North Dakota upends Gophers women in overtime

Freshman Josefine Jakobsen's unassisted power-play goal with 36 seconds remaining in overtime gave North Dakota a 2-1 victory over the Gophers in women's hockey Friday night at Ridder Arena.

It was the first overtime loss of the season for the Gophers (26-6-2, 20-6-2 WCHA).

In overtime, Minnesota's Sarah Erickson was called for cross-checking, giving North Dakota a power play chance with a minute and 15 seconds remaining. Forty-five seconds into the power play, Jakobsen scored.

Jen Schoullis' 22nd goal of the season broke a scoreless tie 16 minutes into the second period for the Gophers. North Dakota tied it on a goal by former Gopher Jocelyne Lamoureux 5 1/2 minutes into the third period. It was her 200th career point.

The teams meet again Saturday in the Gophers' final regular-season home game.

U swimmers widen lead at Big Ten meetHannah Whitehead and Tess Behrens won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, respectively, helping the Gophers women take a 40-point lead on the third day of the Big Ten swimming and diving championships in Iowa City.

The Gophers have 456 team points heading into the final day of competition, followed by Indiana in second place with 416 points and Ohio State with 401.

"Hannah, as a senior, winning the 200 free from the outside lane was totally awesome," Gophers coach Terry Nieszner said. "We had four Gophers in that heat, so we pretty much dominated the final heat of the 200 free. Having a senior in the outside lane win it, that was just exhilarating. It certainly pumps up the team."

Behrens recorded an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 52.35 in the 100 backstroke.

U softball wins 2The Gophers softball team won twice at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

Freshman Tyler Walker's grand slam sparked a 9-1 victory over Iowa State in the first game. In the second game, Sara Moulton's one-hitter led the Gophers past Central Michigan 2-0. Moulton struck out 12.

The Gophers are 5-1, their best start since going 6-0 in 2003.