Huskies Top UMary, Gophers Fall to Wisconsin

The St. Cloud State University basketball teams took down UMary, the St. John's and St. Ben's basketball teams overpowered St. Mary's, the CSB/SJU hockey teams rallied to split their series' against St. Olaf, the St. Cloud Norsemen swept Bismarck, and the Minnesota Wild beat New Jersey in the shootout on Saturday. The SCSU softball team took the field for the first time and earned a doubleheader split, while the SCSU baseball team came up short to open their four-game series, the Gopher women's basketball team dropped their sixth straight, the Gopher hockey teams both fell in the border battle with Wisconsin, and the Granite City Lumberjacks suffered a rare loss at the hands of the Willmar WarHawks. On Sunday, the Gopher men's basketball team will look to snap their seven-game losing streak when the Hawkeyes come to town.

RECAPS:

- The SCSU men's basketball team rolled to their second straight win, beating UMary 80-70 at home on Saturday. St. Cloud pushed out to an early lead and maintained it through the first half. The Huskies gave up the lead a few times early in the second half but rallied to earn the win. Luke Taylor led all scorers with 22 points for SCSU and Tony Dahl added 17. The Huskies improve to 9-16, 6-14 NSIC and will visit Bemidji State at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

- The SCSU women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 57-45 win over UMary at home on Saturday. The Huskies outscored the Marauders in three of the four quarters. Kelsey Peschel led all scorers with 17 points and seven rebounds for St. Cloud. Dru Henning added 11 points and 8 rebounds. The Huskies improve to 16-8, 13-7 NSIC and will visit Bemidji State on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

- The SJU basketball team dominated St. Mary's 90-58 at home Saturday. The Johnnies had five players score in the double digits including Ryan Thissen who tallied 20 points, Blake Berg who added 14, and Kooper Vaughn who finished with 11. The Johnnies improve to 14-9, 11-7 MIAC and currently sit in third place in the conference. St. John's will host second-place Macalester in an important matchup at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

- The CSB basketball team beat St. Mary's 52-41 at home Saturday. St. Ben's fell behind 17-5 in the first and trailed 28-22 at the half. CSB rallied behind an 18-6 performance in the third to take a 40-34 lead before locking up the win in the final frame. Megan Morgan led the Bennies with a career-high 14 points, while Lydia Hay added, 11 and Carla Meyer finished with 10. The Bennies improve to 16-7, 13-7 MIAC and are in fourth place.

- The SJU hockey team closed out the regular season with a 3-2 win over St. Olaf in Northfield on Saturday. With the win, St. John's secures a berth in the MIAC tournament. Joe Papa, Nick Michel, and Jackson Sabo each lit the lamp for SJU. The Johnnies improve to 13-9-3, 9-5-2 MIAC and are third in the conference. The team will have a bye next week and then return to the ice on February 23rd for the MIAC Quarterfinals.

- The CSB hockey team earned the series split with St. Olaf with a 3-0 shutout win at home on Saturday. After two scoreless periods, St. Ben's finally found the back of the net in the third. Jenna Timm, Aurora Opsahl, and Jamie Benzie each scored once for St. Ben's. Ally Frantzick made a perfect 29 saves in her fourth shutout of the season which marks a new program record. With the win, the Bennies secure their first MIAC tournament berth since the 2001-2002 season. The Bennies improve to 13-10, 10-6 MIAC and sit in fourth place. CSB will close out the regular season with a home-and-home series with St. Kate's next week. The action starts at 6:00 p.m. on Friday in St. Paul.

- The Norsemen earned the weekend series sweep of Bismarck with a 4-3 road win on Saturday. St. Cloud scored first and maintained the lead through the duration of the game, holding off a third-period rally from the Bobcats to win it. Nik Hong, Kade Peterson, Lucca Munoz, and Andrew Clarke each found the back of the net once for the visitors. The Norsemen improve to 21-16-2-3 and will host Minot in a two-game series next weekend. The action starts on Friday at 7:00 p.m.

- The Wild edged out the Devils 3-2 in the shootout at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday night. Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the first and then fell behind 2-1 in the second before rallying to tie it up in the third. Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves and allowed two goals in the win. The Wild improve to 28-20-4 and will host the Panthers (26-23-6) on Monday. Pre-game coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The SCSU softball team split their doubleheader to open the season at the Kelly Laas Invitational inside the Husky Dome on Saturday. St. Cloud State shutout UMary 12-0 in game one. Raven Vanden Langenberg led the Huskies with three runs in the win. Then in game two, St. Cloud dropped a 3-1 decision to Bemidji State. Madison Spah made it to home to score the lone goal in the loss. The Huskies are now 1-1 and will host another doubleheader on Sunday. First up is a rematch against UMary at 10:00 a.m. followed by a matchup against UMD at 5:30 p.m.

- The SCSU baseball team fell 24-23 in game one of the four-game series against Arkansas Monticello on Saturday. The teams combined for 13 home runs in the slugfest. Sawyer Smith tallied six RBIs and John Nett added five. The Huskies fall to 2-3 and UAM improves to 4-0. The teams will play games two and three in a doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch is set for noon.

- The no. 12 SCSU women's hockey team was shut out by no. 7 UMD 2-0 on the road Saturday. Sanni Ahola made 30 saves and gave up one goal in the loss. The Huskies fall to 16-16-1 and will close out the regular season at home next weekend. MSU Mankato will come to town for a 6:00 p.m. matchup at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

- The Gopher women's basketball team lost a close one 76-70 in OT at home to Wisconsin on Saturday.  Mallory Heller tallied three career-highs with 28 points, 15 rebounds, and five three-point makes for Minnesota. The Gophers fall to 9-16, 2-12 B1G. The team is entering the final stretch with just four games remaining on the schedule. Next up: Minnesota will host Nebraska at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

- The no. 1 Gopher men's hockey team fell 3-1 on the road to the Badgers. Mike Koster scored the lone goal for Minnesota in the loss. Justen Close made 26 saves and allowed three goals. The Gophers fall to 21-8-1, 15-4-1 B1G and will head to Penn State for their final road series of the regular season on Friday. Puck drop is set for 5:30 p.m.

- The no. 3 Gopher women's hockey team picked up their second home loss of the season, falling 7-5 o no. 8 Wisconsin. Minnesota rolled out to a 2-0 lead early in the second period. The Badgers responded with four goals. The Gophers tied it up in the third 4-4 but gave up three more goals to Wisconsin in the period. Minnesota outshot Wisconsin 45-36 in the loss. Taylor Heise led Minnesota with two goals. The Gophers fall to 23-5-3. Minnesota will close out the regular season with a two-game series at St. Thomas next weekend. Game one is set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

- The Lumberjacks fell 5-2 in Willmar to split the weekend series. The WarHawks built up a 5-0 lead in the first two periods. Granite City tried to rally in the third but was unable to overcome the deficit. Reed Hanus and Tucker Skime each scored once for the Lumberjacks. Paul Cassin made 30 saves and allowed five goals. The Jacks fall to 34-4-0-1 and return home Wednesday for a mid-week matchup against New Ulm. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

PREVIEWS:

- The Gopher men's basketball team (7-15, 1-11 B1G) will host Iowa (15-9, 7-6 B1G) on Sunday. Minnesota is 102-93 all-time against the Hawkeyes but lost to them twice last season. Iowa is 4-3 over their last seven games. Pre-game coverage starts at 11:30 a.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 MF Granite City Sports.