The Iowa State women open the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday when the Cyclones play Princeton in the First Four in South Bend.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. Princeton is 21-7 and made the tournament as an at-large after getting upset by Harvard in the semifinal round of the Ivy League Tournament.

The Iowa Hawkeye women head to Norman, Oklahoma and will play Missouri Valley Conference champ Murray State on Saturday. the Hawkeyes are the sixth seed in the Spokane Regional and a victory on Saturday would set up a possible second round game against Oklahoma coach and former Hawkeye star Jennie Baranczyk.

Iowa coach Jan Jensen. Oklahoma is the third seed in the region and opens against Florida Gulf Coast.

The Hawkeyes are 22-10.

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says guard Keshon Gilbert will miss the NCAA Tournament due to a muscle strain. Gilbert did not play in Thursday’s loss to 17th ranked BYU at the Big 12 Tournament. Junior guard Tamin Lipsey also missed that game due to a groin injury.

Otzelberger expects Lipsey will play Friday when the Cyclones open the NCAA Tournament against Lipscomb in Milwaukee.

Otzelberger believes the Cyclones will be focused even without Gilbert in the lineup.

Iowa State is the third seed in the East Region. Lipscomb is the 14th seed after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.

Tip time has been set for 12:30 on Friday.

Drake will play Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday in Wichita. The Bulldogs are the 11th seed in the West Region and will play a sixth seeded Tiger squad that is one of 14 S-E-C teams in the field. Drake is 30-3 under first year coach Ben McCollum and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles.

The Bulldogs and the fans in attendance at the watch party had to wait deep into the NCAA selection show to see where they are headed.

McCollum was asked how long it will take to put a scouting report together on Missouri.

Drake is already considered a trendy upset pick but McCollum has told his team all season not to “drink the poison.”

McCollum on the match-up against Mizzou.

McCollum says he remains focused on this team even though his name has been connected to openings at Iowa, Indiana and Virginia.

Junior guard Bennett Stirtz is the Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year and was one of four players to follow McCollum from Northwest Missouri State to Drake.

Stirtz says he will have a lot of family and friends in Wichita.

Stirtz on seeing Drake’s name on the selection show and hearing his name being talked about.

Forward Daniel Abreau also started his career at Northwest Missouri State but unlike Stirtz did not grow up watching the selection show.

Abreau says he is not a junkie when it comes to basketball on television.

Abreau says at this point any opponent will be a challenge.

Tip time is 6:35 on Thursday.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Drake started strong, finished even stronger, and took another step in its bid to win a third consecutive championship in the Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Katie Dinnebier scored 22 points, Anna Miller scored all her 21 in the second half and the fourth-seeded Bulldogs overcame some costly turnovers to beat No. 5 seed Illinois State 75-69 in a quarterfinal game full of big shots and momentum swings at the Ford Center on Friday.

“I’m so pleased with our maturity down the stretch,” said Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman. “To finish this one out against a very good Illinois State team is a testament to our attitude. [We] got a number of contributions but had an amazing defensive effort getting consecutive stops in the fourth quarter. We’re happy March madness is giving us another day here in Evansville.”

Drake (22-10) led by 11 in the first half, trailed by five with less than 4 minutes to play, then scored 13 of the game’s last 15 points to earn a spot in the semifinals against top-seeded Murray State at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs and Racers split their regular-season games, each winning on the other’s floor.

Illinois State (21-12) got a career-high 30 points from sophomore Shannon Dowell but could not hold off Drake’s surge at the end, which started with Dinnebier banking in a long 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to cut the lead to 67-65.

Miller followed with six straight points, including her career-best fourth 3-pointer of the game, and the Bulldogs wrapped it up with two free throws from Courtney Becker and two more from Dinnebier, the league’s Jackie Stiles Player of the Year. Illinois State managed only two free throws after Addison Martin’s jump shot gave the Redbirds a 67-62 lead with 3:32 left.

Miller’s hook shot at the buzzer lifted Drake past Missouri State in last year’s championship game. This time, the 6-foot-3 senior hit the big shots from the perimeter, going 4-for-5 from deep and grabbing 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season.

Becker added 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting and Shannon Fornshell delivered seven points and nine rebounds, for the Bulldogs, who turned it over 16 times, leading to a 17-0 edge in points off turnovers for Illinois State. Drake overcame that by hitting 13 3-pointers – the 17th time this season the Bulldogs made at least 10 – and a 43-27 rebounding advantage.

Dowell, who scored 23 in a first-round victory over Southern Illinois, gave the Bulldogs fits by driving past defenders to the basket and then making the shot, getting fouled or both. She finished 10-of-21 from the field and sank 10 of 11 free throws after going 11-for-11 at the line on Thursday. Martin finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Maya Wong hit three 3-pointers and scored 10 points.

Dinnebier became the seventh player in Drake history and 12th in the MVC to score 2,000 points, running her total 2,108. With four assists Friday she hiked her total to 770, which moves to No. 2 on Drake’s career list.

Miller is now the sixth player in Drake history and fifth in the Valley with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. Her totals now stand at 1,512 and 1,008.

Drake made four of its first five shots in jumping to a 10-3 lead and used a 14-2 run that included four 3-pointers to go up 30-19. Illinois State then finished the first half with a 12-3 run to trail 33-31 at the break.

Nine straight Redbird points lifted them into a 42-39 lead in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs answered again, getting 3-pointers from Miller and Abbie Aalsma and two free throws from Dinnebier to go up 52-48.

Illinois State regained the momentum and was leading 65-62 when Dinnebier’s layup spun out. Seconds later, Martin knocked down her shot that put the Redbirds up by five and Drake’s hopes seemed to fade. Then Dinnebier connected on the hurried 3 to beat the shot clock and it provided the spark the Bulldogs needed to finish it off.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa baseball team split a doubleheader with Michigan State on Friday at Duane Banks Field. The Spartans won the first game, 12-8, in 11 innings before the Hawkeyes won 7-3 in the nightcap.

“We just got beat in game one,” said Rick Heller. “They had 18 hits. We fought hard. That’s one where you fight back like you did, and you get an incredible pinch hit home run to tie it. You have to find a way to win that game.”

On a rare day where the wind was blowing out at Banks the Hawkeyes and Spartans combined for eight home runs in game one and 10 home runs on the day.

Cade Obermuller got the start for Iowa in game one throwing 5 2/3 innings allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out six. Daniel Wright allowed three runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings of work. Sam Hart threw two scoreless innings, and Anthony Watts threw the final two innings and allowed four runs as he was tagged with the loss.

Daniel Rogers was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs and Reese Moore also tallied three RBIs and a home run with a 2-for-4 performance. Blake Guerin also added a home run for the Hawkeyes.

In game two, Aaron Savary notched a quality start improving to 4-0 on the mound throwing 7 1/3 innings allowing two runs on six hits while striking out four. Chas Wheatley threw 1/3 of an inning and Ben DeTaeye closed out the game throwing 1 1/3 allowing one hit as he earned the save.

Ben Wilmes and Jackson Beaman were both 2-for-4. Jaixen Frost hit the first home run of his career, a 447-foot three run blast. Gabe Mitchell, Miles Risley and Daniel Rogers each plated a run.

“I think all of us were wondering what was going to happen in game two,” said Heller. “With a quick turn around when a team gets a win like that on the road a lot of times, they just keep it rolling. That is why it was so important that Savary came out just absolutely delt. We probably left him in a hit or two too long but he pitched fantastic.”

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes and Spartans will close out the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT. Reece Beuter will start for the Hawkeyes and the game will be streamed on B1G+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.

1A:

1. St. Albert – 44 points

2. Saint Ansgar – 43 pts

3. Danville – 34 pts

9. Riverside – 25 pts

21. Woodbine (10 points)

22. Griswold (9 points)

25. ACGC (7 points)

31. IKM-Manning

31. Southwest Valley

34. Nodaway Valley

Riverside Champion: Sophia Fenner, shot put (39-09.25)

Griswold Top Finish: 3rd in Shuttle hurdle relay

ACGC Top Finisher: Ava Campbell, 3rd in 800 meters (2:24.14)

Southwest Valley Top Finisher: Mackenzie Richards 5th in shot put (34-01.25)

Nodaway Valley Top Finisher: Maddie Weston 7th in 60 meters (8.34)

St. Albert Champion: Lili Denton, 1500 meters (4:42.16) & 3000 meters (10:06.48); sprint medley relay (1:57.11), 4×400 relay (4:11.05)

2A:

1. Mid-Prairie – 52 pts.

2. Pella Chrisitan – 46 pts.

3. Tipton – 52 pts.

8. Clarinda – 24 pts.

9. Treynor – 23 pts.

13. Underwood – 14 pts.

21. Tri-Center – 9 pts.

33. Red Oak – 4 pts.

33. Shenandoah – 4 pts.

38. Missouri Valley – 2 pts

Tri-Center Top Finisher/4th Place: Sprint medley relay (1:56.03)

Clarinda Top Finisher: Jerzee Knight, 2nd in 60 meters (7.80)

3A:

T-1st. North Polk – 54 pts.

T-1st. Pella – 54 pts.

3. Marion – 46 pts.

16. Harlan – 18 pts.

28. Atlantic – 0 pts.

28. Creston – 0 pts.

Harlan Champion: Lindsey Sonderman, 3000 meters – 10:12.87

Class 4A:

West Des Moines Valley – 61, Waukee Northwest – 47

Class 3A:

MOC-Floyd Valley – 58, Clear Lake – 57

Class 2A:

Western Christian – 46, West Lyon – 42

Class 1A:

Madrid – 59, Marquette Catholic – 57