Cardinal teams lose SWAC openers

EPHRAIM, Utah - UNLV transfer DeShawn Mitchell scored 27 points as the host Snow Badgers (10-4) rallied from a halftime deficit to hand the top-ranked North Idaho Cardinals their first loss, 76-72 on Friday night in the Scenic West Athletic Conference men's basketball opener for both schools.

"We just couldn't hit shots in the second half," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "They went to zone against us for most of the second half and we struggled offensively against it."

NIC took a 32-31 halftime lead, but the Badgers shot 16 of 27 from the floor in second half, while NIC was 13 of 36 in the final 20 minutes.

"You've got to give a lot of credit to Snow," Phay said. "We're getting everyone's best effort right now and we got a good effort from them tonight."

NIC played without Nick Fromm, who was injured early in the team's game against Community Colleges of Spokane on Sunday.

"He hadn't practiced all week and definitely wasn't 100 percent tonight," Phay said.

"He tried to go tonight, but just couldn't, so we pulled him and rested him in case we need him against Salt Lake."

NIC (13-1, 0-1) travels to Salt Lake today.

NORTH IDAHO

Michael Hale 8-17 4-7 22, Idris Lasisi 6-0 3-3 19, Tyrone White 5-14 1-2 13, Abebe Dimissie 3-4 0-0 6, Anthony DiLoreto 1-2 1-4 3, DeAndre Taylor 2-7 1-2 7, Ameer Shamsud-din 0-5 0-0 0, Jake Owsley 1-2 0-0 2, Petar Joksimovic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 10-18 72.

SNOW COLLEGE

DeShawn Mitchell 12-21 2-5 27, Brandon Vega 2-7 2-7 7, Sam Hoopes 1-6 2-2 4, Mason Sawyer 4-6 10, Travis Wilkins 5-10 5-6 17, Mitch Frei 1-2 0-1 4, Renato Portugal 4-6 1-4 9. Totals 29-58 14-27 76.

Halftime - NIC 32-31. 3-point goals - NIC 10-30 (Hale 2-7, Lasisi 4-8, T. White 2-8, Taylor 2-4, Shamsud-din 0-2, Joksimovic 0-1). Snow 4-9 (Mitchell 1-3, Vega 1-2, Wilkins 2-4). Rebounds - NIC 31 (DiLoreto, Owsley 5). Snow 37 (Wilkins 10). Assists - NIC 12 (Hale 5). Snow 12 (Sawyer 10). Team fouls - NIC 24, Snow 15. Fouled out - T. White, Taylor.

Snow 79

North Idaho 76

EPHRAIM, Utah — Freshman guard Erica Marinez scored 26 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the field as the Badgers defeated the third-ranked Cardinals in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

“Our defense was poor tonight,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “I thought we had a good week of practice and our defense was good. We weren’t well prepared today and Snow just outplayed us.”

Sophomore Tugce Canitez had 22 points and 10 rebounds for NIC (10-1, 0-1), which travels to 25th-ranked Salt Lake today.

“Tugce had a good second half,” Carlson said. “In the first half, it was really slow going. Our defense wasn’t moving and we weren’t fired up. With our ranking, everyone is out to get us. Snow played great tonight, we didn’t. It doesn’t get any easier tomorrow, but it’s not so much what happens to you, but how you respond.”

Dani Lockhart had 21 rebounds for Snow (7-2, 1-0), which hosts Southern Idaho today. Salt Lake defeated Southern Idaho 66-52 on Friday.

NORTH IDAHO

Camille Reynolds 3-9 2-2 8, Tugce Canitez 10-19 2-4 22, Amy Warbrick 1-3 0-0 2, Kiki Edwards-Teasley 2-6 0-0 4, Kama Griffitts 3-14 3-3 10, Chantel Divilbiss 5-8 0-0 14, Timena Shebala 0-1 0-0 0, Korina Baker 6-8 0-0 16, Julia Salmio 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Carlton 0- 0-0 0, Deanna Dotts 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 30-73 7-9 76.

SNOW COLLEGE

Dani Lockhart 5-7 0-0 10, Alle Finch 5-13 7-12 19, Bailey Reynolds 4-9 3-4 12, Erica Marinez 10-23 0-0 26, Jaquel Christensen 1-2 0-0 2, Cassie Holmes 0-0 0-0 0, Christina Augustin 1-2 0-0 2, Carolina Rebolledo 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsi Wells 3-10 2-2 8. Totals 29-66 12-18 79.

Halftime — Snow 44-34. 3-point goals — NIC 9-23 (Reynolds 0-1, Canitez 0-1, Griffitts 1-9, Divilbiss 4-5, Shebala 0-1, Baker 4-5, Dotts 0-1). Snow 9-16 (Finch 2-3, Reynolds 1-1, Marinez 6-11, Wells 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 31 (Canitez 10). Snow 49 (Lockhart 21). Assists — NIC 12 (Canitez 3). Snow 11 (Lockhart, Finch 3). Team fouls — NIC 18, Snow 8. Fouled out — Griffitts.