NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinals fall at Utah State-Eastern, drop to third in SWAC heading into final weekend
• MEN
PRICE, Utah — Entering the day tied for second with the College of Southern Idaho, North Idaho College shot 21 of 62 (33.9%) from the field in an 89-66 loss to Utah State-Eastern in Scenic West Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon.
Vaughn Weems, a freshman from Federal Way, Wash., had 20 points and six steals off the bench for NIC (21-8, 7-4 SWAC), which dropped to third in the conference. Snow (21-6, 6-5) and Utah State-Eastern (18-8, 6-5) are tied for fourth heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
NIC travels to CSI (21-8, 8-3), which is in sole possession of second after the Golden Eagles' 79-67 win over Snow in Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday.
Salt Lake (26-3, 9-2) remains atop the conference after beating Southern Nevada (3-21, 1-11) on Saturday.
The top four teams in the conference advance to the Region 18 tournament March 8-9 at the site of the SWAC champion.
Dante Sawyer added 14 points for NIC.
Martell Williams, a sophomore transfer from Southern Utah, had 33 points and nine rebounds for Utah State-Eastern.
NORTH IDAHO
Austin Johnson 3-8 4-4 11, Cobi Campbell 0-5 2-4 2, Kyle Karstetter 3-6 0-1 9, Dante Sawyer 5-15 4-6 14, Jalen Skalskiy 1-7 0-0 2, Terin Johnson 1-3 3-4 5, Vaughn Weems 7-11 5-9 20, D’Andre Clermont 0-0 0-0 0, Tayshawn Colvin 0-4 1-2 1, Bryce Henry 1-1 0-0 2, Tanner Tollestrup 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 19-30 66.
UTAH STATE-EASTERN
Terrian Roy 2-4 0-0 5, Sheldon Romirell 1-3 0-0 3, Jack Jamele 2-7 0-0 5, Dyson Lighthall 5-7 0-0 10, Martel Williams 13-21 3-4 33, Trace Ross 1-2 2-2 5, Ethan Copeland 5-12 3-3 16, Brady Arbon 3-4 0-0 6, Ryker Richards 1-2 2-3 4, Kendall Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Taft Mitchell 0-2 2-4 2. Totals 33-65 12-16 89.
Halftime — USUE 48-33. 3-point goals — NIC 5-20 (A. Johnson 1-4, Campbell 0-4, Karstetter 3-4, Sawyer 0-2, Skalskiy 0-3, Weems 1-1, Colvin 0-1, Tollestrup 0-1), USUE 11-26 (Roy 1-2, Romirell 1-3, Jamele 1-4, Williams 4-6, Ross 1-2, Copeland 3-9). Rebounds — NIC 35 (Skalskiy 6), USUE 48 (Lighthall, Williams 7). Assists — NIC 7 (Campbell 3), USUE 13 (Copeland 3). Team fouls — NIC 14, USUE 25. Fouled out — Jamele. Technical fouls — Weems, NIC team.
• WOMEN
Utah State-Eastern 87
North Idaho 49
PRICE, Utah — The Cardinals were limited to 17 points in the first half of a Scenic West Athletic Conference loss to the Eagles.
Sophomore Solei Elletson and freshman Maddie Williamson scored 12 points each for NIC (8-16, 1-8 SWAC), concludes the season against College of Southern Idaho next Saturday in Twin Falls.
Utah State-Eastern (20-6, 5-5) will be the fourth and final seed to the women's Region 18 tournament March 15-16 at the site of the conference champion.
Ellie Esplin scored 16 points for Utah State-Eastern.
NORTH IDAHO
Solei Elletson 5-14 1-2 12, Maddie Williamson 4-8 2-2 12, Addie Kiefer 2-6 1-1 6, Faye Davis 3-9 1-1 7, Kendall Pickford 3-8 0-0 8, Anna Serret 2-5 0-0 4, Diana Morales 0-2 0-2 0, Iratxe Amorrortu 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 5-8 49.
UTAH STATE-EASTERN
Janel Blazzard 2-7 0-0 4, Olivia Nielson 2-5 0-0 4, Japrix Weaver 0-2 2-4 2, Brinlee McRae 5-10 1-1 12, Hadley Humphreys 7-10 1-2 15, Ellie Esplin 6-8 3-3 16, Summer Christensen 4-6 2-2 13, McKenzie Allen 4-5 2-2 11, Aly Coombs 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Anderson 1-3 0-2 2, Kianna Lighthall 0-3 0-0 0, Annie Stinar 2-4 2-2 8, Teuila Fa’alogo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-64 13-18 87.
North Idaho 11 6 12 20 — 49
Utah State-Eastern 26 15 20 26 — 87
3-point goals — NIC 6-18 (Elletson 1-5, Williamson 2-3, Kiefer 1-1, Pickford 2-6, Serret 0-1, Amorrortu 0-2), USUE 8-18 (Blazzard 0-3, Nielson 0-1, Weaver 0-1, McRae 1-4, Esplin 1-1, Christensen 3-4, Allen 1-1, Anderson 0-1, Stinar 2-2). Rebounds — NIC 35 (Pickford 8), USUE 37 (Humphreys 11). Assists — NIC 10 (Amorrortu 6), USUE 19 (Nielson 3). Team fouls — NIC 15, USUE 14. Fouled out — none.