Reserve Dennehy powers NIC to victory
TWIN FALLS, Idaho – Sarah Dennehy came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points Thursday and the North Idaho College women’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Region 18 tournament by defeating Eastern Utah 78-63.
Dennehy, a freshman forward who sprained her ankle two weeks ago, was averaging 13.3 points per game. She hit 6 of 10 from the floor and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line in sparking the third-seeded Cardinals (22-9) over the No. 6 Golden Eagles (8-22).
Sophomore guard Jeni Boesel made of 7 of 15 field-goal attempts and all four of her free throws for 20 points as the Cardinals shot 50 percent (25 of 50) from the field and 78.6 percent from the line (22 of 28).
Sophomore Sheena Hinkle (13 points) and sophomore forward Ahlee Thomas (11) were also in double figures for NIC.
The Cardinals scored 22 points off 24 Eagles turnovers.
Dennehy’s free throw at 2:58 of the first half put the Cardinals up for good. NIC led 32-22 at the half. The Eagles pulled to within eight points with 6:23 left in the game before the Cardinals pulled away.
NIC will play No. 2 seed Salt Lake CC (22-9), a 91-40 winner over Colorado Northwest, at 11 a.m. (PST) today. NIC is 2-1 against SLCC this season, including back-to-back wins two weeks ago.