IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s basketball game at Penn State on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. CT has been canceled out of abundance of caution due to positive COVID-19 test results within the Nittany Lions’ basketball program.

The decision was made as part of the protocols established by the Big Ten Conference and Penn State Athletics medical staff, and in consultation with university, local and national officials and guidelines.

Information regarding how this game will be treated in relation to the Big Ten Conference 2021-22 Forfeiture Policy will be announced in the coming days.

The Hawkeyes host Illinois on Sunday, Jan. 2 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. (CT) on B1G+.

The Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC West and clinched a playoff spot in a 36-10 romp over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Playing a bit short handed was no problem for Kansas City as they rolled to a 23-0 halftime lead.

Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdown passes and the Chiefs defense forced three turnovers that were converted into 17 points for KC. The Chiefs were playing without star tight end Travis Kelce, kicker Harrison Butker, punter Tommy Townsend and a few others due to COVID protocols.

Kansas City clinched the AFC West Title for the sixth straight year thanks to the Chargers loss to the Texans earlier in the afternoon. The Chiefs are still in control of first place in the AFC, a game ahead of the Titans.

Next up for Kansas City is a trip to Cincinnati to face the Bengals next Sunday at Noon. We’ll have coverage on the Chiefs Radio Network starting at 11:00 a.m. Sunday.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State offensive coordinator Tom Manning has been searching for options at running back heading into Wednesday’s Cheez-It Bowl against Clemson. All American running back Breece Hall has opted out and is headed to the NFL. He had 253 carries and nearly 15 hundred yards of rushing.

Back up Jirehl Brock had 23 carries this season. Long time Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is the new head coach at Oklahoma so the Tiger defense will be under new leadership. Manning does not expect drastic changes.

Mickey Conn is Clemson’s new defensive coordinator and Manning says they may have to adjust to some new twists he puts on defense.

The Cyclones are 7-5.

(Radio Iowa) – The 15th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes arrived in Orlando Sunday to continue preparations for the New Year’s Day Citrus Bowl against Kentucky. The bowl system has taken a back set to the college football playoffs but not for Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz.

Ferentz says the bowls still create great memories.

Wednesday is the 20th anniversary of Ferentz’s first bowl win at Iowa, a 19-16 win over Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl.

The Hawkeyes are 10-3.

(Radio Iowa) – While the harvest of corn and soybeans was taking place across Iowa’s fields, D-N-R Fisheries employees were conducting a harvest of their own. Northeast Iowa regional fisheries supervisor, Mike Steuck, says they collect the eggs of the brown and brook trout in October and November from Iowa streams. “The brown trout are doing so well we don’t need very many of them anymore. We actually only have one stream that we are stocking fingerlings in. Almost all of our streams have naturally reproducing brown trout in them now,” he explains.

They do collect the eggs from the naturally reproducing brook trout from streams, and also have rainbow trout kept at the hatcheries to be used for stream stocking. “They typically spawn in the spring, but we have them pushed back so that they spawn in the winter — so that by the time we grow them up to be that half a pound apiece to be stocked they are ready for the streams. We stagger those spawns so we have the fish ready and we don’t have to hold them any longer than we have to,” according to Steuck.

The growing fish from all three types of trout are kept at the hatcheries and fed and raised to be stocked.  He says it takes about 15 months from the egg stage until they get to be about 15 inches and then they get stocked. Steuk says efforts to improve the water quality in Iowa’s streams have been paying off. “They are, we are seeing more and more natural reproduction as we work with our conservation partners in the watershed to reduce sedimentation and nutrients into our system,” Steuk says. “We stock fish with the right genetics, and the stream has suitable habitat and good water quality, then they do just fine.”

Trout thrive in the cooler waters of northeast Iowa, and they are a fish you can seek out any time of the year. “We don’t close the trout season in Iowa where they do in Minnesota and Wisconsin. You can fish year-round for trout,” Steuck says. “And because those streams are spring fed, that water is 50 degrees coming out of the ground, they never freeze in the winter. So you can fish on a day that is around 30-32 degrees. If the sun is shining that line doesn’t ice up — and you can still go trout fishing and catch some nice fish.”

You need an Iowa fishing license and a trout stamp to fish for trout here. You can find out more about trout fishing on the D-N-R’s website.

Girls Basketball

Atlantic vs. St. Albert- PPD

Boys Basketball

Oak Park (MO) 50, Creston 35 (12 Courts of Christmas in KC)

For the second straight game the UNI Panthers fell by just two points at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, HI. After dropping a two point game to Liberty on Wednesday the Panthers fell to Wyoming 71-69 on Thursday.

Hunter Maldonado led the Cowboys with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Drake Jeffries added 16 and Graham Ike had 12.

UNI was led by 19 from Nate Heise, 18 from Austin Phyfe,  and 14 from Noah Carter. The Panthers fall to 4-7 on the season. They will have one more game in the tourney on Christmas Day.

Atlantic-CAM wrestling came out on top of theLettington Family Duals in Eddyville on Thursday. The Trojans went 3-0 on the day with a 66-13 mark over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, 72-9 over the Waukee JV, and 72-9 over Des Moines East.

Senior Ethan Follmann also reached a big personal milestone with his 100th career victory during the event. At 126 Follmann beat Tyler Schutt of E-B-F by fall at :57 and bested Wes McPike of Waukee JV by fall at 1:35.

Check out the full dual breakdowns for Atlantic-CAM HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz hopes his team can avoid the COVID issues that have affected numerous pro and college teams. The Hawkeyes head to Orlando Sunday for the Citrus Bowl. Texas A@M withdrew from the Gator Bowl because of a COVID outbreak.

Ferentz says COVID has had little impact on the team to this point.

The Hawkeyes take a 10-3 record into a New Year’s Day game against 9-3 Kentucky.

DES MOINES — The Drake University women’s basketball team hit Minnesota with a barrage of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and pulled away to a 77-63 victory at the Knapp Center on Thursday afternoon to close out the nonconference portion of its schedule with an impressive win.

The Bulldogs (8-3) bounced back from a disappointing performance in a loss at Nebraska on Sunday with a 48-point second half that featured the type of play Drake fans have become accustomed to seeing — crisp passes that found open shooters or led to layups and sharp shooting.

Ahead just 29-27 at halftime, Drake shot 73.9 percent in the second half (17-of-23), including a sizzling 8-for-10 effort in the third quarter. That carried the Bulldogs to 48.3 percent for the game (29-of-60) and they had assists on 24 of those baskets.

Drake was clinging to 53-51 lead when the 3-pointers began raining in. The Bulldogs made six straight from behind the arc in a 5-minute stretch to blow out to a 77-58 lead.

Drake, which has won seven of its last eight, opens Missouri Valley Conference play against Indiana State at the Knapp Center on Thursday, Dec. 30. The 8-3 record is the Bulldogs’ best mark in nonconference play since the 1994-95 team went 8-0 en route to a 13-0 start.