The Drake women’s basketball team rolled to a 91-68 rout of Southern Illinois at the Knapp Center on Saturday in the regular season finale.  The Bulldogs outscored the Salukis 23-16 in the second quarter and led by 11 at half before added on to the lead in the third.

Drake scored 44 points in the paint and had a whopping 30 points off turnovers. Maggie Bair poured in 25 points and Anna Miller had a big double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Drake improved to 19-9 overall and 14-6 in the Valley. The Bulldogs will be the four-seed next week at the Hoops in the Heartland MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament. They will have an opening round bye and face the winner of Missouri State/Bradley on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Moline, Illinois.

The Iowa Hawkeye women’s basketball team will play in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship game on Sunday after grabbing an 89-84 win over Maryland in the semis on Saturday. The Hawkeyes built an early 8-point lead by the end of the first quarter and were able to hold the lead the rest of the way.

The Hawkeyes had five players in double-figures and three with 20+ point games. Caitlin Clark had 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. McKenna Warnock and Gabbie Marshall each added 21 points in the win.

Iowa improved to 26-6 on the season. The Hawkeyes will face Ohio State in the Championship game on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. The Buckeyes advanced to that game with a 79-75 win over top-seeded Indiana on Saturday.

We’ll have that championship game on KJAN with pregame at 3:45 p.m.

The Iowa State women’s basketball team had a happy senior day with a 76-52 drubbing of Texas Tech on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones broke loose with a 27-11 advantage in the second quarter and then outscored the Red Raiders by ten in the third.

Ashley Joens put up a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Emily Ryan had a double-double of her own with 12 points and 11 boards. Three other Cyclones finished with 9 points in the game.

Iowa State improved to 20-8 on the season and will now prep for the Big 12 Tournament next week in Kansas City. The Cyclones drew the 3-seed and will face 6th-seeded Baylor next Friday at 7:30 p.m. in their opening tourney game.

The Drake Bulldogs will play for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title on Sunday after a 65-52 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday night. The Bulldogs blew the game open early with a 39-23 lead by halftime and cruised to the win.

Roman Penn led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 16 points and 5 assists. Garrett Sturtz and Tucker DeVries each had 12, and Darnell Brodie ripped down a double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds.

The Bulldogs improved to 26-7 on the season. They will get a season rubber-match with Bradley in the championship game on Sunday. The Braves advanced with a 71-70 win over Indiana State in the other semifinal on Saturday.

Southern Illinois got 18 points from Lance Jones in the loss. The Salukis dropped to 23-10 on the year.

That MVC title game between Drake and Bradley will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

The Iowa State men’s basketball team picked up a monster road win on Saturday 73-58 over the Baylor Bears. The Cyclones led by 11 at the break and held Baylor to their lowest point total in a half all season at 22. Baylor closed the gap to 6 in the second half but Iowa State responded and pushed the lead back out to double-digits quickly.

Jaren Holmes had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists to lead the Cyclones. Tre King added 13 points and 7 boards and Gabe Kalscheur dropped in 12 points. The win assured that Iowa State would get an opening round bye at the Big 12 Tournament next week.

The Cyclones improved to 18-12 on the season and ended up with the 5-seed at the Big 12 Tourney. They will get an immediate rematch with Baylor  in the tournament on Thursday at 11:30am in the first game in Kanas City.

The Drake Bulldogs took down Murray State 74-62 in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday evening in St. Louis. The Bulldogs outscored the Racers by ten in the second half to grab the victory.

MVC Player of the Year Tucker DeVries led the way with 27 points and 5 rebounds. Roman Penn had a big game with a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists.

Murray State was led by 22 points and 12 rebounds from Rob Perry. The Racers end the season at 17-15.

Drake improved to 25-7 on the season and will now face Southern Illinois in the semifinals on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. The Salukis advanced with a 54-51 win over Missouri State on Friday night.

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says the Cyclones are trying to reclaim the energy that helped get them into the nation’s top ten. Losers of six of their last seven and four in a row the Cyclones close the regular season on Saturday at seventh ranked Baylor.

The game comes three days after Otzelberger dismissed top three point shooter Caleb Grill from the team. Otzelberger says the Cyclones are focused on the challenges the are ahead.

Otzelberger says without Grill the Cyclones will need to pick it up in a number of areas.

Senior guard Jaren Holmes is confident the Cyclones can get things turned around.

Holmes says the Cyclones are focused on what still can be accomplished

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Baylor is part of a three way tie for second in the Big 12 at 11-7. The Cyclones are sixth at 8-9.

(hawkeyesports) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – 2-Seed Iowa defeated 7-Seed Purdue, 69-58, inside the Target Center on Friday night to advance to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals.

Three Hawkeyes finished in double digits, with National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark having the game-high 22 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Monika Czinano finished with 14 points, going 6-for-7 from the field. Gabbie Marshall had 11 points, going 3-for-5 from the three.

Clark got things going quick for Iowa, sinking her first 3-pointer of the game in the first 20 seconds. From there, the Hawkeyes went on a, 6-0, scoring run to gain control early. An assist from Molly Davis gave Hannah Stuelke an easy layup to give Iowa a nine-point lead after one.

Up Next
The Hawkeyes will face the 3-Seed Maryland in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament inside the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tipoff for Iowa’s semifinal matchup is set for 4 p.m. (CT) and will be broadcast on BTN. We’ll have it on KJAN starting at 3:45 p.m.

The UNI men’s basketball team made it a game but couldn’t complete the rally against top-seeded Bradley on Friday afternoon in the MVC Tournament Quarterfinals. The Braves prevailed 72-66 to move to the semifinals on Saturday.

UNI trailed by six at the break and kept the game tight most of the second half. The Panthers missed a couple of shots down the stretch and the Braves knocked down their free throws to secure the win.

Bowen Born led UNI with 34 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. Tytan Anderson had 7 points and 6 boards. The Panthers end the season with a record of 14-18.

Bradley was led by 30 points and 9 rebounds from Rienk Mast and Ja’Shon Henry added 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Braves improved to 24-8 on the season and will face Indiana State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The Sycamores advanced with a 94-91 win over the four-seed Belmont.

Class 4A Championship

2:30 p.m. –  Dallas Center-Grimes (22-3) vs. North Polk (23-2)

Class 2A State Championship

4:45 p.m. – Dike-New Hartford (25-1) vs. Central Lyon (24-0)

Class 1A Championship

7:00 p.m. –  Algona Bishop Garrigan (25-1) vs. Newell-Fonda (24-2)