Staggs shines as NIC women bounce back, topple Snow

| January 26, 2014 8:00 PM

* WOMEN

EPHRAIM, Utah - Freshman Kara Staggs hit 6 of 12 3-point attempts and finished with a game-high 18 points to lead the 22nd-ranked North Idaho College Cardinals past the Snow Badgers 63-59 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game on Saturday afternoon.

Leading 61-59 with 10 seconds remaining, NIC sophomore Jansen Butler made a pair of free throws to seal the win for the Cardinals, who bounced back from a 27-point loss at No. 7 Salt Lake on Thursday.

Renae Mokrzycki had 12 points and seven rebounds and Panisessi Taimani had eight points and seven rebounds for NIC (18-6, 4-5 SWAC), which faces Southern Idaho on Saturday in Twin Falls.

In other SWAC play, Salt Lake (19-4, 8-0) defeated No. 8 Southern Idaho (21-3, 7-2) 67-60 in Salt Lake City.

NORTH IDAHO

Renae Mokrzycki 5-11 0-0 12, Georgia Stirton 2-7 2-4 6, Jansen Butler 3-7 2-2 8, Kara Staggs 6-14 0-1 18, Panisessi Taimani 3-8 2-4 8, Katie King 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Schroeder 2-3 0-0 6, Morgan Grier 1-3 0-0 2, Sabrina Earle 1-1 0-0 2, Caitlyn Behymer 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 23-57 5-9 63.

SNOW COLLEGE

Whitney Saunders 5-8 3-3 13, Emily Howey 4-4 2-4 10, Hailey Greenwood 1-6 0-0 2, Amber Daly 5-12 0-0 12, Ashton Henderson 1-4 1-2 3, Madison Roe 1-1 0-0 3, Sydney Webb 1- 0-0 2, Catherine Killian 0-3 0-0 0, Mackenzie Bruggeman 0-0 0-0 0, Jillian Powell 3-8 0-1 8, Lyssa Hanks 2-4 2-2 6.

Halftime - NIC 37-35. 3-point goals - NIC 12-26 (Mokrzycki 2-4, Stirton 2-4, Butler 0-2, Staggs 6-12, Schroeder 2-3, Behymer 0-1), Snow 5-14 (Daly 2-5, Roe 1-1, Killian 0-1, Powell 2-5). Rebounds - NIC 31 (Mokrzycki, Taimani 7), Snow 31 (Daly 7). Assists - NIC 13 (Stirton, Butler 4), Snow 11 (Henderson 4). Team fouls - NIC 12, Snow 13. Fouled out - none.

Snow 73

North Idaho 59

EPHRAIM, Utah - Walter Wright had 18 points and five rebounds to lead the Badgers past the Cardinals in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game.

Snow (11-11, 2-6 SWAC), which built a 35-26 halftime lead, outrebounded NIC (17-7, 4-5) 33-27 for the game, including 13-5 on the offensive glass.

"They beat us up on the boards," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "We had 11 turnovers in the first half and that's why we were down. You've got to give Snow credit. They've got a lot of freshmen too and they played well and are much improved from what they were earlier this year."

NIC beat Snow 89-76 in the Cardinals' conference home opener on Jan. 2.

NIC, which lost point guard Bryce Leavitt to an ankle injury early in the game, was led by Brad Wallace with 17 points.

"We'll have to get Bryce back and get it looked at," Phay said. "He tried to tape it up and get back in, but could hardly walk, so we held him out."

NIC travels to No. 4 Southern Idaho (22-2, 8-1) on Saturday. CSI beat No. 13 Salt Lake (19-4, 6-2) 79-76 in other SWAC play on Saturday in Salt Lake. NIC lost at Salt Lake on Thursday.

NORTH IDAHO

Jason Wheelock 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Tucker 4-7 3-4 11, Brad Wallace 5-8 4-7 17, Bryce Leavitt 1-2 0-0 3, Will Dorsey 4-12 1-2 11, Cole Kesler 1-6 2-2 5, Fuquan Niles 0-1 2-3 2, Tatafu Nuku 1-2 0-0 2, Jordon King 1-3 4-4 6, Shikei Blake 1-2 0-0 2, Ty Higbie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-45 16-22 59.

SNOW COLLEGE

Gentrey Thomas 7-11 0-3 16, LeJon Johnson 1-2 3-4 5, Walter Wright 6-17 4-4 18, Tim Hughes 2-8 1-2 7, Chandler Smith 0-1 0-1 0, Tyler Willis 0-1 0-0 0, Anthony Morris 5-9 0-0 10, Larenz Stalcup 2-2 0-1 5, Blake Truman 1-4 0-0 2, Lawrence Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Bryce 2-3 2-6 6, Nate Aland 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 28-60 10-21 73.

Halftime - Snow 35-26. 3-point goals - NIC 7-20 (Wallace 3-6, Leavitt 1-2, Dorsey 2-6, Kesler 1-3, King 0-2, Higbie 0-1), Snow 7-23 (Thomas 2-4, Wright 2-7, Hughes 2-7, Smith 0-1, Willis 0-1, Morris 0-1, Stalcup 1-1, Truman 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 27 (King 6), Snow 33 (Thomas 9). Assists - NIC 9 (Leavitt 4), Snow 9 (Wright 3). Team fouls - NIC 22, Snow 19. Fouled out - Leavitt.