Cardinals fall short in opening round

SALINA, Kan. - Monroe guard Danay Collier hit a 3-pointer with just under three minutes remaining to help lift the Tribunes past the North Idaho College Cardinals 63-58 in the opening round of the NJCAA Division I women's basketball tournament at the Bicentennial Center on Tuesday.

North Idaho freshman Tugce Canitez had 15 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Kama Griffitts with 13 points and KiKi Edwards-Teasley and Camille Reynolds with nine points apiece.

Monroe (21-5) opened up an early 22-12 lead, but had the Cardinals close to within 34-33 at halftime.

North Idaho opened the second half on a 13-4 run, but could not hold on to the lead as the Tribunes pulled away late.

"We definitely could have gotten that one," North Idaho coach Chris Carlson said. "We had the lead and got kind of tight toward the end of the game. It showed up on our free throws."

NIC, which shot 78 percent from the foul line to lead the NJCAA this season, was 20 of 33 for 61 percent.

"We missed six or seven free throws in a row," Carlson said. "They started to get hot from the floor and their guards started creating more."

Shanee Williams' basket from the lane with less than 30 seconds remaining sealed the Tribunes' win.

"It probably came down to our experience," Carlson said. "I thought we'd played through it, but with over 100 college coaches sitting in the crowd - we kind of tightened up. I thought we played pretty good.

Both Kama (Griffitts) and Camille (Reynolds) stepped up and hit some shots. KiKi (Edwards-Teasley) gave us a big boost off the bench also."

Williams led all scorers with 16 points, nine of which came in the second half.

No. 7 seed North Idaho (26-7) faces No. 15 seed South Georgia Technical College (28-6) on Thursday at 8 a.m. in a loser-out game. South Georgia lost to No. 2 seed Gulf Coast 79-53 in their opening round game.

"We've got to focus on what we can do to get better," Carlson said of the matchup with South Georgia. "We need to keep playing as a team and play with a little more confidence."

MONROE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Erinne Cunnigham 1-2 0-0 0, Shanee Williams 5-7 0-4 16, Michelle Peebles 1-1 0-0 2, Krystal Parnell 6-11 3-4 15, Danay Collier 1-3 5-7 13, Deree Fooks 1-3 0-0 5, Kim Brown 0-4 0-2 3, Katrina Blackman 2-6 1-2 5, Cyialece Davis 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 17-39 11-22 63.

NORTH IDAHO

Chantel Divilbiss 1-1 2-2 4, Camille Reynolds 1-5 1-1 9, Amy Warbrick 0-0 2-5 2, KiKi Edwards-Teasley 3-4 3-6 9, Kama Griffitts 1-4 5-6 13, Katie Sanders 1-3 0-0 2, Sadie Lazzarini 0-3 2-2 2, Deanna Dotts 1-3 0-2 2, Tugce Canitez 5-11 5-9 15. Totals 13-34 20-33 58.

Halftime - Monroe 34-33. 3-point goals - MCC 6-22 (Cunnigham 0-1, Williams 2-8, Parnell 0-3, Collier 2-7, Fooks 1-2, Brown 1-1), NIC 4-22 (Divilbiss 0-2, Reynolds 2-4, Warbrick 0-4, Griffitts 2-8, Lazzarini 0-3, Canitez 0-1). Rebounds - MCC 47 (Blackman 8), NIC 53 (Canitez 12). Assists - MCC 8 (Brown 3), NIC 8 (Griffitts 3). Team fouls - MCC 23, NIC 18. Fouled out - none.