Cardinal Women Do An About-Face Nic’s Win Gives Squad Chance At Fifth In National Tourney

It’s off to Six Flags amusement park in Dallas for the North Idaho College women’s basketball team after a redeeming performance Thursday following its worst of the season a day earlier.

And the Cardinals deserve such an entertaining day off after an about-face effort in an 83-77 win over traditional qualifier Louisburg of North Carolina in the NJCAA Division I Tournament.

NIC (29-5) will return to Tyler Junior College’s Wagstaff Gym on Saturday to play for the school’s first-ever women’s trophy in the fifth-sixth game. The Cardinals will take on the Casper (Wyo.)-Kansas City (Kan.) winner at 2 p.m. PST. Casper (32-3) and Kansas City (33-2) play today.

One of a handful of key players Thursday was sophomore wing Jana Nearing, who was nonexistent offensively in NIC’s first two games at nationals.

Nearing, a combined 3 of 17 from the field and 12 points in those two games, broke out for 19 points as NIC beat a talented and deep team. Just as important as the points by Nearing were rebounds. The 5-foot-10 Nearing, who has been guarded by players 3 to 6 inches taller than her the whole tournament, was a terror on the boards as she pulled down a game-high 19. NIC outrebounded Louisburg 58-43.

Nearing admitted she played well below par before Thursday.

“We got embarrassed last night and we just wanted to win this game, but we also wanted to show them that we’re not like we played last night,” Nearing said, alluding to NIC’s 89-55 loss to Central Arizona Wednesday. “We took it personally.”

NIC allowed the finish to be much more dramatic than necessary, though.

A basket by reserve post Erin Dowhy off a nice dish from Mandy Jacques put NIC ahead 80-69 with 2:28 left. But that’s when things became tense.

The Cardinals would miss five free throws - three of which were the front end of one-and-one situations - over the next 1:27

The missed free throws seemed to renew the Hurricanes’ energy. A 3-pointer, a basket in the key and a layup off an NIC turnover pulled Louisburg within 80-77 with 10 seconds left.

NIC’s Tammy Goyne finally broke through at the free-throw line, making the first of a one-an-done with eight ticks left. Although she missed the second, Jacques corralled her seventh rebound and was fouled.

Jacques, who scored a team-high 20 points, made both free throws with :04 left as the Cardinals began to celebrate.

“I didn’t feel comfortable at any point until about 4 seconds,” NIC coach Greg Crimp said, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his dress shirt so he could take a deep breath of relief.

NIC played its best opening half of the tournament Thursday, scoring 39 points and moving the ball unselfishly. But Louisburg, playing in its seventh national of the nine held in Tyler, also played well in the first half as it took a 41-39 lead into intermission.

Louisburg padded the lead at 48-43 in the first 3 minutes of the second half. It would be the Hurricanes’ biggest lead and it would prove to be short-lived.

NIC wrested control with its leading scorer, 6-foot sophomore post Shawna Rainer, on the bench icing a shiner above her right eye.

She took an elbow and had to leave with just over 17 minutes remaining. She wouldn’t return, and the injury was multi-colored afterward.

Dowhy filled in magnificently, scoring 10 of her 14 points in the final 15 minutes.

Two free throws by Nearing gave NIC the lead for good at 49-48 with 15:22 left. The points were part of a 16-0 run that put the Cardinals ahead 59-48 with 12:21 remaining.

Goyne made two free throws to give NIC its biggest lead at 69-55 at the 7:21 mark.

NIC 83, Louisburg 73

North Idaho (29-5) - Goyne 1-5 3-4 5, Jacques 6-11 6-7 20, Richards 2-6 0-0 4, Dickson 3-10 0-3 8, Viebrock 0-2 0-0 0, Albers 0 -0 0-0 0, Nearing 5- 14 9-12 19, Rainer 2-7 2-4 6, Shepard 2-5 0-0 4, Jensen 1-4 0-0 3, Dowhy 7-11 0-4 14. Totals 29-75 20-34 83.

Louisburg College (28-3) - Howard 2-12 2-2 7, Clayton 5-10 2-2 13, Hardee 1-2 1-2 3, Shearer 0-0 0-0 0, Holland 0-7 0-0 0, Drummond 0-1 1-2 1, Miller 4-9 6-10 14, Davis 10-21 0-0 23, Banks 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 6-16 2-2 16. Totals 28-80 14-20 73.

Halftime - Louisburg 41, NIC 39. Total fouls - N 18, L 26. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none. 3-pointers - N 5-15 (Jacques 2-6, Dickson 2-4, Jensen 1-2), L 7-20 (Davis 3-6, Howard 1-4, Clayton 1-4, Jones 2-4). Assists - N 21 (Goyne 5), L 7 (Davis 4). Steals - N 12 (Nearing 4), L 17 (Howard 6). Rebounds - N 58 (Nearing 19), L 43 (Miller 11). Att - 200 est.

Thursday’s scores

Loser-out games

North Idaho College 83, Louisburg 77

Seminole 81, Hiwassee 70

Copiah-Lincoln 69, Vincennes 60

John A. Logan 74, Savannah Tech 53

Championship quarterfinals

Central Florida 78, Kansas City 58

Weatherford 79, Casper 71

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo