Baker boosts No. 10 NIC women

PRICE, Utah - Sophomore Korina Baker scored a team-high 20 points and had a steal late in the second half to secure the 10th-ranked North Idaho Cardinals' 57-55 win over the Utah State-Eastern Golden Eagles in a Scenic West Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Friday.

"Eastern played a good game of basketball tonight," NIC coach Chris Carlson said. "They've got their own style and I don't think we played that good. Their defense threw us off a little bit, but our defense kept us in the game."

Trailing by one point, freshman Katie Buskey drove and scored on a layup and hit a foul shot to give NIC (15-2, 4-0) the 57-55 lead before the late turnover on Baker's steal.

The teams entered the game tied for the conference lead.

"This was a big win for us," Carlson said. "They were undefeated in the conference - and I know why now. I was very pleased to get a win down here tonight."

Priscilla Santos scored 28 points for USU-Eastern (11-8, 3-1). She entered the game leading the nation with 31.4 points per game.

"We were able to go into a zone defense and hold her to 12 points in the second half," Carlson said. "We were able to freeze them up a bit in the second half."

NIC plays at Colorado Northwestern today.

No box score was available.