Nic Settles For Ugly Win Over Dixie; Vandals Lose

College women

Ugly or not, North Idaho College women’s basketball coach Greg Crimp will take Thursday’s 59-47 victory over Dixie (Utah) College.

“Sometimes you win ugly,” Crimp said after the game at NIC’s Christianson Gymnasium. “Right now we needed a win more than we needed pretty.”.

The Cardinals improved to 7-10 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference and 11-15 overall. The Rebels are 12-4, 18-4.

“We couldn’t put them away,” Crimp said. “We had a couple of chances to run away with it, then we let them come back.”

Neither team took charge early, as they combined for 27 first-half turnovers.

A free throw by post Michelle Greenwood gave NIC a 14-13 lead at 9 minutes before halftime. The shot was the start of a 12-0 NIC run, as the Rebels went scoreless for the next 8 minutes.

The Cardinals led 27-17 at the half.

Dixie post Anje Cazier picked up her third foul with 6:42 to go in the first half, but returned to start the second half.

Cazier scored seven consecutive points to rally the Rebels to within 27-24, forcing Crimp to call a timeout.

NIC then stretched its lead to 41-28 with 9:32 to go.

Julie Wilkins and Stephanie Suter led NIC with 12 points apiece. Jessica Cooper scored 16 for Dixie.

The Cardinals resume league play Saturday night at home, against Snow (Utah) College.

NAU 71, Idaho 66

A 5-0 run in the final 3 minutes allowed Northern Arizona University to defeat the visiting University of Idaho in a Big Sky Conference game at Flagstaff, Ariz.

Idaho had two chances to take the lead before the NAU run, but failed on both.

The Vandals (3-8, 5-18) must win their final three conference games to have a shot at postseason. They also need help from other teams.

Amy Yanish scored 15 and Karli Rikli 13 for the victorious Lumberjacks (5-7, 13-11). Minday Rice had 24 points and 17 rebounds, and Kelli Johnson and Kerri Wykes 12 points apiece for Idaho.

Weber St. 71, Eastern 55

Rachelle Gardner scored 24 as Weber State (4-8, 14-10) defeated visiting Eastern Washington University 71-55 in a Big Sky game at Ogden, Utah.

The Eagles (5-6, 9-14) are fighting for fourth place and the final berth to the league tournament. EWU plays NAU on Saturday.

Lori Napier had 16 points and nine rebounds for EWU.

San Francisco 93, Gonzaga 77

Brittany Lindhe led seven players in double figures with 17 points as the University of San Francisco defeated visiting Gonzaga University for its West Coast Conference-record 12 consecutive win.

Linde, Andrea Kagie and Valerie Gillon had nine rebounds apiece for the Dons (12-1, 20-4), who also won their team-record 14th consecutive home game.

Linde added a team-high six assists and four steals.

Sarah Christensen had 20 points and six rebounds, and Amy Jo Silva added 13 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs (4-9, 9-15).

CCS 68, WWCC 55

Melissa Davies had 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead Community Colleges of Spokane to a win over visiting Walla Walla CC in a Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges playoff game.