Nic Gets Big Lift In Overtime To Stop Snow

North Idaho College had to work hard to gain a split of its Scenic West women’s basketball road weekend, going into overtime before defeating Snow College 85-75 Saturday at Ephraim, Utah.

With NIC trailing by a point in the final 10 seconds, Becki Huddle made 1 of 2 free throw attempts to tie the game. In the extra period, the Cardinals fell behind by three before Alisha Nater made a key bucket and Tammy Goyne followed with back-to-back 3-pointers.

Goyne had the touch throughout the game, making 4 of 5 3-pointers and 9 of 11 overall on the way to 26 points. She led the Cardinals with five assists.

Huddle didn’t shoot well (5 for 14), but was pounded enough to get to the free-throw line for 18 attempts, of which she made 10. She finished with 22 points. Nater added 15.

NIC’s victory follows Friday’s 81-60 loss at Dixie.

North Idaho 85, Snow 75 (OT)

North Idaho (18-4, 9-4) - Middlesworth 1-2 0-0 2, Goyne 9-11 4-5 26, Huddle 5-14 10-18 22, Grohs 3-7 3-4 9, Lemon 1-3 0-1 2, Rehder 0-0 0-0 0, Lindhe 0-3 0-0 0, Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Heier 0-1 0-0 0, Dowhy 1-4 1-2 3, Nater 6-13 2-5 15, Jensen 2-4 1-2 6. Totals 28-62 22-37 85.

Snow (13-11, 5-8) - Gillins 0-3 2-2 2, Russell 6-12 2-2 15, Braegger 2-6 3-3 7, Pugmire 1-6 6-8 9, Sudweeks 0-3 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Bennion 2-3 0-0 4, Harding 4-10 0-0 9, Westwood 3-6 5-7 11, Palmer 2-2 2-2 6, Young 2-4 6-8 10, Christiansen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-57 26-32 75.

Halftime - North Idaho 30, Snow 33. 3-point goals - North Idaho 7-16 (Goyne 4-5, Huddle 2-5, Jensen 1-2), Snow 3-16 (Russell 1-3, Pugmire 1-4, Harding 1-4). Fouled out - Bennion, Young. Rebounds - North Idaho 39 (Grohs 11), Snow 41 (Westwood 6). Assists - North Idaho 11 (Goyne 5), Snow 13 (Russell 4). Total fouls - North Idaho 24, Snow 26. Technicals - None. A - 200.

Wenatchee Valley 67, CCS 61

Shelley Massingale, Alana Carlander and Kelli Pilkington combined to score all but three of the Sasquatch’s points as Community Colleges of Spokane suffered a key loss in the East Division of the NWAACC.

Visiting Wenatchee Valley took over first place in the division at 7-1, one game ahead of 6-2 CCS.

Massingale led the Sasquatch with 21 points. Carlander scored 20 and Pilkington 17.

Spokane led 55-49 with 6 minutes remaining.

Wenatchee (21-5, 8-1) - Ochoa 0-1 1-2 1, K.Peterson 1-3 0-0 2, C.Peterson 4-14 1-2 9, Freeman 8-14 0-0 21, Fancher 0-2 0-0 0, Hopkins 1-5 0-0 2, Sorenson 6-15 1-3 13, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Doncaster 7-10 1-1 15, Burgess 2-5 0-2 4. Totals - 29-69 4-10 67.

CC Spokane (19-6, 7-2) - Pilkington 7-16 2-6 17, Bocook 0-6 1-2 1, Carlander 9-18 2-2 20, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Bradely 1-4 0-0 2, Sells 0-2 0-0 0, Massingale 8-15 2-3 21, Reagan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals - 25-61 7-13 61.

Halftime - CC Spokane 37, Wenatchee 35. 3-point goals - Wenatchee 5-10 (Freeman 5-9, Ochoa 0-1), CC Spokane 4-13 (Massingale 3-3, Pilkington 1-3, Carlander 0-3, Bocook 0-4). Total Fouls - Wenatchee 31 (Doncaster 8), CC Spokane 33 (Carlander 6). Assists - Wenatchee 20 (Peterson 9), CC Spokane 10 (Massingale 3). Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

Iowa seniors struggle

Time is running out on the Iowa seniors, a class hailed as the nation’s best when they arrived as freshmen in 1994.

Aside from a 27-4 season when they were sophomores, the group hasn’t lived up to expectations, including their own. An Iowa promotional poster shows the six seniors with the words, “We’ve got something to prove!”

And to be honest, they do.

They went 11-17 as freshmen and had to win the Big Ten tournament last season to assure themselves an NCAA berth, whereupon they were beaten by Connecticut in the second round and finished 18-12.

This season has been difficult, too. Iowa went 3-6 against a tough non-conference schedule and began the weekend 10-9 overall and 7-3 in the Big Ten.

But coach Angie Lee, who inherited the talented class from Vivian Stinger in 1995, asks for tolerance in judging those players, noting they rarely have been healthy all at once.

Forward Tiffany Gooden, a national high school player of the year, has been bothered by a knee injury that slowed her last year and has limited her to three games this season. Angela Hamblin has a hamstring problem that has her playing at about 75 percent.

Injuries at point guard have forced Lee to start fifth-year senior Kari Knopf, an All-American softball player who had not played basketball since high school.

“When we have everybody, it’s obvious to me that we are a Top 10 team,” Lee said. “But this year, it’s been such a Band-Aid kind of team.

“What’s been so hard is that this team continues to be judged through injury. I wish somebody would wait until we are all healthy and all right to judge what this team is capable of doing.”

It appears that unless the Hawkeyes put together a remarkable run, they’ll have to win the Big Ten tournament to make the NCAA field.