Nic’s Powerful Finish Snows Under Badgers Kirk, Nearing, Burgess Shine As Cards Gain First League Win

A quick start. A lull. A big finish.

North Idaho College led 16-0, sputtered briefly, then used a second-half blitz to make Snow drift away, 73-43, in Scenic West Athletic Conference women’s basketball Thursday night at Christianson Gym.

NIC’s Tanya Kirk, Jana Nearing and Christi Burgess ganged up on Snow, which got off to horrid start. The Badgers (1-2 SWAC, 6-8 overall) didn’t get a shot off in the first 3 minutes.

It only got worse when Snow’s first two attempts were swatted by NIC center Sid Schraufnagel and the the next effort was an air ball.

Snow went 0 for 12 while NIC was assuming a 16-0 lead. However, NIC’s margin was trimmed to 31-26 at halftime after Snow’s pressure defense forced a flurry of turnovers.

Nearing bunched all 10 of her points into a 4-minute stretch of the second half that saw NIC expand its lead from 43-37 to 57-38. Burgess was solid throughout, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds.

Kirk had 24 points, including NIC’s first nine in the second half. She added 10 boards.

It was an offensive turnaround for NIC, which lost twice last weekend in Utah, scoring only 46 points in each game.

“We’re getting better shots,” Kirk said. “Jana and Christi are step-up players.”

NIC (1-2, 10-2) entertains Dixie on Saturday night at 5:30.

Snow was led by Kelly Olsen, who hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

North Idaho 73, Snow 43

SNOW (43)

Groll 0-1 0-0 0, Berry 1- 7 2-4 5, Peterson 1-6 0-0 2, Bradley 2-8 0-0 4, Hullinger 0-4 0-0 0, Pehrson 4-10 2-7 12, Rogers 0-2 3-4 3, Olsen 5-14 0-0 14, Lee 1-2 0-0 2, Tate 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 14-56 8-17 43. NORTH IDAHO (73)

Radmall 0-1 1-2 1, Grohs 1-6 0-0 2, Howerton 2-6 2-3 8, Jacques 3-5 0-0 6, Richards 0-5 0-0 0, Viebrock 0-1 0-0 0, Barrier 1-1 0-0 3, Nearing 3-3 4-6 10, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Burgess 4-6 1-1 9, Rainer 4-12 0-2 8, Schraufnagel 1-2 0-0 2, Kirk 8-15 7-11 24, Zrnic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 15-25 73.

Half- NIC 31-26. 3-point goals-Snow 7-18 (Olsen 4-8, Pehrson 2-5, Berry 1-2, Bradley 0-3), NIC 4-12 ( Howerton 2-6, Barrier 1-1, Kirk 1-2, Jacques 0-2, Richards 0-1). Fouls-Snow 23, NIC 14. Technical fouls-none. Fouled out-Lee. Rebounds-Snow 37 (Lee, Peterson each 8), NIC 43 (Kirk 10). Assists-Snow 12 (Pehrson, Berry each 3), NIC 21 (Richards 6).

, DataTimes