AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Ariel Atkins scored 15 points, Lashann Higgs added 14 and No. 6 Texas routed Iowa State 87-55 on Saturday night. Jatarie White and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, both 6-foot-4, and 6-3 Joyner Holmes contributed 12 points apiece as the bigger, more physical and athletic Longhorns outscored Iowa State 32-20 in the paint.

Emily Durr led Iowa State with 20 points, converting seven of 10 field-goal attempts, and Bridget Carleton added 19.

The Cyclones have endured a rough patch, losing seven of their last nine games. Part of that might be a function of the schedule. They are going through a stretch of five consecutive games against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25. They lost to Baylor and West Virginia before upsetting No. 19 Oklahoma State on Wednesday in Stillwater. They host No. 24 TCU on Tuesday in their first meeting of the season. They split two games last season, each winning at home.

EVANSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Ryan Taylor scored 25 points, including a big basket in the final minute, and Evansville defeated Drake 77-73 on a Saturday in which the Purple Aces retired eight jerseys. Taylor made three 3-pointers and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. His midrange jumper blunted a Drake surge and led to a 5-0 spurt and a 75-67 lead with 12 seconds remaining. Noah Frederking added 16 points and Blake Simmons 14 for Evansville (14-9, 4-6 Missouri Valley), which shot 50 percent and made 7 of 12 from the arc and 22 of 25 free throws.

Drake (12-11, 6-4) scored the first five points before Evansville went up for good after a 24-3 run. De’Antae McMurray led the Bulldogs with 13 points. At halftime, Evansville honored former players Hugh Ahlering, Brad Leaf, Marty Simmons, Scott Shreffler, Andy Elkins and Marcus Wilson and former coaches Arad McCutchan and Jim Crews.

The Exira-EHK Spartans picked up a nice road win on Saturday afternoon over the Shenandoah Fillies 53-32. Sophia Peppers led the charge with 23 points and Ellie Schultes finished with 14 to help the Spartans improve to 17-1.

Exira-EHK led 15-10 at the end of the first quarter and 31-18 by halftime. Shenandoah opened up the second half on a 9-2 run to get within 6 at 33-27 but the Spartans would respond. Ellie Schultes hit back to back threes and Kealey Nelson converted a three point play to put the Spartans back in a comfortable lead. The run would end at 14-0 and the Spartans managed the end of the game well to put it away.

Exira-EHK Head Coach Tom Petersen said he was proud of the way the girls played and many of them battling through illness to get it done. He said they wanted to try to slow down Logan Hughes and make someone else beat them. He was also proud of their response after the run at the beginning of the half which has been a sore spot at times for the Spartans.

The Fillies were led by 18 points from Logan Hughes and they fall to 12-5.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — A central Iowa city could welcome a new outdoor pickleball complex later this year. The Cedar Falls City Council has approved a project for new pickleball courts at Orchard Hill Park that will be financed with public and private money. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the Cedar Falls Pickleball Club and locals fundraised to move the project up to this summer.

Pickleball has become a popular game among seniors and students in Cedar Falls. It’s played on a badminton-sized court with a tennis net, plastic paddles and a pickleball.

The project would be financed by the pickleball club’s $50,000 and private grants. The city would offer $50,000 with general obligation bonds. Another $50,000 is being requested from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association, which will make a decision next month.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the postseason boys basketball District and Substate assignments on Friday. Seeding meetings are set to take place on February 7th and then the actual match-ups and brackets will be released.

For Atlantic they will be in Class 3A Substate 8 with ADM, Carroll, Creston, Denison-Schleswig, Glenwood, Harlan, and Perry. 4 of the top 16 teams in the current BCMoore rankings are in that Substate: Glenwood (6), Harlan (13), Carroll (15) and Atlantic (16).  Competition will obviously be strong no matter what the pairings are.  Atlantic has three games left before the seeding meeting including a big one on Tuesday night at Harlan.

In Class 2A District 16 will include AHSTW, Clarinda, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Treynor, and Underwood. District 15 will have AC/GC, Des Moines Christian, Greene County, Panorama, Woodward Academy, and Woodward-Granger.

In Class 1A District 13 will include Bedford, Clarinda Academy, Diagonal, Essex, Lenox, Nodaway Valley, Orient-Macksburg, Sidney, and Southwest Valley. District 14 will include CAM, East Mills, Exira-EHK, Fremont-Mills, Griswold, Heartland Christian, Riverside, St. Albert, and Stanton. District 15 will include Ar-We-Va, Audubon, Boyer Valley, Coon Rapids-Bayard, Glidden-Ralston, IKM-Manning, Paton-Churdan, Tri-Center, and Woodbine.

Take a look at all of the districts and substates below.

1A_District_Basketball_Assignments

2A_District_Basketball_Assignments

3A-Substate-Basketball-Assignments

4A-Substate-Basketball-Assignments

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst hopes the attention received by the sentencing of former Michigan State and Olympic sports doctor Larry Nassar for abusing female will help push through legislation that’s passed the Senate on the issue. “Our bill requires amateur athletics governing bodies to immediately report sexual abuse allegations to local or federal law enforcement, or a child welfare agency,” Ernst says. The Republican from Red Oak says the legislation also makes it safer and easier for victims to report abuse. “It ensures organizations develop and enforce policies to prevent these horrendous crimes from happening in the first place,” according to Ernst.

Ernst called the abuse of female gymnasts “horrifying and disgusting.” She co-sponsored the bill with both Republicans and Democrats and wants to see it become law. “I am urging the House to act quickly on this legislation so that we can better protect the young athletes of our nation. With the winter Olympics right around the corner, we must insure that athletes are protected,” Ernst says.

Ernst talked about the bill during her weekly conference call with reporters.

(Radio Iowa)

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis has been charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, THC and drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop in suburban Kansas City on Thursday night. Pierre-Louis also was charged with driving without a valid license and failure to display a valid plate or current registration. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in Johnson County District Court on Friday and was released after posting $2,500 bond. Pierre-Louis is due back in court next Thursday.

The 26-year-old linebacker, who was acquired last offseason from the Seattle Seahawks, appeared in 13 regular-season games and the Chiefs’ playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ten-time All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez was elected to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Hall of Fame on Friday, and his name will be added to Arrowhead Stadium’s ring of honor next season. Gonzalez played most of his 17-year career with the Chiefs before spending the last few seasons with the Falcons. He made 254 starts and appeared in 270 regular-season games, setting NFL records among tight ends with 1,325 receptions, 15,127 yards and 31 games of at least 100 yards receiving.

Only wide receiver Jerry Rice has more catches with 1,549 during his Hall of Fame career. Gonzalez still holds franchise records for receptions, yards receiving and touchdown receptions, and he caught at least one pass in a club-record 131 consecutive games.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says the play of James Palmer junior and Isaac Copeland have helped Nebraska make big strides this season. The Huskers are 6-4 in the Big Ten and 15-8 overall heading into tonight’s (Saturday night’s) meeting in Lincoln. (Click on the left side of the audio bar to play)

The Hawkeyes are 2-7 after their most complete effort of the season in an 18 point win over Wisconsin and now hope to build on that effort.

(Learfield Sports)