Gabbie Hughes' hat trick leads Minnesota Duluth over Harvard in women's hockey

Gabbie Hughes' hat trick and Emma Soderberg's 27 saves led Minnesota Duluth to a 4-0 victory over Harvard on Thursday night at Ridder Arena in a first-round game of the NCAA women's hockey tournament.

The Bulldogs (25-11-1), seeded eighth, will play the second-seeded Gophers (29-8-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the national quarterfinals.

Hughes, a senior who played for Centennial High, scored in the opening minute of both the first and second periods and got her third goal in the 13th minute of the second. She has 21 goals this season. McKenzie Hewett had the final UMD goal in the third.

Becky Dutton had 26 stops for the Crimson (22-10-1).

U.S. wheelchair curlers fifth

The U.S. wheelchair curling team, which includes Oyuna Uranchimeg of Burnsville, finished fifth in round-robin play at the Beijing Paralympics and did not advance to the playoffs.

The Americans split their final two games Wednesday and Thursday, losing to Sweden 10-7 and defeating South Korea 7-6. They finished the round robin with a 5-5 record and missed the playoff round by one spot. The top four teams — China, Canada, Sweden and Slovakia —advanced to the medal round.

WNBA draft set for April 11

The WNBA officially announced its 2022 draft will be held April 11. The two-round draft will be televised on ESPN.

For the first time since 2019 the draft will be an in-person event and will be held at New York's Spring Studios. The Washington Mystics have the top pick. The Lynx pick eighth in the first round

KENT YOUNGBLOOD

Loons sign defender

Padelford, 19, is from Maplewood and previously played for St. Croix Academy and Woodbury High School. He graduated in 2021 and joined the new Minnesota Youth Development Program's U-19 team that same year.

Coach Adrian Heath in a team statement said Padelford's play the last year within the program earned him a pro contract. He called Padelford good in both ends, athletic, good in the air, able to get forward and deliver in the box. "He's got his foot on the ladder and it's up to him now," Heath said.

JERRY ZGODA

Etc.

• The Gophers softball team (11-10) plays in the three-day Bevo Classic, starting Friday in Austin, Texas, with games against Nicolls at 1:30 p.m. and Texas at 6:30 p.m. After hitting six home runs in the past six games, senior Natalie DenHartog has 49 for her career — two shy of the program record.

• Justin DeGrood, the lead assistant coach of the Gustavus men's basketball team for the past nine seasons, was named head coach.

• Minnesota Duluth's Brooke Olson was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association's Central Region first team in women's basketball, and St. Cloud State's Tori Wortz to the second team.