeting on Friday because the couple came to a settlement agreement.

Kathleen Murphy, representing Christine Toretti Olson, and Leonard Karp, Lute Olson's lawyer, did not return calls from the Associated Press on Thursday.

In a statement released through a Phoenix spokesman, Christine Olson said she is very saddened to find herself at the end of a chapter in her life.

"I still care deeply for Lute and am at a loss to explain the path that brought us here," she said.

She said she plans to remain in Tucson, where two sons are at the University of Arizona and a third will be a high school senior. All are from her first marriage, which also ended in divorce.

Ricker said Judge Carmen Cornelio ordered the lawyers to file a final divorce decree within 10 days. He said no details were available.

The couple was married for five years. Olson's first wife of 47 years, Bobbi, died in 2001 of ovarian cancer.

Christine Olson is chief executive of an oil and gas drilling company and a Republican national committeewoman from Pennsylvania.

Olson filed for divorce in December on the same day he announced he was extending a leave of absence he had taken from his team through the end of the season. The 73-year-old Hall of Famer returned in April.

Interim coach Kevin O'Neill led the Wildcats to a 19-15 record and a first-round appearance in the NCAA tournament.