NIC BASKETBALL: With wins, Cardinal women, men set up big sophomore day Saturday against Salt Lake

• WOMEN

COEUR d’ALENE — The Cardinal women did a little something on Thursday night. 

Should they do it again on Saturday, that will really be something more. 

Freshman Esmeralda Galindo had 21 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists for the Cardinals, who beat the Colorado Northwestern Spartans 71-50 at Rolly Williams Court, moving to the top of the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings by a half-game. 

NIC (16-9, 8-3 SWAC) hosts No. 23 Salt Lake (18-6, 7-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Cardinals final home game of the season.

“The girls have done a great job of working hard, staying focused and executing the gameplan,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, whose team was 1-2 in conference after a home loss to Salt Lake, but then won seven of its last eight to move out front. “At Salt Lake, it was a good game and I almost let it get away. We’re excited for this matchup on Saturday and trying to establish ourselves. We kind of came from nowhere and we’re trying to prove we’re going to be around. We just need to be dialed in on Saturday.” 

NIC sophomore Kylani Rookstol had 20 points and two steals for the Cardinals, who held Colorado Northwestern to 17-of-52 shooting. 

“I thought defensively, we were connected together on that end,” Covill said. “We took care of the glass, which was awesome to see. When we’re dialed in on the defensive end, we’re a good team. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but defense is where we’re going to butter our bread.” 

In other conference action, Snow (16-9, 5-5 SWAC) beat host Utah State-Eastern (13-12, 5-6) in Price, Utah on Thursday. Utah State-Eastern entered the game fourth in the conference standings. 

Taylor Billman scored 15 points for Colorado Northwestern (3-23, 0-11), which faces Southern Idaho on Saturday in Twin Falls. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Alivia Hutton 0-7 2-4 2, Shyann Farbes 1-3 0-0 2, Cimonie Martinez 1-3 0-0 3, Taylor Billman 5-9 5-6 15, Makenzie Castille 5-7 0-0 14, Charity Posey 3-15 4-4 10, Shunbaah Begay 1-3 0-0 2, Cassandra Perez 0-2 0-0 0, Chloe Gronewoller 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 17-52 11-14 50. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 4-9 1-2 9, Kylani Rookstool 8-15 2-2 20, Esmeralda Galindo 8-11 4-6 21, Iratxe Amorrortu 2-6 2-2 4, Summer Faleafa 1-3 0-0 2, Tiarnee Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Larkin Christiansen 0-0 0-0 0, Ripeka Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Molly Axell 0-3 0-0 0, Emmalee Secrest 4-6 3-4 11, Tayler Adams 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 28-58 12-16 71. 

Colorado Northwestern    12    7    14    17    —    50 

North Idaho        15    21    16    19    —    71 

3-point goals — CNCC 5-15 (Hutton 0-2, Farbes 0-1, Martinez 1-2, Billman 0-1, Castille 4-5, Posey 0-3, Begay 0-1), NIC 3-17 (Collin 0-1, Rookstool 2-4, Galindo 1-2, Amorrortu 0-3, Faleafa 0-2, Edwards 0-1, Axell 0-3, Secrest 0-1). Rebounds — CNCC 23 (Farbes, Martinez, Posey 3), NIC 39 (Galindo 10). Assists — CNCC 7 (Farbes, Martinez 2), NIC 12 (Galindo 4). Team fouls — CNCC 15, NIC 15. Fouled out — none. 

• MEN

North Idaho 72 

Colorado Northwestern 63

COEUR d’ALENE — Freshman Dace Pleasant had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals in a Scenic West Athletic Conference win over the Spartans at Rolly Williams Court. 

“Dace is playing really well right now,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “He’s really starting to come into his own. Going from high school, where you’re the man to finding his role here. He’s a great scorer, but he’s doing everything he can to help us win now.” 

NIC (15-11, 5-6 SWAC) remains fourth in the conference heading into Saturday’s game against visiting Salt Lake (17-9, 5-6), which beat Southern Idaho (19-7, 7-4) on Wednesday in Twin Falls. No. 1 Snow (25-1, 11-0) beat Utah State-Eastern (10-11, 3-8) 83-73 in Thursday’s other conference game in Price, Utah, clinching the conference title and right to host the Region 18 Championships in March.

“Salt Lake had a good win at CSI on Wednesday,” Symons said. “The fourth-place team, you don’t really want to play Snow in that first game (at regionals). It’s really important for us to get into that third or second spot. We’ve got a lot to play for right now so we’ll have to watch film and get ready for Salt Lake on Saturday.” 

Colorado Northwestern (16-10, 2-9) upset NIC 84-81 on Jan. 23 in Rangely, Colo. The Cardinals won the first game of the year between the teams 78-76 in overtime on Jan. 9. 

“It was a grudge match,” Symons said. “We’ve had it on the calendar and were trying to get this one back. The guys were just mentally ready to play.” 

NIC sophomore Vaughn Weems, who leads the nation with 27.7 points per game, had 25 points and six steals. 

Tyler Christensen led Colorado Northwestern with 15 points. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Cole Johnson 5-12 0-0 13, Carson Forsey 2-6 0-0 5, Jamir Todd 3-6 0-0 6, Tyler Christensen 5-13 2-4 15, Mason Mickelsen 0-5 0-2 0, Elijah Kersey 0-0 0-0 0, Santiago Casarin 4-10 0-0 11, Arthur Videira 0-0 0-1-2 1, Mitch Jeppesen 5-13 1-2 12. Totals 24-65 4-10 63. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 10-18 3-7 25, Deng Diew 5-7 1-3 11, Ne’quan Brown 3-6 0-1 7, Dace Pleasant 8-16 3-3 21, Tayshawn Colvin 0-2 0-0 0, Jeremiah Sibley 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Marbury 2-7 0-1 4, Jacori Ervin 2-5 0-2 4, Bryce Henry 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 7-17 72. 

Halftime — NIC 42-33. 3-point goals — CNCC 11-32 (Johnson 3-6, Forsey 1-5, Todd 0-2, Christensen 3-6, Casarin 3-9, Jeppesen 1-4), NIC 5-14 (Weems 2-4, Brown 1-2, Pleasant 2-6, Colvin 0-1, Simmons 0-1). Rebounds — CNCC 42 (Mickelsen 9), NIC 33 (Pleasant 8). Assists — CNCC 8 (Johnson, Forsey, Christensen 2), NIC 10 (Diew 5). Team fouls — CNCC 20, NIC 12. Fouled out — none. 

    KYLE DISHAW PHOTOGRAPHY North Idaho College sophomore guard Iratxe Amorrortu drives to the basket during the second half of Thursday's Scenic West Athletic Conference game against Colorado Northwestern at Rolly Williams Court.