VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Health problems did not hamper Notre Dame’s championship hopes at the Vancouver Showcase on Friday night. Arike Ogunbowale scored 30 points and Jackie Young added 25 to help No. 1 Notre Dame beat Drake 82-64 in semifinal action at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The Irish were playing without Jessica Shepard, who twisted her ankle against Gonzaga on Thursday and is listed as day-to-day, and still were missing Marina Mabrey, who has been sidelined with a quadriceps injury all season.

The defending champion Fighting Irish (5-0) struggled to score early. But after the first quarter was tied 17-17, Notre Dame eventually managed to dominate. The Irish outscored the Bulldogs 52-44 in the paint. Sara Rhine led the Bulldogs (5-1) with 18 points while Sammie Bachrodt netted 11 and Maddy Dean contributed 10. The surging Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season.

The Bulldogs are aiming for a third-straight NCAA tournament appearance after making back-to-back appearances for the first time since 2001 and 2002. The Bulldogs will tip off in today’s (Saturday’s). game to decide third place against South Carolina.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — B.J. Sith scored six of his game-high 25 points from the free throw line in the closing seconds as Old Dominion avenged a loss earlier this week to Northern Iowa, 72-65 on Friday night. The game was the second meeting between the teams in the last five days. Northern Iowa beat Old Dominion Monday in the final game of the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, 54-53.

This time the Monarchs (3-3) never surrendered the lead in the second half. UNI cut the lead to three, 61-58 on a layup by Wyatt Lohaus with 3:09 left. Ahmad Carver hit a 3-pointer and Sith hit six free throws in the final :18 to put the game away.

Sith hit 8 of 13 from the field, including 2 of 5 from beyond the arc, and was 7-for-7 from the line. Carver added 19 points and dished six assists. A.J. Green led the Panthers (3-3) with 18 points.

BIMINI, Bahamas (AP) — Megan Gustafson had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and No. 12 Iowa rallied from a 24-point deficit and beat No. 25 West Virginia 84-81 on Friday in the Junkanoo Jam to remain undefeated. The win marks the biggest comeback for Iowa (5-0) under coach Lisa Bluder. Iowa plays Florida State in the title game while the Mountaineers (3-1) face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.

Gustafson was 12 of 17 from the field. Makenzie Meyer made four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points for Iowa. Tania Davis scored 15 points, including a career-high 13 free throws. Alexis Sevillian chipped in with 13 points.

Kysre Gondrezick scored 22 points for West Virginia. Naomi Davenport added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Madisen Smith had 13 points and Tynice Martin and Kari Niblack added 11 points apiece.
Gustafson converted a 3-point play to give Iowa its first lead of the second half, 78-77, with 49.4 seconds to play.

Gustafson added another bucket and Davis made two free throws to make it a five-point lead with 38.7 seconds left. Gondrezick hit a 3-pointer with 11.8 seconds remaining.
West Virginia built a 48-29 halftime lead but Iowa outscored the Mountaineers 29-12 in the fourth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Miguel Recinos drilled a 41-yard field goal through a driving rain as time expired and Iowa beat Nebraska 31-28 on Friday despite blowing a 15-point lead. Mekhi Sargent ran for a career-high 173 yards and scored twice for the Hawkeyes (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten), who have won four straight over the Cornhuskers for the first time.

The Hawkeyes nearly blew this one big time though. A curious decision by Iowa to fake a field goal at Nebraska’s 3-yard line failed, and it led to a 98-yard scoring drive from the Huskers to make it 28-20 with 13:57 to go. Martinez then ran it from 3 yards out with 3:22 left and found Kade Warner in the back of the end zone to tie it up.

But star tight end T.J. Hockenson came through for Iowa with a 10-yard catch on a fourth-and-8 with 42 seconds to go — and Recinos put it through the uprights after missing his previous attempt.
Sargent scored late in the second quarter on a 15-yard run and early in the third on a 5-yard pass from Nate Stanley to help the Hawkeyes jump ahead 28-13. But the Huskers and Adrian Martinez, their brilliant freshman quarterback, showed resilience in nearly pulling off the stunner.

