Associated Press

North Dakota Fightin’ Hawks (4-6) at UTSA Roadrunners (3-5)

San Antonio; Friday, 8 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Roadrunners -6.5; over/under is 152.5

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota takes on UTSA after Treysen Eaglestaff scored 20 points in North Dakota’s 80-57 loss to the Utah Valley Wolverines.

The Roadrunners have gone 2-1 at home. UTSA is 1-4 against opponents over .500.

The Fightin’ Hawks are 1-4 on the road. North Dakota gives up 75.2 points to opponents and has been outscored by 5.4 points per game.

UTSA is shooting 39.9% from the field this season, 7.1 percentage points lower than the 47.0% North Dakota allows to opponents. North Dakota averages 6.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.7 fewer makes per game than UTSA gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Amir “Primo” Spears is scoring 23.1 points per game with 1.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Roadrunners.

Eaglestaff averages 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Fightin’ Hawks, scoring 18.5 points while shooting 36.2% from beyond the arc.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Drake women’s basketball team defeated North Dakota 82-63 on Thursday at the Knapp Center.

Ava Hawthorne scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs (4-5). Hawthorne made 8-of-11 shots, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while coming within a point of her career high.

She also had a career-best four steals while adding two rebounds and two assists in helping Drake to its second straight victory after a five-game losing streak.

Katie Dinnebier knocked down 5-of-8 3-point shots in scoring 16 points and handed out 13 assists, matching her high for the season and falling one short of her career best. The Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year also had a season-high four steals.

Courtney Becker had 12 points and 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Anna Miller contributed 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

“It’s great to be at home,” Drake coach Allison Pohlman said. “We continued to get layups and started to finish those layups, which is a key to beating good teams. We were able to get some threes in transition, got some paint touches, just lighting the nets on fire. That gives you an edge in confidence. We’ve got to be able to maintain energy and consistency … make moves forward and keep getting better.”

Drake will return to action on Monday in an 11 a.m. game against USC Upstate at the Knapp Center

The Drake sports information department contributed this report.

North Dakota’s Industrial Commission on Thursday approved a plan to accept millions of tons of carbon dioxide to be permanently stored underground against the wishes of some landowners in the storage area. 

Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions plans to build a network of pipelines that gathers carbon emissions from ethanol plants across five states. If built, the pipeline will end west of Bismarck, where three injection wells will pump the carbon deep beneath private property into pore space — gaps and voids between the rocks. 

Summit compensates landowners for use of their pore space but an attorney for a group of landowners questions the accuracy of the model used by Summit to estimate where the gas will go when it is pumped underground. 

The Industrial Commission is composed of outgoing Gov. Doug Burgum, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, who approved the permits unanimously. 

Thursday’s action by the Industrial Commission uses a North Dakota rule governing pore space called amalgamation. If at least 60% of the landowners in the pore space area approve, the other 40% are forced to comply. 

A lawsuit by the Northwest Landowners Association in North Dakota is already challenging the constitutionality of the amalgamation rule. 

About 92% of landowners in the sequestration area for Summit are participating voluntarily. The region includes parts of Oliver, Mercer and Morton counties. Department of Mineral Resources staff said landowners objecting to the project accounted for less than 2% of the acres. Carbon will be injected into the Broom Creek Formation about 5,500 feet below ground level. 

Summit estimates it will pump about 18 million tons of carbon dioxide into the storage area each year. The company will take advantage of federal tax credits — $85 per ton of carbon stored — as an incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

“These sequestration permits are the result of years of rigorous scientific study, engineering design, and input from regulators, landowners, and local leaders,” Wade Boeshans, executive vice president of Summit Carbon Solutions, said in a news release. “With these permits, we’re one step closer to providing vital infrastructure that benefits farmers, ethanol producers, and communities across the Midwest.”

The carbon will come from 57 ethanol plants in five states — Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. 

Access to carbon capture and storage can significantly reduce an ethanol plant’s carbon score. Low-carbon ethanol may be able to fetch a premium price, which could also benefit corn growers. The carbon is captured during the fermentation process of turning corn into ethanol fuel. 

Tharaldson Ethanol at Casselton is the only North Dakota ethanol plant in the Summit pipeline project. 

Minnesota PUC grants long-awaited permit for carbon capture pipeline

Two other North Dakota ethanol plants are already capturing and sequestering carbon — Red Trail Energy at Richardton and Blue Flint Ethanol near Underwood. Those plants sit close to the areas with the suitable geology for carbon sequestration. 

Summit Carbon Solutions has obtained pipeline permits in Iowa and North Dakota. Minnesota approved a short segment of the route Thursday. 

Summit still still needs a permit in South Dakota. Nebraska has no state agency that permits carbon pipelines. 

In most states, it is the Environmental Protection Agency that permits CO2 storage wells, but North Dakota was the first state to be granted primacy in Class VI injection well permitting. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.