Minnesota Scene: U junior wins NCAA women's 200 breaststroke title

Junior Kierra Smith of the Gophers won the 200-yard breaststroke Saturday in the NCAA women's swimming and diving meet in Greensboro, N.C.

The native of Kelowna, British Columbia, had a time of 2 minutes, 4.56 seconds, the third fastest in NCAA history.

Gophers diver Yu Zhou, who won the 3-meter diving event and took third in the 1-meter event, placed fifth in platform diving. The sophomore from Beijing had a score of 301.70.

And the Gophers' 400 freestyle relay placed ninth (3:15.40), giving Minnesota a score of 118, good for 12th in the team competition.

The Gophers softball team tied the program record for consecutive victories by beating host Illinois 11-1 in five innings. It was the 12th win in a row for No. 15 Minnesota (26-4).

The Gophers took a 3-0 lead on Tyler Walker's three-run homer in the second inning. They scored eight runs in the third, one on a wild pitch, and the others on Erica Meyer's three-run homer and Kaitlyn Richardson's grand slam.

Sophomore Sara Groenewegen pitched the first three innings for Minnesota and got the victory. She gave up two hits, one a homer, and struck out five.

In the first game, the Terrapins scored all their runs on a two-out rally in the third inning. Matt Fiedler scored the Gophers' lone run in the sixth; he singled and scored on an error.

Minnesota (7-12) built 7-0 lead in the second game before the Terrapins (16-4) rallied. Dan Motl led off the game with a homer and Tony Skjefte had two singles and three RBI in the first two innings.

• The Gophers women's gymnastics team finished sixth in the Big Ten meet at Michigan. Junior Lindsay Mable took second in the all-around competition with a score of 39.625 and was named the conference's gymnast of the year.

• Wisconsin-Stevens Point beat visiting Hamline 4-2 in the NCAA Division III men's hockey quarterfinals. Garrett Schmitz and Kerry McGlynn had goals for the Pipers (14-11-4) while John Sellie-Hanson stopped 35 shots.