Former Atlantic (Iowa) standout Ryan Hawkins scored 14 of his 31 points in a back-breaking second-half run as Northwest Missouri State capped a dominating season with an 80-54 defeat of West Texas A&M, repeating as Division II national champions. The repeat championship win was also No. 300 for Bearcats coach Ben McCollum.

Hawkins scored his 31 points on 10 of 16 shooting, made 9 of 10 free throws and pulled down 18 rebounds. Wes Dreamer added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Qua Grant led West Texas A&M with 20 points but was 7-for-17 shooting, making just 1 of 5 from 3-point range. The Buffs were held to 31% shooting (20 of 64).

Christyn Williams scored 27 points and Paige Bueckers added 18 to lead No. 1 UConn to a 92-72 win over fifth-seeded Iowa in the Sweet 16 of the women’s basketball tournament. There was a lot of hype surrounding this game with the matchup of two extremely talented freshmen in Bueckers and Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark. The friends had taken the women’s basketball world by storm this season.

Bueckers also had nine rebounds and eight assists. Clark, in a huge part because of the defense from Williams who shadowed her on almost every possession. finished the game with 21 points _ below her nearly 27-point a game average. The game marked the return of UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who missed the opening two rounds because of the coronavirus.

The Chicago Cubs have optioned infielder Nico Hoerner and reliever Brad Wieck to Triple-A Iowa. Veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin has been released, and right-handers Shelby Miller, Pedro Strop and Trevor Megill have been assigned to minor league camp, along with outfielder Rafael Ortega.

Miller, Strop, Megill and Ortega were nonroster invitees to big league spring training. Hoerner, a first-round pick in the 2018 amateur draft out of Stanford, was in the mix for the starting job at second base. He had a strong spring, batting .361 with a homer and six RBIs.

Northwest Missouri State dominated No. 1 West Texas A&M to win the 2021 DII men’s basketball championship on Saturday. The Bearcats pulled away in the second half for an 80-54 win. It’s the third title for the Bearcats in the last four completed seasons. The Bearcats defended their 2019 crown after last year’s tournament was cancelled.

Atlantic’s Ryan Hawkins led all scorers with 31 points and had 18 boards. He went 10-of-16 shooting in the game and had a double double by halftime, first time a player has done that in the DII Championships. Northwest Missouri State shot 50 percent from the floor and 47 percent from three.

The Bearcats finish their title run with a record of 28-2.

West Texas A&M was led by Qua Grant’s 20 points and six rebounds. The Buffaloes finish 19-3.

Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says he won’t make excuses and the Panthers will prepare for every game like it is the most important of the season. The Panthers visit Western Illinois on Saturday and at 2-3 the FCS playoffs appear to be a long shot. Farley will be without starting quarterback Will McElvain for the second straight game. He was placed in COVID quarantine one day before last week’s loss to Missouri State.

Farley says it has gotten to the point that he hates hearing his phone ring.

Farley says it is a team effort to get games played.

Western Illinois is 0-4 during the spring season. It’s an 11:00 a.m. kickoff today.