MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Becca Hittner, the two-time Missouri Valley player of the year, scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half to propel No. 21 Drake into the conference tournament championship game with a 65-54 win over fourth-seeded Illinois State on Saturday.

Sara Rhine added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (27-5), who take a 12-game winning streak into the title game they have won the past two years. Drake faces the winner of second-seeded Missouri State and third-seeded Northern Iowa on Sunday.

w/ Chris Parks

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CHICAGO (AP) — Zavier Simpson was pretty much perfect, and everything fell into place for No. 10 Michigan.

Just another day at the Big Ten Tournament for the Wolverines.

Simpson sparked Michigan’s balanced attack with 10 points and 11 assists, and the Wolverines rolled past Iowa 74-53 on Friday night.

Seeking its third consecutive Big Ten tourney title, third-seeded Michigan advanced to the semifinals for the fourth straight year. It will go for its third win against Minnesota this season when it takes on the surprising Gophers on Saturday afternoon.

“There’s nothing intentional here. We’re just trying to get better every day,” coach John Beilein said. “I think if you go into tournaments and you’re usually a team that doesn’t beat itself during the season, maybe you have some success then.”

It certainly helps to have a point guard like Simpson, who went 4 for 4 from the field and 2 for 2 at the line with just one turnover. The 6-foot junior also played tough defense on Jordan Bohannon, who was averaging 11.7 points before he went scoreless in almost 27 minutes against the Wolverines (27-5).

Michigan made 10 3-pointers and placed five players in double figures, bouncing back nicely from Saturday’s disappointing loss to rival Michigan State. Ignas Brazdeikis had 15 points, and Jon Teske had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Luke Garza and Tyler Cook each scored 14 points, but Iowa was ice cold from deep one night after it made 12 3-pointers in an 83-62 victory over Illinois. The Hawkeyes went 1 for 16 from beyond the arc against the Wolverines and shot 36 percent (21 for 59) overall.

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Iowa waits to see where it’s going in the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan edged Minnesota 59-57 on Jan. 22 and topped the Gophers 69-60 on Feb. 21.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marial Shayok had watched shot after shot hit everything but net Friday night, and Iowa State’s leading scorer and veteran leader could very well have grown hesitant and frustrated. Instead, he hit the two biggest shots of the game.

Shayok rattled in a tying 3-pointer down the stretch, swished another from right in front of his own bench, then added a couple of free throws in the closing seconds to help the fifth-seeded Cyclones beat No. 15 Kansas State 63-59 in the Big 12 semifinals. Shayok finished with 21 points, Nick Weiler-Babb added 12 and Iowa State (22-11) advanced to play Kansas or West Virginia on Saturday night. The Cyclones are 4-0 when playing for the title.

Iowa State won despite committing 17 turnovers and struggling from the field for most of the second half. The Cyclones also won without much help from sharpshooter Talen Horton-Tucker, who had six points on 3-for-10 shooting.
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Iowa State will play the West Virginia-Kansas winner for the title.

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Two-time Player of the Year Becca Hittner scored 18 points and No. 21 Drake used a game-breaking run in the first quarter on Friday to roll to an 86-58 win over ninth-seeded Valparaiso in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.

Maddy Dean added 16 points, Sara Rhine 14 and Monica Burich 10 for the Bulldogs (26-5), who have won 11 straight. The three-time defending league champion and two-time defending tournament winner faces the winner of fourth-seeded Illinois State against fifth-seeded Bradley in Saturday’s semifinals.

Dean’s 3-pointer broke a 2-2 tie and kicked off an 18-0 run with contributions from six different players. The lead was 21-5 after one quarter as the Crusaders missed 11 straight shots after making their first one of the game.

Their second make was their first shot of the second quarter.

The second quarter was pretty even but not until an 8-0 run had pushed the lead to 23.

Addison Stoller had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Valparaiso and Grace Hales had 15 but the two combined to shoot 7 of 25.

The Crusaders shot 28 percent for the games while Drake was at 52 percent.

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s basketball team will hold a Selection Show viewing event in the Sukup South End Zone Club on Monday, March 18. The viewing will be open to the public, and fans can meet the team and watch the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN alongside the Cyclones and see who Iowa State will face in the NCAA Tournament.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and attendees will have the opportunity to meet and greet with the team and coaches prior to the Selection Show, which will air on ESPN. The event will officially get underway at 5:45 p.m. beginning with a short program and video highlighting the team’s season to date.

