Cold-Shooting Dooms Pirates

College basketball

Nikki McElligott scored 13 points and snagged 14 rebounds Friday to lead the Carroll College Saints to a 70-48 non-conference women’s basketball victory over the Whitworth Pirates in Helena.

Whitworth couldn’t overcome a cold-shooting first half. The Pirates made just 5 of 24 shots (21 percent) from the floor and fell behind 38-17 at the break.

Carroll also had a commanding 51-31 advantage on the boards.

Jamie Wakefield scored a game-high 17 points for the Pirates, but she made just 4-of-14 shots from the floor. Wakefield was 9 of 9 from the free-throw line.

Whitworth shot better in the second half, connecting on 11 of 30 attempts (37 percent).

Lindsay Weiss scored 19 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as the Community Colleges of Spokane annihilated the Edmonds Tritons 114-53 in Everett.

Jennifer Kennedy contributed 21 points and Daniela Schroeder scored 20 for CCS.

The Sasquatch shot 51 percent from the floor on the night and compiled a whopping 60-20 advantage on the boards.

Rachel Leary paced the Tritons with a game-high 26 points.

Men

The Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch exploded for 59 points in the second half to post a 94-86 come-from-behind win over visiting Seattle Community College.

John Focht scored 17 points to lead six Sasquatch in double figures. Focht also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and handed out five assists.

Andre Ervin added 16 points, while Demetrius Scott chipped in with 14 points.

The Sasquatch outrebounded Seattle 38-16 and held the visitors to just one offensive board.

Steven Bonner tossed in 21 points and Cusan Milicic added 11 points and 11 rebounds to spark the North Idaho Cardinals to a 90-68 victory over the Bellevue Helmsmen at the Wenatchee Valley Tournament in Wenatchee.

NIC shot 53 percent for the game on 31-of-59 shooting, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range.

The Cardinals dominated the second half, outscoring Bellevue 47-29.

Mike Thompson’s 21 points topped the Helmsmen.

Men’s Top 25 (20) Syracuse 81, Akron 51

Preston Shumpert scored 25 points and Damone Brown added 21 as the Orangemen (6-0) beat the Zips (1-1) in the first round of the Carrier Classic in Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse will play Virginia Tech (2-3) for the championship tonight. The Hokies defeated Fairfield 65-61.

The Orangemen broke away from a 27-22 lead with a 20-point run over a span of 6 minutes at the end of the first half and start of the second.

David Falknor led Akron with 12 points, and Nate Schindewolf and Bruce Weinkein each had seven against Syracuse’s tough zone defense.

The Zips stayed close early in the first half only because of their long-range shooting. They hit their first five 3-pointers.

The Orangemen went on an 11-0 run in the final 3:04 to take a 38-22 halftime lead.

Akron, which committed 24 turnovers, went more than 8 minutes without a basket from the end of the first half to the beginning of the second half.

Women’s Top 25 (19) Oklahoma 89, (13) SWMS 82

Caton Hill had 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Sooners (3-2) beat the Lady Bears (3-2) in Norman, Okla.

Southwest Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles scored 23 of her 31 points in the second half.

SWMS drew within two at 76-74 with 2:45 left on Stiles’ consecutive jumpers from the lane. But a free throw by Oklahoma’s Stacey Dales, a follow shot by Hill and two baskets by reserve Rosalind Ross enabled the Sooners to maintain an 83-78 lead entering the final minute.

Oklahoma was 6 of 9 from the free-throw line in the final 59 seconds to preserve the victory.

Dales had 19 points, LaNeishea Caufield 17, Ross 15 and Jadrea Seeley 11 for the Sooners, who had lost their last two outings to ranked opponents.

Area basketball summaries/C4