Cardinal women notch first conference win

EPHRAIM, Utah — A strong fourth quarter propelled the North Idaho College women's basketball team to a 71-68 victory over Snow College on Thursday night at the Horne Activity Center, the Cardinals' first conference victory in their first year back after leaving the Scenic West Athletic Conference following the 2016 season.

"We just kept plugging away; I'm proud of the way we finished the game," NIC coach Nate Covill said. "I let my assistant (Louie Vargas) talk to them at halftime, and he did a great job. I think the girls were tired of playing low, and not playing to our level."

Addie Kiefer (Lakeland High) and Kendall Pickford (Lake City) each scored 15 points for NIC 8-14, 1-6 SWAC), which lost 78-70 to Snow in the conference opener Jan. 10 in Coeur d'Alene. Kiefer had seven rebounds, and Pickford had five boards and five assists for NIC, which trailed 49-42 after three quarters.

Deniece Ryan and Iratxe Amorrortu each added 11 for the Cardinals, and Solei Elletson had 10 points and six rebounds.

Enid Vaifanua scored a game-high 19 points for Snow (12-12, 2-6).

NIC plays at Salt Lake Community College on Saturday.

NORTH IDAHO

Deniece Ryan 4-6 3-4 11, Maddie Willamson 4-13 0-0 9, Addie Kiefer 5-10 5-9 15, Faye Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Kendall Pickford 4-13 3-4 15, Solei Elletson 3-9 2-4 10, Kalysta Troman 0-2 0-0 0, Diana Morales 0-1 0-0 0, Iratxe Amorrortu 5-7 0-0 11.

SNOW

Enid Vaifanue 6-14 5-5 19, Brooke Pennington 2-6 0-0 5, Maliyah Elliott 6-11 1-4 13, Ainsley Thurber 8-18 0-0 18, Signe Bang 0-4 0-0 0, Dalana Jakovljevic 0-3 3-4 3, Lili Suguturaga 0-1 0-0 0, Iyala Beh 4-5 2-4 10.

North Idaho    12    13    17    29    —    71

Snow    19    16    14    19    —    68

3-point goals — NIC 8-24 (Williamson 1-4, Pickford 4-11, Elletson 2-5, Troman 0-2, Amorrortu 1-2), Snow 5-14 (Vaifanua 2-6, Pennington 1-3, Thurber 2-4, Bang 0-1, Jakovljevic 3-4, Beh 2-4). Rebounds — NIC 38 (Ryan 8), Snow 43 (Elliott 9). Assists — NIC 12 (Pickford 5), Snow 16 (Pennington 7). Fouled out — Amorrortu, Vaifanua. Total fouls — NIC 19, Snow 18.

To view the full article, please visit the CDA Press at this link.