NIC forward Caitlyn Behymer puts up a shot against the College of Southern Idaho Feb. 22 in Coeur d’Alene. Beau Valdez/Sentinel
The North Idaho College womens basketball team led for most of the first half, but the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles made a bucket in the final seconds to take a 35-34 lead heading into halftime.
CSI pulled away from NIC in the second half and won 84-66 Saturday at Rolly Williams Court in a Scenic West Athletic Conference showdown.
“They just outplayed us in the second half,” NIC head coach Chris Carlson said. “They played hard.”
NIC (21-9, 7-8 SWAC) will head into the SWAC tournament Thursday as the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6 seed Colorado Northwestern Community College (7-21, 0-15) at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.
Salt Lake Community College and CSI shared the SWAC championship, but Salt Lake will receive the No. 1 seed in the tournament because it won the season series against the Golden Eagles.
Kara Staggs, who finished the game with 10 points and four assists, hit a 3-pointer to increase NIC’s lead to 16-10 with 12:34 remaining in the first half. Bailey Schroeder made it 23-13 in favor of NIC with 9:31 left after a layup and free throw.
With the Cardinals up 26-15, CSI scored the next eight points to pull within three.
In the second half, Rachelle Owens sank a 3-pointer to open up a 52-42 CSI advantage.
The Golden Eagles led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
“I thought we were way more aggressive on the boards in the first half and then they came out and just crashed the boards hard,” Carlson said. “They beat us on the boards.”
Panisessi Taimani led the Cardinals with 16 points and Renae Mokrzycki had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Elisabet Lopez Sagrera led CSI with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
It was also sophomore day as NIC’s four sophomores were honored-Georgia Stirton, Jansen Butler, Mokrzycki and Maggie Kirscher.
Mokrzycki said “Georgia and I were talking before the game and we were like, wow, this is really the last time we’re going to be on this court playing. We can’t believe it.”
The sophomore class compiled a 49-14 record at NIC, including postseason play. It also won a regular season SWAC championship and appeared in the national tournament.