Martinez threw for 260 yards and two TDs to lead Nebraska (4-8, 3-6), which went 0-5 on the road in 2018. The Huskers played without injured star wide receiver J.D. Spielman for the second week in a row.

After a three-game losing streak robbed them of a shot at the Big Ten title, the Hawkeyes finished on a high note and will now await their bowl fate. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them end up in either the Holiday or the Citrus Bowl.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — A Dubuque man will be honored as a hero during the Iowa-Nebraska football game today (Friday). A University of Dubuque assistant women’s basketball coach Justin Smith was named to represent our state at the Heroes Game. He is credited with quick action to pull over the team bus after the bus driver had a medical issue and passed out while driving. Smith pulled the driver out of the seat and was able to stop the bus after hitting the guardrail. Smith will be honored during halftime of the game at Kinnick Stadium. Smith will be joined on the field by Brian Thurston of Omaha, who will be recognized as Nebraska’s 2018 “citizen hero.”

Listen for the pre-game show at 9-a.m. on KJAN, with the kick-off at 11.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Texas can clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game if it beats Kansas on Friday. It will be the first time the Longhorns have visited the Jayhawks since 2016, when they were upset at Memorial Stadium in a game that may have sealed Charlie Strong’s departure as coach. Kansas will be playing its final game under David Beaty, who was fired two weeks ago. Les Miles has already been hired as his replacement.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Nebraska fired Bo Pelini in part because beating Iowa wasn’t good enough. The Huskers canned Mike Riley partly because they weren’t good enough to beat the Hawkeyes. New coach Scott Frost will get his first crack at Iowa on Friday in a border rivalry that has blossomed into something of annual referendum on both programs.

UNDATED (AP) — Missouri’s senior class has gone through a rollercoaster the past four years. They joined a program coming off back-to-back SEC championships, went through two losing seasons and a coaching change, and have helped to restore the Tigers to respectability. Now, they are trying to finish on a high with a rivalry win over Arkansas.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Chris Parks.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa freshman Joe Wieskamp had something to prove after back-to-back bad showings. The Hawkeyes’ newest star was brilliant on Wednesday night, a display that showed why he earned the starting spot he’s had since the opener. Luka Garza scored 22 points, Wieskamp had a career-high 20 and 20th-ranked Iowa rolled Alabama State 105-78 on Wednesday night in its home debut as a ranked team.

Tyler Cook scored 16 points and Isaiah Moss added 15 for the Hawkeyes (5-0), who dismissed any notion of a letdown with 68 first-half points — their most under ninth-year coach Fran McCaffery. Iowa, which vaulted into the Top 25 on Monday after beating then-No. 13 Oregon and blowing out UConn in New York last week, scored the game’s first 12 points on its way to the rout.

Wieskamp, the reigning prep player of the year in Iowa, broke his previous career high of 15 points midway through the first half in helping the Hawkeyes stake out a 30-11 lead — after combining for just five points against the Ducks and Huskies. The Hawkeyes pulled Wieskamp and the rest of the starters with 14 minutes to go, content to cruise to their fifth straight win.

Reginald Gee had 16 points to lead Alabama State (2-3).

THE RANKINGS: This is the earliest Iowa has been ranked in a season since Nov. 14, 2005. That team, coached by Steve Alford, won the Big Ten tournament before being stunned by 14th-seeded Northwestern State in the opening round of the NCAAs. …The last time the Hawkeyes were ranked was in the final poll of 2016. They were 25th.
UP NEXT: Iowa hosts Pittsburgh in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 27.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Ellingson scored 13 points with three 3-pointers and six rebounds and Drake held off UMKC 66-63 on Wednesday night for the Kangaroos’ sixth straight loss. D.J. Wilkins, Nick McGlynn and Garrett Sturtz scored nine points apiece for the Bulldogs (3-1), who shot 36 percent but made 9 of 27 3-pointers.