K-Heart Sports – 02/06/23

K-HEART SPORTS – 02/06/23 – 0700
 
MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – For the second straight game Minot State’s “Battlin’ Beaver” softball team scored a walk-off win, sparking a pair of victories Sunday to wrap up the MSU Bubble Invitational. Minot State plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh for an 8-7 win over Dakota Wesleyan to start its day, then held on to top Valley City State 10-7 in game two to keep new head coach Bailey Gaspar unbeaten. The Beavers (4-0 overall) next head to Texas for five games next weekend in a tournament hosted by Lubbock Christian.
 
College Women’s Softball
Bubble Invite – Minot State
University of Mary def. Carroll College, 6-1
Carroll College def. Dakota Wesleyan, 13-7
Minot State def. Dakota Wesleyan, 8-7
Minot State def. Valley City State, 10-7
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MINOT STATE WOMEN’S HOCKEY
 
MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – The Minot State women’s hockey team erupted for six goals, this time from six different players, as they completed a season-sweep of in-state rival Jamestown on Sunday. Scoring three first-period goals and never looking back, the 4th-ranked Beavers beat host and 13th-ranked Jamestown 6-1. Olivia Opheim scored just 1 minute, 53 seconds into the contest for the Beavers, who then got a goal from Gillian Gervin with 7:33 gone that proved to be the game-winner. Saturday, Gervin netted four goals in Minot State’s 6-2 win at Jamestown. Sydney Spicer pushed the lead to 3-0 with 2:46 left in the first, then Denali Sigurdson added a goal 6:58 into the second for a commanding 4-0 lead. Jamestown snapped the shutout midway through the second but got no closer as Minot State got a late second-period goal from Anna German, then a final goal from Jordan Kulbida in the third period for the comfortable margin of victory. Riley Ball, Abby Tallman, Paige Ackerman, Megan Norris, German, Spicer, Opheim, and German each added an assist for Minot State, which got 16 saves in goal from Morgan Baker for the win. Minot State now closes out its home schedule hosting Lindenwood (Mo.) this coming Friday and Saturday at the Maysa Arena with puck-drop scheduled for 3:45 p.m. each day.
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NDSU TRACK-RODIN RECORD
 
FARGO, N.D. (NDSU) – Senior Jacob Rodin broke his own North Dakota State indoor 800m record, headlining the efforts of the Bison men’s track & field team on Saturday. The Kenmare-native clocked 1:48.23 at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, trimming 0.29 seconds off his previous record from last season. Rodin now stands within the Top 25 in the NCAA this year.
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WOLVES-NUGGETS
 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — D’Angelo Russell had 14 of his 18 points in the first quarter and added 10 assists, Anthony Edwards scored 20 and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 128-98 win against the Denver Nuggets, who were missing two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and three other starters on the second night of a back-to-back. Along with Jokic (left hamstring tightness), Denver was without Jamal Murray (left knee injury management), Aaron Gordon (left ankle sprain) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (right ankle sprain). Michael Porter Jr., the lone regular starter in the lineup, led Denver with 22 points. Rudy Gobert had 16 points for Minnesota, which never trailed and opened a 20-point advantage in the second quarter on the way to a seventh win in 10 games. Meanwhile, Minnesota did what it needed to do against a short-handed team, controlling play from the beginning. The Timberwolves went on a 25-5 run from the end of the first quarter and start of the second, and never looked back. The Nuggets finished with a season-high 21 turnovers leading to 32 points for Minnesota.
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NFL-PRO BOWL
 
LAS VEGAS (AP) — For Kirk Cousins, it wasn’t quite the NFL-record 33-point comeback against the Indianapolis Colts to win the NFC North. However, Cousins was the quarterback for the third and final flag football game at the Pro Bowl on Sunday for a reason. NFC coach Eli Manning wanted Cousins in that spot to decide the overall winner, and the Minnesota Vikings QB responded by throwing three touchdowns passes to rally the NFC to a 35-33 victory over the AFC in the Pro Bowl Games and end that conference’s five-game losing streak. Cousins completed 15 of 19 passes for 150 yards in the NFL’s reformatted all-star contest, which gave the NFC the victory. “It’s hard to wait around that long to play, but I appreciate Eli letting me be the third guy and fun to go in there and be the closer,” Cousins said.
 
Based on the earlier flag games and skills competitions, the AFC took a 21-15 lead into the final flag game. The Pro Bowl changed its format this season, eliminating the traditional game and replacing it with three flag games played on a 50-yard field and a series of skills competitions. Each of the first two flag games was worth six points and each skills event was three. The total points were accumulated to form the score entering the final flag game. “I thought it was awesome,” San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey said. “Guys had fun. It got intense there at the end.” Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams noticed the NFC took the game more seriously than expected, such as sending Cowboys safety KaVontae Turpin at the quarterback. “Hopefully, next year the NFC will actually play some man and not sit back in Cover-2 the whole time and blitz one of the fastest men in the league,” Adams said. “Interesting technique by them, but it was still a good time.”
 
BROTHERLY COMPETITION
Brothers Eli and Peyton Manning each have two Super Bowl rings, but Eli has this Pro Bowl victory over his older sibling. “I am the greatest coach of the Mannings,” Eli said tongue-in-cheek on the NFL’s Twitter account. “I am so much better at coaching than Peyton, it’s unbelievable.” He wasn’t the only brother to earn bragging rights. Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs intercepted a pass off a trick play from Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
 
MYLES GARRETT INJURED
The Cleveland Browns, however, announced defensive end Myles Garrett dislocated a toe Sunday, but X-rays were negative. Garrett played with a sprained shoulder this season from a car accident in September, but still had a team-record 16 sacks. Injuries were something the NFL hoped to avoid by switching to this new format. Though tackling wasn’t allowed, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey leveled Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill at the goal line.
 
PLAYGROUND FOOTBALL
Cousins said he hopes youngsters watching the Pro Bowl will want to participate in flag football and help that version of the sport grow. The change to a flag game took some getting used to, but Cousins said that also made it more fun. “You’re kind of drawing stuff up in the dirt,” he said. “It’s not as defined of a plan, so some of our guys were coming into the huddle saying, ‘Hey, I think if we did this.’ You try to listen to them and incorporate it. So it was fun, but also a little hectic.” McCaffrey agreed. “Learning the rules was a little tricky because this was so different,” McCaffrey said. “But I think everybody learned pretty quick and had fun.”
 
FANS COME OUT
The Pro Bowl has received quite a bit of criticism in recent years, but the NFL keeps the event for a reason — fans pay attention. The announced crowd of 58,331 was more than 2,000 more than last year, also played at Allegiant Stadium. No site has been announced for next year’s Pro Bowl, but it’s unlikely the NFL will want that event to be played in the same venue just before the Super Bowl, which will be in Las Vegas.
 
 
 

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