AMES, Iowa (AP) — Scott Christopherson and Melvin Ejim each scored 17 points and Iowa State pulled away for a 72-54 victory over Texas Tech on Wednesday night, reaching 20 wins for the first time in eight years. Royce White had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Cyclones (20-8, 10-5 Big 12), who also earned 10 wins in the Big 12 for the first time since 2001. Iowa State struggled at times against the Big 12’s worst team, though. The Cyclones trailed by four at halftime, let the Red Raiders shoot nearly 46 percent and didn’t push their lead into double digits until just over 6 minutes were left. Jaye Crockett had 17 points for the Red Raiders (8-19, 1-14), who remain winless on the road in the Big 12.

w/ Jim Field

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Class 3-A Region 2 Regional Final
Bishop Heelan Catholic 66, Denison-Schleswig 61

Class 3-A Region 8 Regional Final
Glenwood 71, Winterset 46

Class 4-A Region 8 Regional Final
Ankeny 57, Lewis Central 39

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State struggled from the field and at the line but prevailed in overtime against a gritty Missouri squad Tuesday for a 66-59 victory in Hilton Coliseum. The win moves the Cyclones to 8-7 in the Big 12 Conference, 17-9 overall. Missouri falls to 1-14 in the Big 12 and 11-15 overall.

The Cyclones got a huge three-pointer from Hallie Christofferson with 2:32 to go in overtime and held Missouri without a basket in the extra period until the game’s final second.

Poppens led the Cyclones with 25 points and 16 rebounds in 33 minutes of action for her 13th double-double of the season. Poppens attempted a school-record 24 free throws, connecting on 15 of them. The Cyclones might have put the game out of reach earlier, but were inconsistent at the free-throw line, hitting on 25-39 attempts. Christofferson had 13 points and six rebounds. Christine Flores led Missouri with 16 points. Iowa State trailed for nearly 37 minutes of the game, taking a 56-54 lead on a pair of Chassidy Cole free throws with 45 seconds left in regulation. Missouri’s Sydney Crafton hit a three  with 3.4 seconds left in the second half that forced overtime.

By the extra session the Tigers were without three players who fouled out and ISU built a small cushion to claim a key victory in its pursuit of an NCAA Tournament berth. The win was the Cyclones sixth in their last seven league games.

Missouri, which had won its first league game at Kansas Saturday, was hitting its shots early while Iowa State was not. Over the first nine minutes of the first half the Cyclones hit on just 2-12 (.167) field goal attempts and were 1-for-7 (.143) on its shots beyond the three-point arc.  The Cyclones’ only first-half  lead was 3-2 on a Christofferson three-pointer in the game’s first 90 seconds. Missouri outshot Iowa State in the first half hitting on 6-of-13 three-point attempts.  The Cyclones hit on just  4-of-16 three-point attempts. Iowa State hit on just 7-of30 shots (.233).

The Tigers led by 11, at 31-20 with 45 seconds left in the first half. Anna Prins hit on a three just before halftime to make it 31-23 at the break. With Poppens playing just 10 minutes of the first stanza because of foul trouble, Missouri outscored Iowa State in the paint, 10-6 in the first half.

Iowa State plays at Oklahoma State Saturday at 7 p.m.

Jim Field and Chris Parks have the call of the game played Tuesday, February 21st at Exira-EHK High School in Elk Horn.

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The UNI Panthers will look to avenge one of their toughest losses of the season tonight (Wednesday), as they host Bradley in their final regular season game at the McLeod Center. UNI let a 16 point second half lead slip away in their first meeting with the Braves, a 78-67 loss back on January 15. A big part of the Bradley comeback that night was their switch to a zone defense, something that UNI coach Ben Jacobson says the Panthers have seen a lot of since that game. Jacobson says that with six weeks between meetings, you can expect both teams to be playing a little differently, and playing a little better than they were in mid-January. The Panthers have just one senior this year, and Jacobson is encouraging Panther fans to come out to honor Johnny Moran as he plays his final game at the McLeod Center. UNI’s ticket office is offering four packs of tickets to tonight’s game for thirteen dollars, since Moran wears number thirteen. Bradley coach Geno Ford expects the Panthers to be highly motivated after losing the first meeting.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa State goes for its first 20-win season in eight years when it hosts woeful Texas Tech  tonight (Wednesday). The Red Raiders are just 1-13 in the Big 12. The Cyclones haven’t won 20 games in the regular season since 2000-01. The Red Raiders are 1-9 on the road under first-year coach Billy Gillispie.Tip Time at Hilton Coliseum is at 8-p.m. On The Air: ESPNU/ESPN3

