COEUR d'ALENE - Both the North Idaho College Cardinals and College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles are very aware of how each other has been doing this season.

On Saturday night, they'll get a good look at one another as the first of three Scenic West Athletic Conference games this season tips off at Rolly Williams Court.

"We want to play the same, no matter who we're playing," NIC men's coach Jared Phay said. "But I know that's a little extra added motivation."

Saturday also marks the first matchup between the schools since both the NIC women and CSI men won national titles last year.

"We went down for a tournament early in the year and ran into Coach (Steve) Gosar and talked about the national championship," NIC women's coach Chris Carlson said. "It was a real fun time. Both of us just had some teams that were so unselfish and loved to play the team game. They sacrificed a lot for each other. Having two champions in the same building probably doesn't happen too often."

Both NIC teams opened the conference schedule last week, with each earning a sweep over Snow College and Salt Lake to enter Saturday's game with identical 2-0 records in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

"We did exactly what we hoped and needed to do," Phay said. "But it's going to get tougher and tougher as we go, and it will be a tough one this weekend."

The men's game tips off at 7:30 p.m., with the women's game starting at 5:30.

"We usually tip off a little later against them to make it a more prime-time setting," Phay said. "It's usually the best crowd we get all year."

The 12th-ranked NIC women have won four straight against CSI dating back to Feb. 20, 2010, when the Golden Eagles beat NIC in Twin Falls.

NIC travels to CSI on Feb. 4 before the Golden Eagles return to Coeur d'Alene on Feb. 25.

Men: Southern Idaho (15-1, 2-0 SWAC) leads the conference in scoring at 89.9 points per game and field goal percentage at .487 per outing.

"I think we're going to have to slow them down," NIC men's coach Jared Phay said. "They're a team of momentum and can get rolling and some points in a hurry."

NIC (16-1, 2-0) leads the conference in scoring defense (64.2 points) and blocked shots (9.3) a game. CSI is second in blocks at 5.7.

“We need to find a happy medium,” Phay said. “We don’t want to get caught in a track meet with them either.”

CSI guard Fabyon Harris leads the conference in scoring with 17.6 per game.

“He played a little bit for them last year,” said Phay of Harris. “He’s one of the better guards in the conference, if not the best one.”

CSI will face Treasure Valley in Ontario, Ore., tonight before traveling to Coeur d’Alene for Saturday’s game. NIC beat Salt Lake 74-66 last Saturday.

“We’ve got a few bad backs and sore ankles, so rest always helps with that,” Phay said. “It’s nothing major — just getting some rest and they’re fine again.”

Women: The Cardinals (13-2, 2-0) are the only team with two conference wins, with the Golden Eagles 8-6, 1-1 after losing to Snow in Twin Falls last Saturday.

NIC sophomore Korina Baker leads the SWAC in steals with 3.5 a game, including nine in a 62-59 win against Salt Lake last Saturday.

“We’ve both had a week to prepare for each other,” Carlson said. “We’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us.”

CSI point guard Tayllor Gipson is fifth in scoring (13.6) and leads in assists (3.8) and Chakala Carthen leads the SWAC in rebounding with 7.7 a game.

“They’ve got four sophomore starters that are all guards,” Carlson said. “They’re really a guard-oriented team and have good athleticism. They beat Salt Lake last week, which is enough to send a shiver through your spine. We’ll need to be able to deal with some speed.”

Carlson believes they can counter that speed.

“Aimee (Durbidge) is one of the faster kids we’ve had, and (Katie) Buskey is quick too,” Carlson said. “Hopefully we’ve got a little more size on them that we want to take care of.”

NIC will look to change their luck at the free throw line after shooting 17 of 35 against Salt Lake.

“We spent an hour on our free throws in practice today (Wednesday),” Carlson said. “Why work on our offense when we can get an extra 18 points from the line? We just need to get off to a better start. We’ll get the girls ready for what should be an interesting night.”