Cardinals bow out in first round
EVERETT, Wash. — A cold day shooting cost the North Idaho College women’s basketball team on Thursday afternoon.
Sophomore Whitney Meier — a Lake City High product — scored 24 points and freshman Sydney Hovde had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Cardinals, who shot 20 of 76 (26.3 percent) from the field in an 84-63 loss to the Lower Columbia College Devils of Longview, Wash., in the opening round of the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at Everett Community College.
NIC, in its first appearance in the NWAC tournament, finishes 19-10. The Cardinals, the third seed from the Eastern Region, did not qualify for the postseason last year, their first in the NWAC after switching from the NJCAA.
NIC beat Lower Columbia twice during the regular season, 74-63 at a crossover tournament at Clackamas, then 62-57 at a tournament at Lower Columbia 12 days later.
Aside from Hovde, who was 7 of 11 from the field, NIC was 13 of 65 (20 percent) from the field.
Cierra Dvorak, also a sophomore from Lake City, had 11 points and five assists for the Cardinals.
Lower Columbia, the second seed from the Western Region, jumped out to a 43-18 halftime lead. The Devils (23-8), which shot 28 of 52 (53.8 percent) from the field, will face Bellevue (21-8) in a quarterfinal game today at 4 p.m.
NIC’s men open NWAC tourney play Saturday at 10 p.m. vs. Lower Columbia.
NORTH IDAHO
Cierra Dvorak 4-14 3-4 11, Ronnie Harris 0-11 1-2 1, Whitney Meier 7-21 4-5 24, Kelsey Auer 1-5 0-0 2, Sydney Hovde 7-11 2-4 16, Lana Berg 0-4 4-5 4, Shae Logozzo 1-6 0-0 3, Shelby Jordan 0-2 2-2 2, Zosha Krupa 0-2 0-0 0, Gia Sorn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-76 16-22 63.
LOWER COLUMBIA
Kenya Lorton 4-9 0-0 10, Shanay Dotson 6-8 8-11 20, Madison Crews 5-7 4-6 16, Hayley Niles 5-11 3-7 13, Cherita Daugherty 7-10 6-8 22, Jaden Howard 0-1 1-1 1, Nina Bailey 0-1 0-0 0, Nizhoni Wheeler 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 28-52 22-33 84.
North Idaho 10 8 21 24 — 63
L. Columbia 21 22 17 24 — 83
3-point goals — NIC 7-25 (Dvorak 0-3, Harris 0-5, Meier 6-12, Logozzo 1-3, Jordan 0-1, Krupa 0-1), LCC 6-18 (Lorton 2-5, Crews 2-4, Niles 0-2, Daugherty 2-2, Howard 0-1, Bailey 0-1, Wheeler 0-3). Rebounds — NIC 43 (Hovde 17), LCC 47 (Niles 15). Assists — NIC 9 (Dvorak 5), LCC 20 (Crews 7). Team fouls — NIC 24, LCC 19. Fouled out — Meier.
NORTHWEST ATHLETIC
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN
SWEET 16
Thursday’s Games
Columbia Basin 81, Centralia 46
Umpqua 83, Peninsula 62
Lower Columbia 84, North Idaho 63
Bellevue 61, Mt. Hood 57
Everett 102, Clackamas 77
Big Bend 70, Grays Harbor 59
Walla Walla 78, Highline 37
Game 8 — Skagit Valley (13-14) vs. Lane (22-6), late
ELITE 8
Friday’s Games
Game 9 — Columbia Basin (22-8) vs. Umpqua (29-1), 2 p.m.
Game 10 — Lower Columbia (23-8) vs. Bellevue (21-8), 4
Game 11 — Everett (21-6) vs. Big Bend (21-9), 6
Game 12 — Walla Walla (29-1) vs. Winner Game 8, 8