Nic’s Backcourt Duo Shoots Down Salt Lake

North Idaho College women’s basketball coach Greg Crimp has always been equally frank in his criticism and praise of his team.

Win or lose.

So when Crimp dishes out praise, one can be sure it’s not hyperbole.

He had reason to gush about the play of guards Tammy Goyne and Becki Huddle following the Cardinals’ 92-70 win over Salt Lake Community College Thursday night.

Goyne and Huddle combined for 56 points - split evenly in both halves - to lead NIC to the Scenic West Athletic Conference decision. The Cardinals, on the heels of conference co-leaders Ricks College and Southern Idaho, moved to 15-3 overall, 7-3 in league.

SLCC (13-7, 6-4) dropped out of a tie with NIC.

Huddle carried NIC in the first half and Goyne took over thereafter, scoring 26 second-half points to finish with a game-high 35.

“They were incredible,” Crimp said. “Becki Huddle was shooting it from the outside, driving and doing everything in the first half, and Tammy Goyne just picked up where she left off. There aren’t many teams at this level that have two guards any better than them.”

It took NIC nearly a half to get untracked.

SLCC killed NIC on the boards in the first half, using a 21-11 advantage through the 16-minute mark to open its biggest lead at 32-23. The Bruins finished the opening half with 23 rebounds, nine more than the Cards. NIC used fullcourt pressure and good ball movement to eventually pull ahead by halftime.

A 15-4 run gave NIC its first lead at 38-36 since a 5-0 spurt to open the game. After a tying basket by the Bruins, Huddle hit a 14-footer from the wing to give NIC a 40-38 lead at intermission.

Huddle was NIC’s lifesaver in the first half. The 5-foot-6 freshman guard from Lewis and Clark High scored 19 of her 21 points, the majority coming at the free-throw line, where she made 9 of 12. In the decisive stretch in the second half, Goyne scored 10 of 12 points as NIC turned a nine-point lead into a 75-57 advantage.

Goyne made 9 of 15 shots from the field (5 of 8 3-pointers) and 12 of 15 free throws. She also had five assists, five rebounds and three steals. The game was a foul festival. Officials called 54 fouls, 30 in a marathon second half and 31 on SLCC. The teams combined to shoot 75 free throws (NIC 31 of 44, SLCC 22 of 31).

Heidi Sorenson led SLCC with 20 points.

NIC 92, Salt Lake 70

Salt Lake (13-7, 6-4) - Covington 0-3 0-0 0, Noel 3-8 0-1 6, Hjorth 4-9 3-4 11, Whitten 2-4 2-2 7, Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Harward 1-1 5-6 8, Bonham 2-6 0-0 4, Miller 1-4 7-9 9, Sorenson 8-12 4-7 20, Crocker 2-11 1-2 5. Totals 23-59 22-31 70.

North Idaho (15-3, 7-3) - Middlesworth 0-0 0-0 0, Goyne 9-15 12-15 35, Huddle 5-12 11-16 21, Grohs 4-8 3-5 12, Lemon 1-1 0-0 3, Rehder 0-0 0-0 0, Lindhe 0-1 0-0 0, Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Robison 0-0 0-0 0, Dowhy 5-9 0-2 10, Nater 2-3 1-2 5, Jensen 1-5 4-4 6. Totals 27-54 31-44 92.

Halftime - NIC 40, SLCC 38. 3-point goals - SLCC 2-12 (Covington 0-2, Noel 0-2, Hjorth 0-3, Whitten 1-1, Bunham 0-2, Crocker 0-1); NIC 7-17 (Goyne 5-8, Huddle 0-5, Grohs 1-2, Lemon 1-1, Jensen 0-1). Total fouls - SLCC 31, NIC 23. Fouled out - Whitten, Bunham, Dowhy. Technical fouls - Crimp, NIC coach. Rebounds - SLCC 39 (Miller 15), NIC 31 (Jensen 9). Assists - SLCC 17 (Whitten 6), NIC 19 (Goyne 5).

, DataTimes