NIC out at national championship

SALINA, Kan. – North Idaho College did not go quietly, but the Cardinals did go down Friday in the third round of the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship tournament.

Three Cards scored in double figures and NIC had plenty of chances to steal the game in the closing seconds, but 22 turnovers turned out to be a few too many in a 64-59 loss to Walters State (Tenn.) at the Bicentennial Center.

NIC’s season comes to a close at 26-9 after the program’s first trip to nationals in a dozen years. Walters State – which suffered its first loss of the season Thursday – earned head coach Dave Kragel his 700th career victory. The Senators will play for fifth place today.

“We had four or five chances in the last two minutes, but it just wasn’t meant to be today,” Cardinals coach Chris Carlson said. “I thought Walters might’ve been a little more gassed than us at the end, but they were able to make the plays they needed to make. We had so many chances, we just couldn’t get the buckets we needed.”

The Cards’ offense looked fine early on. Kia Gibson didn’t have to guard the national JC player of the year, as she did in Thursday’s loss to Danielle Adams and Jefferson College, but the Cardinals’ sophomore center did pick up where she left off on offense.

Gibson, who scored 19 points against Jefferson, made a three-point play and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to give NIC an early 14-9 lead. But after Walters State tied it at 19, the Senators got four points apiece from Shakira White and Melanie Hemphill to take their first lead with 5:50 left in the first half.

NIC shot just 28 percent from the floor in the first half, including 2 of 14 on 3-pointers. The Cardinals’ 11 turnovers didn’t help the situation.

“We were getting the open looks we wanted, we just weren’t scoring,” Carlson said. “We played good man-to-man defense, though, and I think you know you have to play good defense to stay in the game with teams like this. Some of these teams just have a little more depth and quickness than we do.”

Natalie Nichols scored eight straight points early in the second half as NIC regained a one-point lead. After four consecutive Cardinals turnovers led to a 12-4 Walters State run, Lindsay Wimett and Bianca Cheever swished back-to-back 3-pointers to give NIC a 57-54 lead with 4:52 remaining.

That would be the Cardinals’ last lead.

Senators forward Rhon’Neisha Taylor answered with six points in a row down low, including a bucket that put Walters up 61-59 with a minute to play. NIC had two chances to force overtime, but Marielle McKean missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 22 seconds left, and Gibson missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key that would have made it 62-all with 2 seconds to play.

“Walters’ defense pushed us out of our offense pretty far,” Carlson said. “I think we gutted out a few baskets when we needed them, and some players stepped up like they always do to keep us hanging around. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Walters State was 14 of 26 at the free-throw line, but the Senators made three of their last four when it mattered most.

Wimett led NIC with 16 points, followed by Gibson’s 14 and Nichols’ 11.