The University of Iowa women’s basketball team will enter the Big Ten Tournament with three wins in its last four games after downing Illinois, 61-56, in the regular season finale Saturday in front of 4,610 on Mediacom Court. HawkeyeSports.com reports Hawkeye freshman Megan Gustafson made the closing statement in a battle of the league’s elite post players when she sank a turn-around jump shot over Chatrice White to give Iowa a 59-56 lead with 48 seconds remaining. Both players finished with double-doubles in points and rebounds.

Iowa (18-12 overall, 8-10 Big Ten) finished the regular season 11-4 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and have won 18-or-more games in nine consecutive seasons. Illinois falls to 9-20, 2-16.

Four Hawkeyes scored in double figures, led by Gustafson. Whitney Jennings, who made back-to-back 3-pointers to begin a 16-0 run at the end of the third quarter, scored 14, Ally Disterhoft had 13, and Chase Coley added 10. Iowa assisted on 20-of-24 made field goals; Alexa Kastanek had a career-high and game-high seven assists and Tania Davis added six.

The Hawkeyes return to action Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. As the No. 8 or No. 9 seed, Iowa will play either Michigan or Nebraska and tip off at 11 a.m. (CT) from Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The winner takes on top-seeded Maryland on March 4 at 11 a.m.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Matt Thomas scored 20 points and Georges Niang added 17 to help 17th-ranked Iowa State beat Kansas State 80-61 on Saturday night, clinching its fifth straight 20-win season. Jameel McKay scored 14 points with 17 rebounds off the bench for the notoriously-thin Cyclones (20-9, 9-7 Big 12), who got 24 points from their reserves.

Iowa State strung together 13-0 runs in each half, which proved to be the difference. The Wildcats pulled as close as 65-59 before backup Hallice Cooke’s 3 with just under four minutes left swung momentum back in favor of the Cyclones. D.J. Johnson had 22 with nine boards for Kansas State (15-14, 4-12), which shot just 4 of 18 from 3-point range.

1A Substate 7 Championship
IKM-Manning 65, Nodaway Valley 60 (IKM moves on to play West Hancock  in the State Quarterfinals 10:30-a.m. March 7th, in Des Moines)

1A Substate 8 Championship
St. Albert, Council Bluffs 63, Stanton 41 (St. Albert will play Danville in the State Quarterfinals on March 7th in Des Moines, beginning at 12:15-p.m.)

2A Substate 1 Championship
Western Christian, Hull 87, Sioux Center 79 (Western Christian will play Kuemper Catholic in the State Quarterfinals on March 8th, beginning at 12:15-p.m.)

2A Substate 7 Championship
Des Moines Christian 66, Panorama, Panora 58 (

2A Substate 8 Championship
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 56, Treynor 46

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Kaylon Williams made 13 of 14 shots and scored a career-high 32 points in her last home game to lead No. 23 Oklahoma to an 85-54 win over Iowa State on Saturday. The Sooners (19-9, 10-7 Big 12) hit 9 of 15 shots in the first quarter in opening a 25-13 lead. They were up by nine at the half and used a 28-12 third quarter to decide the issue. Oklahoma shot 60 percent (33 of 55) from the field and held Iowa State to 33 percent (17 of 52).

Emily Durr led the Cyclones (13-15, 5-12), who have lost 11 of 13, with a career-high 24 points. Jadda Buckley added 16. Behind Williams and Peyton Little, who had 11 points and seven rebounds, Oklahoma had a 37-26 rebounding advantage and outscored the Cyclones 42-20 in the paint. Gioya Carter had six assists as the Sooners had 21 helpers on 33 baskets.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Reed Timmer scored the first six points in overtime as Drake broke away to beat Loyola of Chicago 69-59, wrapping up the regular season Saturday with just its second conference win. Timmer, who hit a 3-pointer to force the overtime at 48-48, ended the game with 17 points. Seven-foot freshman Dominik Olejniczak had a breakout game scoring a career-best 19 points with nine rebounds and six blocked shots — also a career best.

Graham Woodward added 12 points for Drake (7-23, 2-16 Missouri Valley Conference), 10th seed into the conference tournament. Milton Doyle scored 20 points for Loyola (14-16, 7-11), which enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed and plays Bradley Thursday in St. Louis. Doyle had a potential game-winning shot blocked by Casey Schlatter with three seconds left in regulation. He was 2 of 7 from the floor in overtime.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Wes Washpun made four free throws down the stretch and blocked a shot with three seconds left to secure Northern Iowa’s 54-52 win over Evansville on Saturday. The win assures Northern Iowa (19-12, 11-7), which has won nine of its last ten games, the No. 4 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Washpun had 14 points, five assists, three steals and three blocks. Klint Carlson added 10 points. Northern Iowa held Evansville to just 16 points in the first half; the lowest UNI has held any opponent in the initial half this season.

Evansville, tied for second in the conference, rallied in the second period to close to 53-52 with 13 seconds remaining. Northern Iowa’s Jeremy Morgan split a pair of free throws and the Purple Aces missed their last two shots. D.J. Balentine led Evansville (23-8, 12-6) with 19 points. Egidiju Mockevicius added 14 with 16 rebounds.