Cards return to home floor tonight vs. Eastern Utah
COEUR d’ALENE — After three games on the road in Scenic West Athletic Conference action, the North Idaho Cardinals men’s and women’s basketball teams will be back on Rolly Williams Court tonight.
Action begins with the 18th-ranked NIC women (15-2, 1-2 SWAC) facing Eastern Utah (7-9, 1-2) at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s game.
NIC defeated Eastern Utah 77-61 in an early nonconference game at the Casper College tournament in November.
“They just upset Salt Lake and have improved since we played them,” NIC women’s coach Chris Carlson said. “They’ve got a couple of players that can drive to the basket and it looks like they’re starting to put it together. They’re a dangerous team.”
The NIC women enter tonight’s game the top scoring team in the league at 79.2 points per game, where Eastern Utah (7-9, 1-2) is currently last in the league at 64 per game.
NIC sophomore Kama Griffitts is currently fourth in the league in scoring at 16.4 points per game, followed by Tugce Canitez with 15.4 a game.
Griffitts was named the NJCAA Division I Player of the Week after averaging 21.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the Cardinals’ recent 4-0 run through Arizona and Southern Idaho.
“She’s certainly earned it,” Carlson said. “Kama’s been playing great since after the Christmas break. She’s been on a tear and
earned it. Against CSI and Central Arizona, she set the tone and played like a leader. Everything you could want in a player like her, she’s been giving us.”
NIC sophomore Michael Hale is second in the league in scoring with 17.3 points per game as the 18th ranked Cardinal men (15-3, 0-3) host the 25th ranked Golden Eagles
Jonathan Mills is third in scoring with 17.1 per game and leads the league in rebounds at 10.1 per game for Eastern Utah (14-3, 2-1), who enter tonight’s game second in scoring at 95.7 points per game.
“Mills is there only returning starter, but they’ve got a few kids that played some minutes last year back,” NIC men’s coach Jared Phay said. “He’s leading our league in rebounds and is one of the better players in our league.”
Both teams return to action against Colorado Northwestern on Saturday.
“We’ve got a nice little home stand coming up,” Phay said. “Hopefully we’ve learned what we needed to and can get back into the conference race.”
“We’re very excited about getting back home,” Carlson said. “We had a couple of good practices and everyone is upbeat. I think we’re going to get some good fan support. We’re looking to get the home uniforms back on again and I think we’ll be playing some great basketball on our home court.”
Saturday’s action begins at 3 p.m. with the women’s game.