Cardinals get technical, take down No. 18 Salt Lake women

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Norh Idaho College women's basketball coach Nathan Covill has told his players that with good defense, his team can play through anything. 

Sometimes, even his mistakes. 

NIC stormed back in the fourth quarter, outscoring the 18th ranked Bruins 23-11 in the final period for a 58-54 Scenic West Athletic Conference win on Saturday at Bruin Arena. 

"Honestly, if we keep believing we're going to get stops, we can play with anyone," Covill said. "Defensively, we played great in the first quarter and kind of let down in the second. But we played hard throughout." 

As for the technical, Covill was whistled for throwing a marker in frustration as the Cardinals were held to two points in the third. 

"The girls just battled back and did it with a lot of grit and toughness," Covill said. "I think being on the road, it brings teams together when it's you against everyone else. I'm proud of the girls for overcoming our mistakes, especially mine." 

Freshman Esmeralda Galindo, the reigning NJCAA Player of the Week, had 21 points and four steals and sophomore Kylani Rookstool scored 16 points for NIC (13-8, 5-2 SWAC), which lost to Salt Lake at home 71-61 on Jan. 11. 

NIC hosts Utah State-Eastern on Thursday.

"I'm proud of the girls," Covill said. "They dug deep in spite of my mistakes. They get credit for this win. They've done a great job of buying into what we're trying to get them to do." 

Jeanne Rodriguez had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Salt Lake (16-5, 5-2). 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 3-5 0-0 6, Kylani Rookstool 4-7 7-7 16, Esmeralda Galindo 5-16 9-11 21, Iratxe Amorrortu 2-5 2-2 7, Summer Faleafa 0-2 0-0 0, Tiarnee Smith 2-4 1-1 6, Ripeka Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Emmalee Secrest 0-0 0-0 0, Elisa Holakeituai 1-6 0-2 2. Totals 17-47 19-23 58. 

SALT LAKE 

Simran Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Ahnica Russell-Brown 0-7 5-6 5, Nari Powers 0-1 2-2 2, Tahys Da Silva 3-4 8-8 14, Laura Di Stefano 0-2 0-0 0, Fabiana Poindujour 1-4 0-0 3, Blanche Toualeu 2-4 3-4 7, Analeise Maharaj 0-0 0-0 0, Ines Babaya 2-6 1-2 5, Jeanne Rodriguez 5-6 6-9 16. Totals 14-37 25-33 54. 

North Idaho    17    16    2    23    —    58 

Salt Lake    10    20    13    11    —    54 

3-point goals — NIC 5-13 (Rookstool 1-2, Galindo 2-5, Amorrortu 1-2, Faleafa 0-1, Smith 1-1, Edwards 0-1, Holakeituai 0-1), SLCC 1-9 (Russell Brown 0-2, Powers 0-1, Poindujour 1-4, Babaya 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 28 (Faleafa 5), SLCC 30 (Rodriguez 10). Assists — NIC 6 (Galindo 3), SLCC 11 (Russell-Brown, Toualeu, Babaya, Rodriguez 2). Team fouls — NIC 23, SLCC 19. Fouled out — Galindo. Technical fouls — NIC bench. 

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