NIC women in national JC basketball semis

North Idaho College claimed its 30th victory of the women’s basketball season with a 66-38 victory over the State Fair CC Roadrunners on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the NJCAA National Championships in Salina, Kan.

The fifth-seeded Cardinals (30-3) will face the tournament’s top seed, Pensacola of Florida (35-0), at 6 p.m. PDT.

Kama Griffitts led the way for NIC with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Tugce Canitez added 13 points and 13 rebounds while Shakiana Edwards-Teasley pulled down 14 rebounds and Amanda Carlton put in 11 points, making both of her 3-pointers.

The …

North Idaho College claimed its 30th victory of the women’s basketball season with a 66-38 victory over the State Fair CC Roadrunners on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the NJCAA National Championships in Salina, Kan.

The fifth-seeded Cardinals (30-3) will face the tournament’s top seed, Pensacola of Florida (35-0), at 6 p.m. PDT.

Kama Griffitts led the way for NIC with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Tugce Canitez added 13 points and 13 rebounds while Shakiana Edwards-Teasley pulled down 14 rebounds and Amanda Carlton put in 11 points, making both of her 3-pointers.

The Cardinals shot 43 percent while holding the Roadrunners (28-7) to 26 percent from the field.

NIC led 26-19 at the half.

• The Idaho women’s first postseason appearance in 25 years was short-lived as the Vandals lost to South Dakota 62-47 at Vermillion, S.D., in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational.

The Coyotes (20-11) committed only nine turnovers in the game and were able to turn Idaho’s 12 turnovers into 20 points.

Idaho (15-16) was led by the 17th double-double of the season from Yinka Olorunnife, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Derisa Taleni had 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting for the Vandals.

The loss ends one of the best seasons in years for the Vandals. The 15 wins are the most in a season since 2004-05, and UI reached the postseason for the first time since winning the 1986 WNIT.

Wrestling

Adam Hall (Bonners Ferry) won his first two matches for Boise State at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia. Both of his victories came by decision, 4-1 over DJ Meagher of Cornell and 6-2 over Colton Salazar of Purdue.

Hall’s teammate, Levi Jones (Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls), won his prelim, 9-3 over Hicks Manson of Cornell, then was pinned at 3:34 by Matthew Bronson of Lock Haven before bouncing back in his first-round consolation match with a 6-3 win over Andrew Schutt of Buffalo.

Penn State leads the team competition. The event concludes Saturday.

Baseball

Four unearned runs in the fourth inning, including Brennan Gowens’ bases-loaded triple, boosted Fresno State to a 7-5 nonconference victory over Washington State (9-5) in Fresno, Calif.

Gowens’ triple gave the Bulldogs (12-2) a 6-4 lead. Adam Conley (4-1) got the loss.