The Selection Show will officially begin at 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. Following the conclusion of the show at 6:30 p.m., Iowa State athletics staff members will provide ticketing information for those in attendance that wish to purchase tickets for the first and second round games.

Light refreshments and bottled water will also be provided.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa women’s basketball senior Megan Gustafson is the ESPNW National Player of the Year. The announcement was made Friday on ESPN.com.

Gustafson, a unanimous selection, is the first ESPNW Player of the Year in program history. She was named a unanimous first-team All-American by ESPNW on Thursday.

Gustafson leads the country in field goal percentage (69.6), points per game (28.0), total points (897), and field goals made (369), ranks second in double-doubles (30) and defensive rebounds per game (10), third in total rebounds (424), and fourth in rebounds per game (13.3).

A native of Port Wing, Wisconsin, Gustafson is the only Hawkeye in program history to win the conference’s player of the year award twice. She is the ninth two-time Big Ten Player of the Year in conference history.

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Show airs Monday, March 18 at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. Fans are invited to attend a Big Ten Championship celebration and NCAA Watch Party on Monday. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. with the event beginning at 5 p.m. Admission is free.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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

CHICAGO (AP) — Nicholas Baer made five of Iowa’s 12 3-pointers and scored 17 points, helping the Hawkeyes pull away from Illinois for an 83-62 victory in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. Iowa turned up its play in the second half to stop a four-game losing streak and hand coach Fran McCaffery his first win since he returned Sunday after a two-game suspension for berating an official. The Hawkeyes went 12 for 23 from beyond the arc and turned 15 Illini turnovers into 24 points.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Talen Horton-Tucker hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points and fifth-seeded Iowa State shot past fourth-seeded Baylor 83-66 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. The Cyclones (21-11) also had key contributions from Marial Shayok who had 18 with four 3-pointers, Lindell Winginton with 16 points and Tyrese Haliburton with 13.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Devon Dotson scored 17 points, Dedric Lawson added 16 and No. 17 Kansas pulled away in the second half for a 65-57 victory over Texas on Thursday night in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. David McCormack added 13 points and a career-best nine rebounds for the third-seeded Jayhawks, who advanced to play West Virginia in the semifinals on Friday night. Texas must now wait to learn its NCAA Tournament fate.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Xavier Snead scored 19 points, none bigger than a 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded in the final minute, and No. 15 Kansas State rallied from a slow start to beat TCU 70-61 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Barry Brown added 12 points, Kamau Stokes had 11 and Makol Mawien had 10 for the tournament’s top seed, which advanced to play No. 5 seed Iowa State in the semifinals Friday night.

CHICAGO (AP) — James Palmer Jr. scored 24 points and Nebraska shut down No. 21 Maryland for the first big surprise of the Big Ten Tournament, holding off the Terrapins for a 69-61 victory. Using a seven-man rotation because of injuries and backup guard Nana Akenten’s suspension, the Cornhuskers harassed the Terrapins into 36 percent (18 for 50) shooting and 11 turnovers. Glynn Watson Jr. added 19 points and Isaiah Roby finished with 15.

CHICAGO (AP) — Nicholas Baer got hot from outside. Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook hooked up for a memorable slam, and Joe Wieskamp contributed a couple of nice plays. Iowa stopped its four-game slide with one solid all-around performance.
Baer made a career-high five of Iowa’s 12 3-pointers and scored 17 points, helping the Hawkeyes pull away from Illinois for an 83-62 victory on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Iowa (22-10) turned up its play in the second half to hand coach Fran McCaffery his first win since he returned Sunday after a two-game suspension for berating an official. The Hawkeyes went 12 for 23 from beyond the arc and turned 15 Illini turnovers into 24 points.

It was a similar performance to their meeting in the regular season, when Iowa shot a Carver-Hawkeye Arena-record 68 percent from the field in a 95-71 victory over Illinois on Jan. 20.

Next up for Iowa is No. 10 Michigan on Friday night. The Hawkeyes held the Wolverines to 32 percent shooting in a 74-59 win on Feb. 1 in their only meeting of the season. Baer and company are going to be tough to beat if they continue to shoot well. They were 18 for 32 from the field in the second half.

Iowa looks to strengthen its resume for the NCAA Tournament with another victory over the Wolverines.