Probable Starters:

Iowa State Cyclones: G-Scott Christopherson: 11.3 ppg., 3 rpg.; G-Chris Allen: 12.5 ppg., 2.4 rpg.; G-Chris Babb: 8.7 ppg., 4.3 rpg.; F-Royce White: 12.9 ppg., 9.1 rpg.; F-Melvin Ejim: 9 ppg., 6.7 rpg.

Texas Tech Red Raiders: G-Ty Nurse: 8.7 ppg., 1.7 rpg. G-Javarez Millis: 8.3 ppg., 2.5 rpg. G-Luke Adams: 3.9 ppg., 1 rpg.; F-Jordan Tolbert: 11.4 ppg., 5.8 rpg.; C-Robert Lewandowski, 7 ppg., 3.8 rpg.

BOYS BASKETBALL
1-A District 1 Semifinal
St. Albert 59, East Mills 49
Treynor 54, Fremont-Mills 45

1-A District 15 Semifinal
Nodaway Valley 72, Mount Ayr 55
Murray 57, Lamoni 52

1-A District 16 Semifinal
CAM 54, Corning 53
Exira-EHK 47, Adair-Casey 36

1-A District 2 Semifinal
Boyer Valley 42, Logan-Magnolia 39
West Monona 58, Ar-We-Va 43

1-A District 6 Semifinal
East Greene 56, Ankeny Christian Academy 49
Guthrie Center 54, Coon Rapids-Bayard 48

2-A District 1 Championship
Clarinda 65, Underwood 41

2-A District 2 Championship
Kuemper Catholic 67 East Sac County 59

2-A District 16 Championship
Des Moines Christian 76, Panorama 46

The price you pay for your kids to participate in some of the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Summer Recreation Programs will be going up, and be prepared for some changes in how some of the programs operate. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring said at Monday night’s Board meeting, one of the changes affects the Playground Program. He says instead of two sites, there will be just one site: Washington Elementary School. The hours will be from 9:30-until 11:30-a.m., instead of from 1-3pm. Herring says the idea is to incorporate the YMCA lunch program into the Playground Program.

Herring says each day’s activities will be published as the time frame grows closer, but they will involve crafts and exercise. Each session would conclude with lunch at the YMCA. The students will be escorted from the Washington School to the YMCA, where their parents can pick them up after lunch. Herring recommended, and the Park and Rec Board Monday approved, charging parents a fee to enroll their kids in the Playground Program. He says the fee would amount to $1 per day of the 20-session program, which runs from May 29th to June 29th, or $20 altogether. The Board and Herring agreed that no student will be turned down for the program because of an inability to pay. Service clubs may be asked to help defray the costs.

Roger Herring says also, the swimming program would be held once a week, on Tuesday’s, at the Sunnyside swimming pool. No lunch will be served.    The Swim Team, which is held May 29th through July 15th, will practice daily at noon at the Sunnyside Pool, with practice during inclement weather, inside, at the Nishna Valley YMCA. Participants purchase their own team swimsuits, t-shirts and goggles. The price for the t-shirts, according to Herring, will be going up just a bit. He recommended, and the board approved, an increase of $5 in the fee to participate on the swim team, which will now cost $25.

Board Chair Stuart Dusenberry pointed out that’s still much lower than it was years ago, when the Parks Department was still paying to bus students to the various swim meets. Since the policy was changed, parents have been handling that responsibility. The increase in fee also helps to cover the cost of paying a Swim Team Coach, Assistant Coach and Manager, which had previously been a volunteer position. Herring said there were 60 participants in the program last year. He says if there are a similar number this year, it will be a “break even” proposition for the Parks and Rec Department cost-wise.

The adult softball fee is also expected to be “restructured,” but the details have not yet been worked out.