NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal women outlast Snow

| January 11, 2015 8:00 PM

EPHRAIM, Utah - Kara Staggs scored six of her game-high 32 points in overtime, all coming from the free throw line, leading the North Idaho Cardinals past the 12th-ranked Snow Badgers 76-74 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game on Saturday.

"She just had another great day for us," NIC coach Chris Carlson said. "She's been playing so good, hitting 3-pointers and just been playing good basketball. She's a great basketball player. We're a little dinged up, with five or six kids with something going on with either injury or illness, but it was a great road win for us."

NIC (15-6, 2-3 SWAC) returns home to face Southern Idaho (12-8, 2-2 on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Snow (15-3, 3-2) has lost three straight games.

NORTH IDAHO

Maci Benedict 2-6 0-0 5, Kara Staggs 8-21 11-13 32, Monica Landdeck 5-13 5-6 15, Mariah Swanson 4-9 2-2 11, Grace Varcoe 0-1 0-0 0, Samara Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Katie King 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0, Sabrina Earle 0-1 0-0 0, Caitlyn Behymer -3 0-1 4, Panisesi Taimani 4-5 0-0 9. Totals 25-59 18-22 76.

Whitney Saunders 1-4 0-2 2, Matysen Evensen 1-7 4-7 6, Savannah Park 1-4 5-5 7, Ashton Henderson 0-2 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Hurley 5-17 9-9 20, Lisa VanCampen 0-2 0-0 0, Abigail Barnard 3-5 0-0 8, Savannah Sandberg 0-3 0-0 0, Madison Smith 3-8 2-4 9, Jillian Powell 9-15 0-0 22. Totals 23-67 20-27 74,

Halftime - NIC 39-25. Regulation - Tied 64-64. 3-point goals - NIC 8-19 (Benedict 1-3, Staggs 5-10 Landdeck 0-2, Swanson 1-3, Taimani 1-1), Snow 8-25 (Park 0-1, Hurley 1-7, Barnard 2-3, Smith 1-4, Powell 4-10). Rebounds - NIC 40 (Varcoe 12), Snow 38 (Saunders 14). Assists - NIC 15 (Staggs 4), Snow 13 (Saunders 5). Team fouls - NIC 23, Snow 21. Fouled out - Swanson, Evensen

Snow 72

North Idaho 67

EPHRAIM, Utah - Austin Pope scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds for the Cardinals in a loss to the Badgers in Scenic West Athletic Conference play,

Djuan Piper added 14 points for NIC (15-4, 2-3 SWAC).

"It was a tough loss for us," NIC coach Corey Symons said. "We played really well. We won 37 minutes of the game, but they hit some tough shots down the stretch. We missed our free throws, missed our chances, we played hard. I'm happy for them."

Walter Wright scored a game-high 34 points for Snow (14-6, 3-2).

North Idaho hosts third-ranked Southern Idaho (20-0, 5-0), coached by former NIC coach Jared Phay, at Rolly Williams Court next Saturday at 5 p.m. CSI beat Salt Lake 61-59 in other SWAC play on Saturday.

NORTH IDAHO

Djuan Piper 6-13 0-0 14, Braian Angola-Rodas 3-12 7-9 13, Fuquan Niles 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Lockwood 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Pope 7-11 6-13 20, Lucas Antunez 3-4 2-2 10, Marcus Harris 0-0 0-0 0, D'Adrian Allen 2-4 0-0 4, Kyle Guice 2-5 0-0 5, Ty Higbie 0-3 1-3 1. Totals 23-53 16-27 67.

Gentry Thomas 3-13 1-2 9, Walter Wright 10-20 9-11 34, Romain Louiserre 1-3 2-2 5, Marcus Bryce -4 0-0 2, Aziz Leeks 1-2 2-4 4, Le'Jon Johnson 1-2 0-0 3, Dylan Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Chris O'Neill 1-2 1-2 4, Larenz Stalcup 3-6 1-5 7, JR Talley 0-3 4-4 4. Totals 21-55 20-30 72.

Halftime - NIC 39-31. 3-point goals - NIC 5-21 (Piper 2-6, Angola-Rodas 0-3, Pope 0-2, Antunez 2-3, Guice 1-4, Higbie 1-3), Snow 10-23 (Thomas 2-7, Wright 5-10, Louiserre 1-2, Johnson 1-2, O'Neill 1-2). Rebounds - NIC 40 (Pope 10), Snow 35 (Stalcup 6). Assists - NIC 8 (Pope 3), Snow 7 (Wright 6). Team fouls - NIC 25, Snow 21. Fouled out - Lockwood