Cards come close, but fall in OT

COEUR d’ALENE — Sydnie Peterson helped the North Idaho College women’s basketball steal the momentum from the visiting Umpqua Riverhawks to start the second half on Sunday night.

Then, the Riverhawks stole it back late.

And never gave it back.

Peterson scored a team-high 20 points, hitting six 3-pointers for the Cardinals, but a layup by Taylor Stricklin sent the game to overtime, where the Riverhawks pulled away in an 83-72 win on the opening night of the Holiday Inn Express Cardinal Crossover at Rolly Williams Court.

“I was proud of our team,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “We got out to a little bit of a slow start, but took control in the second half. We had good momentum and energy. We had the lead, but just couldn’t finish the game.”

Halle Eborall and Alex Carlton scored 12 points each for NIC (5-2), which was outscored 17-6 in the extra period.

“We had opportunities to win in the fourth quarter, and it wouldn’t have came to that,” Carlson said. “We were 40 seconds from beating the No. 2 team (in the latest Northwest Athletic Conference poll). We’ve got to learn the right lessons right now.”

Darian Mitchell scored 24 points for Umpqua (8-0), which faces Bellevue today at 3:30 p.m., at Rolly Williams Court.

NIC faces South Puget Sound today at 5:30 p.m.

UMPQUA

Brooklyn Gilbert 0-1 0-0 0, Grace Campbell 1-6 1-1 4, Sienna Riggle 1-4 1-2 3, Taylor Stricklin 9-19 11-12 33, Darian Mitchell 10-20 1-3 24, Cielo Gonzalez 3-9 5-7 13, Lexi Woodard 2-4 1-1 6. Totals 26-63 20-26 83.

NORTH IDAHO

Zosha Krupa 0-6 0-0 0, Halle Eborall 6-15 0-0 12, Alex Carlton 4-14 0-0 12, Keara Simpson 3-10 0-0 6, Heidi Sellman 5-5 0-0 10, Sydnie Peterson 6-13 2-4 20, Anna Schrade 4-6 1-4 9, Madison Lommen 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 29-71 3-8 72.

Umpqua 18 14 14 20 17 — 83

North Idaho 13 18 16 19 6 — 72

3-point goals — Ump 11-21 (Gilbert 0-1, Campbell 1-4, Stricklin 4-8, Mitchell 3-3, Gonzalez 2-4, Woodard 1-1), NIC 11-27 (Krupa 0-3, Eborall 0-2, Carlton 4-8, Simpson 0-2, Peterson 6-9, Schrade 0-1, Lommen 0-1). Rebounds — Ump — 50 (Mitchell 14), NIC 32 (Schrade 9). Assists — Ump 6 (Stricklin 4), NIC 12 (Eborall 7). Team fouls — Ump 11, NIC 18. Fouled out — Peterson.

Bellevue 58

S. Puget Sound 50

COEUR d’ALENE — Amanda Luckett had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (2-4) past the Clippers (1-7) in the opening game of the Holiday Inn Express Cardinal Crossover at Rolly Williams Court.

Sidney Schultz and Jahdai Alcombrack scored nine points each for Bellevue, which faces Umpqua today at 3:30 p.m.

Trinity Betoney scored 21 points for South Puget Sound, which faces NIC tonight at 5:30.