Women’s basketball team lights up home court after lengthy road trip
After losing two consecutive games on the road, the Lady Cardinals basketball team responded with two conference wins at home.
NIC defeated Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah 63-58 on Saturday and Colorado Northwestern 78-44 Feb. 9.
“It feels really good, especially good to be back on our home court,” said freshman guard Angela Woods. “It’s really important that we get these last couple of games going into regionals.”
Freshman guard Katie Buskey sank a three pointer with less than two minutes to go in the second half to put NIC (19-4, 8-2 SWAC) up 57-55 on Saturday’s game.
After USU-College of Eastern Utah (13-12, 5-5 SWAC) made one of two free throws, Buskey scored again, this time a two-point shot with 53 seconds left in the game to extend their lead to three.
Buskey and sophomore guard Korina Baker made free throws toward the end of the game to seal the win for the Cardinals.
Buskey finished the game with a team high 16 points and added five rebounds.
“She (Buskey) made a big three, got to the rack and scored. That’s what she does, she’s a clutch player,” said coach Chris Carlson.
NIC jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first half, but the Lady Golden Eagles clawed back to take a 13-12 advantage.
Baker then stole the ball and made a layup to tie the game at 24 later in the first half. After an Eastern Utah 3-pointer, Woods, who shot 100 percent from the field with two of those shots from 3-point range, responded with a 3-pointer of her own.
Buskey hit another 3-pointer just before the half to cut the Golden Eagles’ lead to one heading into the locker room.
In the second half, sophomore forward Julia Salmio made a 3-pointer to put the Lady Cardinals ahead 34-33.
The Lady Golden Eagles took a 43-36 lead, the largest point deficit of the game.
Altogether there were eight ties and six lead changes. NIC closed the scoring gap when Aimee Durbidge connected on a layup and free throw to cut the score to 43-41.
After each team traded baskets for a while, Woods made her second 3-pointer with 3:29 remaining in the game to tie it at 51. USU’s Priscila Santos hit a jump shot with 2:12 left to take a 55-54, but the Lady Cards regained the lead and never relinquished it.
Santos, who leads the nation in scoring, had 29 points for the Lady Golden Eagles.
In order to be competitive in the Scenic West Athletic Conference, or in any other conference for that matter, a team needs its players to come off the bench and be productive. The Lady Cards did just that when they outscored Colorado Northwestern Community College two days earlier. The Lady Cards dominated the Spartans 78-44.
Freshman forward Hannah Love led the Cardinals with 13 points and 5-foot-7-inch sophomore guard Korina Baker pulled down six rebounds for a game high.
