Thursday March 16th Local Sports

TODAY:
AM-1300 KGLO — NCAA men’s basketball in Birmingham — Iowa vs. Auburn — pre-game 4:45, tipoff 5:50

 

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA — Iowa opens the NCAA Tournament in Birmingham late this afternoon against Auburn. This game will be played about two hours from the Auburn campus.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says the bigger issue is the physical challenge Auburn will offer.

The Hawkeyes are 19-13 and a win today would be their 11th 20-win season in the last 13 years.

Iowa senior guard Connor McCaffery says Auburn will try to shut down the Hawkeyes’ three point shooting.

Junior forward Kris Murray will ponder his future after the season is over. Murray is averaging better than 20 points and nearly eight rebounds. He will have the opportunity to enter the NBA Draft.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl says it will take more than a partisan crowd in Birmingham to beat the Hawkeyes.

It matches two emotional coaches and one website even puts the over-under for technical fouls in today’s game at one and-a-half.

Pearl says Iowa teams are always tough to guard.

You can hear the Iowa-Auburn game on AM-1300 KGLO starting with the pre-game at 4:45 with the tipoff from Birmingham scheduled for 5:50 late this afternoon.

 

IOWA CITY (AP) — Aliyah Boston of South Carolina is just the 10th player to be named a first-team AP All-American for a third time. Boston was joined on the first team by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, LSU’s Angel Reese and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes. Boston and Clark were unanimous choices. Clark could join the three-timers club next season. The junior once again put up eye-popping numbers averaging 27.0 points, second best in the nation. She also had 8.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game to help Iowa win the Big Ten Tournament title for a second consecutive year. Iowa State’s Ashley Joens was named to the AP third team. Iowa’s Monika Czinano has been named to the honorable mention list in back-to-back seasons. She is the 15th Hawkeye in school history to earn All-American honors. Czinano averaged 17.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and made 67.4% of her field goals this season. She has been top four nationally in field goal percentage the last four years.

 

 

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Drake women open the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in Austin, Texas against Louisville. The Bulldogs are 22-9 and clinched a 15th NCAA trip by winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Louisville has three Final Four appearances in the last 10 years and is making its 12th consecutive appearance in the tournament.

That’s Drake coach Allison Pohlman. Louisville is led by junior guard Hailey Van Lith, who averages more than 19 points per game.

Pohlman says NCAA Tournament games against unfamiliar foes are about making early adjustments.

Louisville is known for pressure defense and Pohlman says the Bulldogs must limit turnovers.

Texas and East Carolina meet in the other first round game on Saturday.

 

 

TULSA (AP) — Penn State is favored to claim another team title and Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis and Iowa’s Spencer Lee are seeking their fourth national titles at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships. The championships start today in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Penn State has won nine titles in the past 11 years, and all of them all under coach Cael Sanderson. Lee (16-0) leads the way for Iowa, a team that could challenge Penn State. The two-time Hodge Trophy winner for the nation’s best college wrestler is the No. 1 seed. He was injured last year and did not compete at the championships. Iowa’s Real Woods (16-0) and Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez (23-0) are seeded No. 1 and No. 2 respectively at 141. Iowa State’s David Carr (22-0) is the top seed at 165. Everyone else in the class has at least two losses.

 

 

OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS — The 18th-ranked in Division II NIACC softball team split a pair of non-conference contests on Wednesday in Overland Park Kansas, edging #19/Division I Indian Hills 2-1, then dropping a 5-1 decision to host Johnson County Community College. Laken Lienhard tossed a two-hitter in the opener, striking out seven, and helped her own cause going 2-for-3 with a homer and a double. NIACC returns to action on March 25th and 26th opening Iowa Community College Athletic Conference action at home with a four-game series against 3rd-ranked DMACC.