Lady Cards defense proves tough; but offense insufficient

Utah State-Eastern 58 

North Idaho 46 

COEUR d'ALENE — Freshman Liv Whitemarsh hit a jumper with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 39-37 for the Cardinals, who went on to lose to the Eagles of Price, Utah, in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court. 

"We've done a lot of good things on defense in the last three games, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot offensively," NIC coach Nathan Covill said. "This one hurts because they're averaging 75 points per game and we were right there with them." 

Karsyn Freeman, a freshman from Adna, Wash., had 12 points and eight rebounds for NIC, which shot 17 of 52. Diana Nelson, a freshman from Timberlake High, had 11 points and five rebounds for the Cardinals. 

"Offensively, we just sputtered and couldn't figure out how to get the ball to Chloe (Collin) and Summer (Faleafa)," Covill said. "Both Liv and Diana played some good minutes. We're close to putting it together." 

NIC (6-11, 1-3 SWAC) hosts Snow College of Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday. 

Avery Sanders scored 10 points for Utah State-Eastern (13-6, 4-0), which remains tied with College of Southern Idaho for the conference lead. CSI (18-1, 4-0) beat Snow (13-6, 1-3) 72-49 in other conference play on Thursday in Twin Falls.  

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Avery Sanders 4-7 2-4 10, Addasyn Scrivner 4-11 1-2 9, Umu Tukufau 2-7 2-4 6, Marlee Pieper 4-11 2-4 11, Skylie Barker 2-9 4-5 8, Brynn Wagner 0-1 0-0 0, Aubrey Mulitalo 0-5 0-0 0, Mia Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Analya Nelson 2-4 0-0 5, Logyn Howell 0-3 0-2 0, Alyssa Whittaker 2-3 2-2 7. Totals 21-64 13-23 58. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 3-8 0-0 7, Karsyn Freeman 5-14 2-4 12, Diana Nelson 5-10 1-2 11, Ripeka Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Summer Faleafa 0-4 1-2 1, Molly Axell 1-2 0-0 3, Liv Whitemarsh 2-6 1-2 5, Sari Murphy 0-4 4-4 4, Kaytie Aanstad 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 17-52 10-16 46. 

Utah State-Eastern    17    17    7    17    —    58 

North Idaho        10    14    13    9    —    46 

3-point goals — USUE 3-21 (Sanders 0-1, Scrivner 0-3, Tukuafu 0-3, Pieper 1-5, Barker 0-2, Mulitalo 0-3, Nelson 1-2, Howell 0-1, Whittaker 1-2), NIC 2-11 (Collin 1-2, Edwards 0-1, Faleafa 0-2, Axell 1-2, Whitemarsh 0-3, Murphy 0-1). Rebounds — USUE 39 (Pieper 8), NIC 34 (Freeman 8). Assists — USUE 7 (Sanders, Scrivner, Barker 2), NIC 5 (Freeman, Edwards 2). Team fouls — USUE 15, NIC 22. Fouled out — none. 

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