Cardinals soar over Snow
The shot left Brittany Duerr’s hands about 24 feet from the hoop and the basketball seemed to threaten the ceiling at Christianson Gym before beginning its descent.
The shot clock buzzer went off.
The ball kept falling.
Swish.
Next time down the court, North Idaho College patiently worked the ball around until it went to Cassie Pilkinton.
She put up a rainbow from 21 feet.
The shot clock buzzer sounded again.
Swish.
It was that kind of night for the Cardinals, who did everything but drop-kick the ball through the hoop in an 80-57 Scenic West Athletic Conference rout of Snow on Saturday night.
“It was definitely flowing out there for everyone,” said freshman forward Jessica Thielen, who led the Cardinals with 22 points. “It felt good. We had really good chemistry.”
And uncanny shooting. NIC made 52.1 percent of its shots, including 14 of 31 3-pointers. That accuracy led to NIC’s highest point total in a SWAC game this season.
“I thought we had a pretty good game plan and we just got them down early and we kept them down,” Cardinals coach Chris Carlson said. “I don’t think we let them as far back in as we did (in Friday’s 74-60 victory). We’re just trying to play that 40-minute game because that’s so important this time of year.”
NIC (17-7, 9-5) solidified its hold on third place in the SWAC. Snow dropped to 12-12, 5-9.
Trailing 3-0, the Cardinals ran off the next 12 points, capped by consecutive 3-pointers.
Kay Hill had 15 points as NIC led 44-24 at half.
Eight of the nine Cardinals that played hit 3-pointers and Pilkinton’s 3 with 5:40 remaining was NIC’s 13th, which meant a free hamburger from a local restaurant for everyone in attendance.
Playing on consecutive nights, Carlson substituted liberally and nobody saw more than 28 minutes. The playing time will probably continue to be spread out when leading scorer Simone Jordan and center Paige McGowan return from injury in the next week or two.
“We just talked about that in the locker room,” Carlson said. “We just feel like we have the big train moving forward and we’re going to add more horsepower to it.”
All nine Cardinals scored and NIC had a whopping 22 assists on 25 field goals. Marney Lee had six assists and Chelsea Mykines added five. Cori Nelson led Snow with 16 points.
NIC remains at home next weekend against Colorado Northwestern, which is winless in the SWAC.
NIC 80, Snow 57
Snow (12-12, 5-9)–Horner 1-6 0-0 3, Allen 3-7 2-2 9, Gamblin 1-6 2-4 4, Titmus 6-8 2-2 14, Nielson 5-10 6-7 16, Comp 2-5 1-3 5, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Riggs 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 3-10 0-0 7, Pugsley 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 21-55 13-19 57.
North Idaho (17-7, 9-5)–Hill 4-4 5-6 15, Thielen 9-14 3-6 22, Duerr 2-5 2-2 8, Pilkinton 4-9 1-2 12, Scott 0-1 5-6 5, George 1-5 0-0 3, Wendt 1-1 0-0 3, Lee 2-4 0-1 6, Mykines 2-5 0-0 6. Totals 25-48 16-23 80.
Halftime–North Idaho 44, Snow 24. 3-point goals–Snow 2-7 (Allen 1-1, Wilson 1-2, Pugsley 0-1, Comp 0-1, Horner 0-2), North Idaho 14-31 (Pilkinton 3-7, Hill 2-2, Lee 2-4, Mykines 2-5, Wendt 1-1, Thielen 1-2, George 1-5). Fouled out–Gamblin. Rebounds–Snow 31 (Nielson 9), North Idaho 32 (Scott 7). Assists–Snow 14 (Horner 5), North Idaho 22 (Marney 6). Total fouls–Snow 19, North Idaho 18. Technical fouls–none. A–NA.