NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal women slip in Utah; NIC men move into second

| February 28, 2025 1:14 AM

• WOMEN

PRICE, Utah — North Idaho College entered Thursday’s Scenic West Athletic Conference with the hopes of hosting the Region 18 Tournament March 13-14 at Rolly Williams Court.

Now, the Cardinals are hoping to remain in the top two spots.

North Idaho fell 58-46 to Utah State-Eastern on Thursday in conference play, giving Southern Idaho the conference title and right to host regionals by holding a 2-1 tiebreaker over the Cardinals.

NIC (17-11, 9-5 SWAC) began Thursday tied with Southern Idaho (22-7, 10-4), which beat Snow 81-68 in Ephraim, Utah.

“We want to be playing our best going into the last part of the year, and we’re struggling through some things right now,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, who played without freshman guard Esmeralda Galindo a majority of the game due to an injury. “Essie, we thought got hurt against CSI (last Saturday), and she tried to play through it, but she wasn’t good and we decided to pull the plug on her. We’d rather have her healthy for the tournament.”

NIC finished 2-1 against both Salt Lake and Utah State-Eastern.

“We still have our destiny in our hands,” Covill said. “Hopefully we can regroup with some healthy bodies and go into the tournament feeling good about ourselves.”

Utah State-Eastern (16-12, 8-6) is now tied for third with Salt Lake (19-9, 8-6), which beat Colorado Northwestern (3-27, 0-15) 64-46 in Taylorsville, Utah. The top four teams qualify for the Region 18 tourney.

Sophomore Kylani Rookstol had 15 points and two steals for NIC, which shot 19 of 52.

Madison Anderson scored 18 points for Utah State-Eastern, which hosts CSI on Saturday.

NORTH IDAHO

Chloe Collin 5-13 2-2 14, Kylani Rookstool 7-14 0-0 15, Esmeralda Galindo 3-7 2-2 8, Iratxe Amorrortu 0-3 1-2 1, Summer Faleafa 1-5 0-0 2, Tiarnee Smith 0-2 0-2 0, Ripeka Edwards 1-4 0-0 2, Emmalee Secrest 2-3 0-0 4, Tayler Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Elisa Holakeituai 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 5-8 46.

UTAH STATE-EASTERN

Ellie Esplin 7-13 2-3 16, McKenzie Allen 4-12 0-0 11, Aly Cooms 1-5 1-1 3, Madison Anderson 8-9 1-1 18, Addasyn Scrivner 0-6 0-0 0, Avery Sanders 0-3 2-2 2, Brynn Wagner 0-0 0-0 0, Marlee Piper 3-6 2-2 8. Totals 23-54 8-9 58.

North Idaho 12 17 9 8 — 46

Utah State-Eastern 15 13 18 12 — 58

3-point goals — NIC 3-14 (Collin 2-4, Rookstool 1-3, Galindo 0-1, Amorrortu 0-2, Faleafa 0-3, Holakeituai 0-1), USUE 4-17 (Esplin 0-3, Allen 3-6, Coombs 0-1, Anderson 1-2, Scrivner 0-2, Sanders 0-2, Pieper 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 29 (Collin 9), USUE 35 (Esplin, Coombs 7). Assists — NIC 8 (Collin 4), USUE 16 (Scrivner 5). Team fouls — NIC 10, USUE 10. Fouled out — none.

• MEN

North Idaho 98

Utah State-Eastern 87

PRICE, Utah — Sophomore Vaughn Weems, who leads the NJCAA in scoring with 27.2 points per game, had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, who moved into the No. 2 seed position to regionals with the Scenic West Athletic Conference with a win over the Eagles.

NIC (18-11, 8-6 SWAC) are tied for second in league with Southern Idaho (20-9, 8-6), which lost to top-ranked Snow 85-63 in Ephraim, Utah, on Thursday. The Cardinals hold a 2-1 tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles, though, after winning the final two games of the regular season between the schools.

NIC concludes the regular season at league-leading Snow (28-1, 14-0) on Saturday. Salt Lake (19-11, 7-8) beat Colorado Northwestern (16-14, 2-13) in Taylorsville, Utah, and is in fourth place.

Freshmen Ne’quan Brown and Dace Pleasant scored 15 points each for NIC, which led 52-37 at halftime.

Mark Huber scored 24 points for Utah State-Eastern (11-13, 4-10).

NORTH IDAHO

Vaughn Weems 8-11 8-8 25, Deng Diew 3-7 6-10 13, Ne’quan Brown 7-15 0-0 15, Dace Pleasant 5-13 3-5 15, Tayshawn Colvin 1-3 2-4 4, Jeremiah Sibley 1-3 3-4 6, Sam Marbury 4-7 1-2 10, Jacori Ervin 1-1 3-4 5, Bryce Henry 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 32-65 26-37 98.

UTAH STATE-EASTERN

Kayin Turner 6-10 0-2 13, Ryker Richards 1-2 0-0 3, Mark Huber 7-12 7-8 24, Jaxon Heiden 5-9 3-5 14, Ike Palmer 3-14 12-15 19, Sevastian Rosado 2-8 3-4 8, Brooks Jones 3-4 0-2 6, Justin Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 25-36 87.

Halftime — NIC 52-37. 3-point goals — NIC 8-19 (Weems 1-2, Diew 1-3, Brown 1-3, Pleasant 2-5, Sibley 1-1, Marbury 1-2, Simmons 1-3), USUE 8-21 (Turner 1-2, Richards 1-2, Huber 3-4, Heiden 1-2, Palmer 1-5, Rosado 1-6). Rebounds — NIC 47 (Pleasant 12), USUE 27 (Huber 5). Assists — NIC 10 (Brown 3), USUE 14 (Rosado 6). Team fouls — NIC 26, USUE 28. Fouled out — Brown, Pleasant, Heiden, Jones.