CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Villanova Wildcats rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Maine Black Bears in softball action Thursday morning 4-3.
Villanova scored off four of its runs in the fourth, only one earned. Sierra McConnell’s two-run double highlighted the inning.
The Black Bears scored their three runs in the first inning, with Erika Leonard scoring the first run on Jessica Burk’s bunt single. EmJ Fogel then roped a triple to center, scoring Felicia Lennon and Burk.
Left fielder Fogel ended a Villanova threat in the fifth when she threw out Dana Morris at the plate.
Erin Bogdanovich was tagged with the loss for the Black Bears, but she allowed only one earned run. She gave up five hits and struck out one. Annie Kennedy came on to finish and tossed three shutout innings while giving up four hits and striking out two.
The Black Bears return to action Friday with a 4:15 p.m. game against Robert Morris, followed by a 6:30 p.m. contest against Wagner.
Women’s Lacrosse
St. Joseph’s 17, Husson 8
At Bangor, Mary Leasure scored five goals to lead St. Joseph’s of Standish by the Eagles in a mutual opener.
Alissa Fallon also scored five goals to lead the Eagles.
Men’s Basketball
Wisconsin 76, Minnesota 63
Frank Kaminsky had 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers to win the Big Ten title.
Sam Dekker added 20 points and six rebounds as Wisconsin (27-3, 15-2) won for the 13th time in 14 games. Nigel Hayes contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and the Badgers went 10-of-20 from 3-point range.
Nate Mason scored 15 points and Carlos Morris added 11 for Minnesota (17-13, 6-11). Maurice Walker collected 11 rebounds while the Golden Gophers lost for the fourth time in five games.
Minnesota trailed 54-47 after Walker’s basket with 10:14 to play before the Badgers began to pull away with the next five points as Kaminsky’s dunk made it a 12-point margin with 8:01 to go. A three-point play by Dekker made it 67-51 with 4:41 remaining and the Golden Gophers pulled within 10 before Bronson Koenig scored five straight points to give Wisconsin a 74-59 lead with 1:35 left.
The Badgers scored the first seven points and led 22-10 on Duje Dukan’s 3-pointer with 11:31 left in the first half. Hayes’ basket pushed Wisconsin’s lead to 36-16 with 6:30 remaining before Minnesota moved closer with 10 straight points and trailed 44-34 entering the break.