Sports Digest: St. Joseph's women end losing streak against Southern Indiana

Men's basketball

SHURNA'S 28 HELP NORTHWESTERN BEAT NEBRASKA: John Shurna scored 28 points and Drew Crawford added 21 to lead Northwestern to an 84-74 win over Nebraska on Thursday night.

Northwestern (13-8, 3-6 Big Ten) dominated the game behind the arc, making 14 3-pointers to end a three-game losing streak.

Bo Spencer led Nebraska (11-10, 3-7) with 24 points.

UIC OUTLASTS YOUNGSTOWN ST.: Daniel Barnes and Gary Talton scored 19 points apiece, helping Illinois-Chicago snap a four-game losing streak with a 72-68 win over Youngstown State.

Darrin Williams and Hayden Humes each contributed 11 points for UIC (7-15, 3-9 Horizon), with Williams grabbing 11 rebounds and Humes 10.

PUMAS FALL JUST SHORT OF NO. 8 SIU: Corey Clifton scored 15 points for St. Joseph's College, and teammate Damon Ellison scored 13, but the Pumas lost to No. 8 Southern Indiana 67-57.

BUTLER BEATS WRIGHT STATE: Chrishawn Hopkins scored 13 points, and Butler never trailed in beating Wright State 64-53.

Andrew Smith scored 11 points, making all four of his shots from the field, for Butler (13-11, 7-5 Horizon League).

Women's basketball

ST. JOE'S STOPS STREAK AT 10: St. Joseph's College had lost 10 consecutive games to Southern Indiana. That slide ended with a 68-53 win Thursday.

Montell Mills led the Pumas (13-7, 7-5 Great Lakes Valley Conference) with 18 points. Merrillville's Britney Cruse scored 16 in the victory over SIU (7-13, 1-11).

IUN STUNS D-I CHICAGO STATE: Merrillville's Sharon Houston scored 32 points Wednesday night as the RedHawks shocked Division I Chicago State 78-77. Hebron's Brittany Dewell hit a clutch free throw late to give IUN its first win over a D-I foe.

IUN (15-10), winners of 12 straight, now look forward to an invitation to the Association of Independent Institutions' Conference Tournament. Two teams from that tourney will win automatic bids to the NAIA national tournament in March.

Houston also had 13 rebounds and five blocks. Kouts' Annmarie Keller (Kouts) poured in 19 points.

PUC SIGNS GROOM: Tippecanoe Valley guard Staci Groom signed a national letter of intent Thursday to play for Purdue University Calumet.

"Staci has the versatility to play all three guard positions," PUC coach Tom Megyesi said in a media release. "She has excellent range and can attack the basket with her outstanding quickness. We are very excited to add a player with the high level of basketball IQ that Staci possesses and feel that she can help our program continue the upward trend."

A 5-foot-3 guard, Groom is one of the leading scorers in the state, averaging 21.6 points per game with a season-high of 38. She has 37 3-pointers and also averages 2.8 steals per game. The four-year letterwinner has more than 1,000 points for her career.

Groom joins Perry Meridian's Alli Gentry and Randolph Southern's Tory Shrum in the Peregrines' 2012 recruiting class. All three are Indiana Basketball Coaches Association/Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Top 100 Showcase participants.

College football

ST. JOE'S ANNOUNCES CLASS OF 2012: St. Joseph's College football coach Cory Sanders was pleased with the nine Indiana and six Illinois players who signed on Wednesday with the Class of 2012.

 "This is a strong class," Sanders said. "Our staff did a tremendous job in identifying players that are not only good athletes, but character individuals. The Puma football program is much deeper and explosive with the addition of this class."

The the area players included Westfield's Wade Burtron, Homewood-Flossmoor's Gerald Butler, Michigan City's Giorgio Karallas, Indianapolis North Central's Kevin Kelly, Indianapolis Ben Davis' Marlon McDowell, Warren Central's Bryon Miller, Wheeler's Gavin Voss, Crete-Monee's Tracy Whitehead, Columbus North's Christian Williams and De La Salle's Brandon Wright.

Pro hockey

HOWE'S DEMENTIA FIGHT PERSONAL AND PUBLIC: At 83, Mr. Hockey is still in demand and on the move. Gordie Howe is about to embark on another series of fundraisers to support dementia research.

It's a personal cause. The disease killed his wife, Colleen, in 2009 and is beginning to affect him.

His son Marty says, "He's a little bit worse than last year, but pretty close to about the same."

Howe's family hasn't sought a diagnosis of exactly what kind of dementia he has. They did that with Colleen, who died at 76 of Pick's disease. Pick's is a rare form of dementia marked by changes in mood, behavior and personality, followed by memory loss similar to that experienced in Alzheimer's.

Gordie Howe's dementia is currently mild. Another son, Murray, a radiologist, says his father's symptoms don't fit either Alzheimer's or Pick's.

Around the horn

Tom Schott, Purdue University assistant athletic director of communication, discusses Purdue's 2012 class of football recruits at 5:30 p.m. today on "Purdue Calumet Sports Insight" on WJOB-AM (1230). ... Ryan Palmer parred his final hole at dusk for a 7-under 64 and the lead Thursday in the suspended first round of the Phoenix Open. ... Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who resigned in disgrace last May amid a cash-for-tattoos scandal at the football powerhouse, was hired by Akron on Thursday as vice president of strategic engagement, — a position newly created for him. Tressel served as a replay consultant last season for the Colts.