Friday State Sports Briefs: Border battle showdown between nation's two top womens hockey teams

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MINNEAPOLIS - The top two women’s college hockey teams in the nation will square off this weekend, when Number-One Wisconsin plays at Number-two Minnesota at Ridder Arena.

It’s been almost a month since the Badgers have played. They’ve won 14 straight games. They’re 19-1 overall. And Minnesota was the last team to beat Wisconsin on October 16th in Madison by a 3-2 score. Minnesota is 17-3. The Gophers are led by Madison area native Amanda Kessel. The sophomore has 20 goals and 22 assists this year. Wisconsin junior Brianna Decker has at least one point in her last 13 games. She leads the nation with 48 points, and she’s second in goals with 21.

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All of Wisconsin’s major college basketball teams have the night off. And there’s only one men’s-and-women’s double-header in Division-Three. Maranatha Baptist of Watertown will host Kuyper. Conference play resumes tomorrow throughout the Badger State. The UW-Milwaukee men will host UW-Green Bay, and Marquette will play at top-ranked Syracuse.

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The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team lost at Purdue last night, 63-52. The Badgers never led after the first five minutes. The 18th-ranked Boilermakers led by 11 points at the half. Wisconsin got to within seven with about seven-and-a-half minutes left, but could get no closer. Badgers’ senior Anya Covington tied a career-high with 19 points. Cassie Rochel left early in the second half with a broken nose after being elbowed by Purdue’s Alex Guyton. But Rochel still led Wisconsin in rebounds with eight. The Badgers were out-shot 40-to-34-percent. K.K. Houser scored 17 for Purdue, which improved to 3-0 in the Big Ten and 13-3 overall. Wisconsin fell to 0-3 in the conference, and 4-11 overall. They’ll play at Illinois on Sunday.

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The Major League Baseball Grounds-keepers association has named a trophy for its new Hall-of-Fame in honor of the late Brewers’ head grounds-keeper Gary Vandenberg, who died in October. Emil Bossard and George Toma will be the first two names on that trophy. They’ll be the first inductees in the group’s new Hall-of-Fame this weekend.

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The 2012 PGA golf season begins early for Pewaukee native Mark Wilson. He's one of 28 players teeing it up at Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which begins tomorrow and runs through Monday in Hawaii. Wilson won a pair of tournaments early last year, which qualified him for this weekend's event at the Kapalua Plantation Course in Maui.

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SCORES

In men’s college basketball…

Missouri-Saint Louis 79, UW-Parkside 71

Grinnell 117, Beloit 107

Concordia-Chicago 75, Wisconsin Lutheran 59

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In women’s college basketball…

UW-Parkside 69, Missouri-Saint Louis 43

Grinnell 59, Beloit 47

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--Wisconsin boys' high school basketball

Arcadia 67, West Salem 52

Bangor 73, New Lisbon 40

Barneveld 53, Pecatonica 41

Benton 45, Shullsburg 27

Black Hawk 39, Argyle 29

Blair-Taylor 77, Independence 52

Cassville 64, River Ridge 48

Clinton 62, Brodhead 43

Cochrane-Fountain City 54, Alma-Pepin 36

Columbus 48, Cambridge 46, OT

Deerfield 58, Williams Bay 55

Dodgeville 43, Platteville 40

East Troy 61, Jefferson 34

Edgerton 45, Evansville 36

Fall River 54, Hustisford 31

Fond du Lac Springs 51, Kettle Moraine Lutheran 41

Freedom 72, Winneconne 53

Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 83, Onalaska Luther 40

Gilmanton 80, New Auburn 69

Hartland Arrowhead 61, Waukesha West 58

Ironwood Michigan 62, Butternut 32

Johnson Creek 67, Dodgeland 57

Laconia 50, Lomira 34

Lodi 50, Waterloo 33

Markesan 52, Oakfield 29

Marshall 71, Poynette 57

McFarland 48, Whitewater 38

Milwaukee Career and Technical 77, Milwaukee North 60

Monticello 44, Juda 42, OT

Northland Pines 45, Houghton Michigan 41

Oshkosh Lourdes 60, Pardeeville 54

Ozaukee 63, Living Word Lutheran 49

Potosi 61, Highland 56

Prairie du Chien 42, River Valley 36

Randolph 73, Oshkosh Valley Christian 27

Reedsville 56, St. Mary Central 47

Richland Center 58, Lancaster 40

Rio 66, Madison Abundant Life/Country Day 39

Royall 85, Necedah 51

Solon Springs 60, Mellen 45

Suring 72, Coleman 46

Walworth Big Foot 51, Beloit Turner 50

Waupaca 50, Ripon 44

Waupun 56, Kewaskum 42

Westby 50, Black River Falls 41

Whitehall 43, Melrose-Mindoro 36

Wonewoc-Center 54, Hillsboro 43

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--In Wisconsin girls high school basketball

Almond-Bancroft 28, Plainfield Tri-County 22

Athens 58, Northland Lutheran 37

Barron 60, Cumberland 23

Bloomer 47, Maple Northwestern 30

Boyceville 50, Spring Valley 17

Cadott 33, Stanley-Boyd 30

Cameron 70, Clear Lake 59

Chippewa Falls McDonell 46, Thorp 23

Clayton 52, Prairie Farm 27

Colby 46, Spencer 32

Cuba City 85, Iowa-Grant 18

Eau Claire Regis 55, Osseo-Fairchild 29

Ellsworth 38, St. Paul, Minn. CHOF 35

Fennimore 65, Southwestern 41

Green Bay Notre Dame 54, Green Bay East 45

Kewaunee 42, Algoma 31

Kiel 51, New Holstein 44, OT

Madison Edgewood 46, Fort Atkinson 31

Madison West 45, Madison East 36

Marathon 43, Abbotsford 39

Menominee Indian 65, Bowler 38

Milton 60, Stoughton 55

Mondovi 44, Elk Mound 43

Mount Horeb 56, Sauk Prairie 46

North Crawford 46, Kickapoo 37

Oconto 55, Green Bay NEW Lutheran 38

Pittsville 52, Port Edwards 26

Reedsburg 34, DeForest 20

Seneca 39, Weston 21

Sparta 46, Nekoosa 31

Superior 67, Eau Claire North 55

Tigerton 39, Rosholt 21

Turtle Lake 40, Minong Northwood 34

Verona 38, Janesville Parker 33

Waunakee 48, Baraboo 44

Waupun 57, Kewaskum 32

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--In Boys' high school hockey

Antigo 8, Rhinelander 1

Barron 6, Altoona 3

Fond du Lac 6, Waupun 1

Madison Edgewood 4, Stoughton 3, OT

New Richmond 5, Baldwin-Woodville 0

Schofield D.C. Everest 1, Wausau West 1, OT (tie)

Somerset 4, Spooner 1

Sun Prairie 7, Milwaukee Marquette 4

Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 4, Stevens Point 2

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The Milwaukee Admirals are getting ready to play three more games this weekend. The Admirals are in second place in the American Hockey League's Midwest Division with 39 points, four in back of first-place Charlotte. The Admirals will host Charlotte on Saturday night, after playing Lake Erie tomorrow night at the Bradley Center. Milwaukee plays at Peoria on Sunday. Milwaukee has a relatively stingy two-point-five-three goals-against-average, which is ranked fourth in the A-H-L. But the Admirals lead the league in penalty minutes with just over 12-and-a-half per game.

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