Hopkins guard Amaya Battle named Miss Basketball

Hopkins' 5-11 guard Amaya Battle was named Miss Basketball, the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association announced on Saturday. The honor is awarded to the state's top senior player.

Battle, who is a part of the Gophers' top 10 nationally ranked recruiting class, will join the program this summer.

She is the sister of Jamison Battle, who plays for the Gophers men's team, and is ranked the nation's No. 11 point guard by ESPN/Hoop Gurlz Basketball. She had nine points and six assists and was a team-high plus-22 for the Royals (28-1) in their 72-56 win over St. Michael-Albertville last month in the Class 4A state championship game.

Megan Dray hit a two-out two-run homer and Sara Kinch, the next batter, a solo shot in the top of the eighth inning as the Gophers softball team beat Iowa 5-2 in Iowa City. Dray also had an RBI single in the second and Kinch an RBI double that inning.

Autumn Pease pitched the final 3-2/3 innings for Minnesota (17-15-1, 4-4 Big Ten) to get the win. She held the Hawkeyes (18-17, 1-7) scoreless, giving up only one hit, striking out two and walking none.

The Gophers baseball team lost 5-4 to No. 23 Maryland at Siebert Field. The Terrapins (25-6, 4-1 Big Ten) scored four runs in the fourth inning to take a 5-0 lead.

Freshman Brady Counsell led the Gophers (8-20, 0-5) with two hits, including an RBI triple. Otto Grimm and Boston Merila both had RBI singles.

Minnesota's bullpen held the Terrapins scoreless for the final five innings, striking out six.

Seven Minnesotan were named to the Under 17 U.S. National Development Team based in Plymouth, Mich.

Three are forwards: Brendan McMorrow of Benilde-St. Margaret's, Max Plante of Hermantown and Brodie Ziemer of Shattuck-St. Mary's (Carver).

The other four are defensemen: Logan Hensler of Hill-Murray; Sam Laurila of Moorhead; Will Skaham of St. Thomas Academy, and Josh Whipple of Shattuck-St. Mary's (Excelsior).

The Gophers' Shelby Frank won the discus (184 feet, 10 inches) and Taylor Kreitinger the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11 minutes, 1.36 seconds) in the Tennessee Relays Saturday in Knoxville. The women's team's 4x100 (45.63) and 4x400 relays (3:38.64) also took first.

On Friday, Minnesota's Amira Young, a senior, finished first in the Power Hour (best competitors) 100 (11.35) and 200 dashes (23.76) while Abigail Schaaffe, a sophomore from Jamaica, won the 400 hurdles (59.75).

Wisconsin's Antonela Stoica, a senior from Romania, won 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 over the Gophers' Ekin Ercetin, a junior fromTurkey, at No. 4 singles to give the host Badgers a 4-3 victory in Big Ten women's tennis. Rachel Hanford of Minnesota won 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, putting the visitors ahead 3-2.