Nelson sets mark in victory
Sophomore Lexie Nelson made all 12 of her free throws and finished with 21 points and Eastern Washington shook off a sluggish start and beat Southern Utah 79-70 in a Big Sky Conference basketball game Saturday night at Reese Court in Cheney.
The Eagles connected on 25 of 26 from the free-throw line altogether. Nelson’s effort broke the school record set by Lisa Graber, who made all 11 of her free throws in a game against Northern Arizona in 1992.
Kylie Huerta added 12 points and nine assists for EWU, which came alive after scoring just seven points in the first 11 minutes.
Hailey Mandelko led three Thunderbirds in double figures with 14 points.
The Eagles improved to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in the BSC, maintaining their hold on third place. Southern Utah fell to 10-9 and 4-5. EWU will play at Montana State on Thursday and at Montana next Saturday.
Whitworth 67, Pacific Lutheran 54: Emily Travis made 14 of 15 free throws and scored a game-high 20 points to guide the Pirates to a Northwest Conference win over the Lutes in Parkland, Wash.
Travis’ point-total was a season high and tied a career high.
Kayla Johnson added 11 points for Whitworth, which made 24 of its 27 free-throw attempts. The Pirates took advantage of 19 turnovers and held a 15-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
Megan Abdo and Sarah Barnes scored 10 points apiece for Pacific Lutheran.
Whitworth improved to 14-5 overall and 7-3 in conference games. PLU fell to 6-11 and 3-7.
Idaho 64, Texas-San Antonio 45: Four players reached double figures in scoring and the Vandals (9-11, 6-3) pulled away in the second half and beat the Roadrunners (11-9, 5-4) in a Western Athletic Conference game in San Antonio.
Christina Salvatore, Connie Ballestero and Jessica Graham each scored 13 points for Idaho. The Vandals won the rebounding battle 49-27 and had 13 blocks. Ali Forde and Alyssa Charlston had five blocks apiece.
North Idaho 68, Salt Lake 54: The second-ranked Cardinals built a 10-point first-half lead and eased past the Bruins in a Scenic West Athletic Conference contest in Coeur d’Alene.
Angela Woods connected on 5 of 7 3-pointers and finished with 16 points to lead NIC. Georgia Stirton and Hannah Love added 11 points apiece and Katie Buskey chipped in 10.
Miranda Averett and Natalie Parsons scored 11 points each for Salt Lake.
NIC improved to 23-1 overall and 7-1 in the SWAC. The Bruins fell to 13-8 and 4-4.
Columbia Basin 67, CC Spokane 53: Hannah Depew scored 14 points and the Hawks crushed the Sasquatch in the first half and coasted to a NWAACC win at Spokane Community College.
Columbia Basin led cold-shooting CCS 38-13 at halftime. The Sasquatch made 6 of 25 shots from the floor, including 1 of 9 from beyond the arc, in the first half. CCS turned it around in the second half, but it was too late.
Rylie Holsinger had game-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Sasquatch. CCS fell to 11-8 overall and 4-3 in the NWAACC. The Hawks improved to 10-9 and 6-1.