EWU women clinch Big Sky berth

Brianne Ryan scored 17 points and Julie Piper added 15 points and seven rebounds as Eastern Washington beat Northern Colorado 63-52 on Friday in Cheney to secure a spot in the Big Sky women’s basketball tournament.

The Eagles (16-9, 9-3 Big Sky) are the first team to secure a berth in the six-team tournament, which will be hosted by the regular-season conference champion March 11-13.

•Tugce Canitez scored 18 points with 15 rebounds in a losing cause as North Idaho College fell to Southern Idaho (19-8, 11-6) 59-53 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game in Twin Falls, Idaho. Camille Reynolds added 11 points for NIC (21-5, 12-5 SWAC).

Men’s basketball

Renado Parker led three Cardinals in double figures as North Idaho beat Southern Idaho (18-9, 10-7) 80-75 in Twin Falls, Idaho, in a SWAC contest.

Mickeal Hale scored 16 points and Deandrea Taylor added 10 off the bench for the Cardinals (23-4, 13-4 SWAC). Guy Marc Michel collected a game-high 13 rebounds.

Softball

North Idaho College swept an SWAC doubleheader with Western Nevada (1-11, 0-6), winning 13-1 and 9-1 in Coeur d’Alene. The Cardinals (10-8, 7-3 SWAC) have won six games in a row.

Indoor track

Idaho’s Kelly Jacka won the 200 meters (24.77) and ran a leg on the winning 4x400 relay at the Vandal Collegiate meet at the Kibbie Dome.

Eastern Washington won both women’s throwing events, with Erica Chaney taking the shot (46 feet, 2 inches) and Nicole Luckenbach the weight with a school record 61-111/4.

Whitworth’s Jeff Kintner moved up to third on the national NCAA Division III shot put list with a 54-101/4 heave to win that event.

Junior hockey

Darren Tarasoff and Ryan Aynsley scored to give the Castlegar Rebels a 2-0 win over the Spokane Braves in Game 1 of their opening-round KIJHL playoff series in Castlegar, B.C.

The best-of-7 series resumes tonight at 7:30.