Cardinal women find a way on the road

PRICE, Utah — Down to only seven players due to injury, North Idaho College needed everyone to step up in Saturday's matchup against Utah State-Eastern, which leads the Scenic West Athletic Conference. 

Diana Nelson, a freshman from Timberlake High, made it her day. 

Nelson, a 6-foot forward, hit the back end of a two-shot foul with four seconds remaining, then had a game-saving block in the final seconds as the Cardinals beat the Eagles 56-55. 

"The more I got to know her before the season started, I knew she had good feet, and just works hard," NIC coach Nathan Covill said. "For a kid that's only been playing for four years, the coach at Timberlake did a great job of working with her. Shooting a 15-footer is something she didn't do when she got here, but we told her she'd have to do it to stretch the defense. Hopefully now she'll shoot it with some confidence." 

NIC (9-13, 4-5 SWAC) travels to Southern Idaho next Saturday. 

Skylie Barker scored 16 points for Utah State-Eastern (16-7, 7-1). 

Summer Faleafa scored a game-high 18 points, hitting five 3-pointers in the first half as NIC jumped out to a 27-17 lead after the first quarter. 

"We needed to get a split on this trip, and this was the one we didn't think we could get," said Covill, whose Cardinals lost at Snow on Thursday. "I'm really proud of the kids. It showed we can compete with anyone in the league and we beat a really good team on the road." 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 3-16 1-2 7, Karsyn Freeman 5-16 2-2 13, Diana Nelson 2-4 3-6 7, Summer Faleafa 6-11 1-2 18, Sari Murphy 0-3 1-2 1, Molly Axell 2-4 0-0 4, Kaytie Aanstad 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 21-58 8-14 56. 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Avery Sanders 2-4 0-0 4, Addasyn Scrivner 2-6 3-4 8, Umu Tukuafu 2-5 0-0 5, Marlee Pieper 3-19 0-0 6, Skylie Barker 6-11 4-4 16, Addison Tanner 2-3 1-2 5, Aubrey Mulitalo 0-1 0-0 0, Mia Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Anaiya Nelson 1-2 0-0 3, Logyn Howell 1-2 0-2 2, Alyssa Whittaker 1-4 4-4 6. Totals 20-57 12-16 55. 

North Idaho    27    12    7    10    —    56 

U.S.-Eastern    17    14    11    13    —    55 

3-point goals — NIC 6-16 (Collin 0-3, Freeman 1-4, Faleafa 5-6, Murphy 0-1, Axell 0-2), USUE 3-18 (Sanders 0-2, Scrivner 1-2, Tukuafu 1-2, Pieper 0-5, Barker 0-3, Tanner 0-1, Nelson 1-2, Whittaker 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 29 (Faleafa 7), USUE 40 (Pieper 12). Assists — NIC 7 (Freeman 4), USUE 12 (Barker 5). Team fouls — NIC 16, USUE 13. Fouled out — none. 

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