COEUR d'ALENE - Expectations are something the North Idaho College women's basketball team has learned to play with over the last two years.

From coming in as freshmen following the Cardinals' 2011 NJCAA championship, to having to wait a week before for receiving an at-large bid to this year's NJCAA tournament in Salina, Kan., when times got tough - they just got tougher.

"As freshmen coming in, we had a huge target on our back already from the previous team," said Hannah Love, a 5-foot-11 sophomore forward from nearby West Valley High. "But I think we handled it well."

"I think for a while, there was a lot of pressure on us because people were thinking, well, they won nationals last year, but what are they going to do this year?" sophomore Katie Buskey said. "People put you on a pedestal and we just had to learn to accept it."

The team won the school’s first Scenic West Athletic Conference title since the 2005-06 season.

“Coming into here and a program that had won the previous year, everyone expected a lot for us,” said Tori Davenport, a sophomore guard from Post Falls High. “We always had a target on our back and everyone wanted to knock us out.”

NIC (28-4) missed out on nationals last year after being upset in the semifinals of the Region 18 tournament in Salt Lake City. The Cardinals advanced to the championship game this year at home, but fell to Southern Idaho 57-55. CSI (21-11) is seeded seventh in the NJCAA tournament and won’t play until Wednesday afternoon. With wins on Monday and Tuesday, NIC could already be in a semifinal game by then.

“It definitely motivated us,” Buskey said. “We lost to them three times, but have learned so much from that game. I think we’re as ready as ever for this tournament.”

Buskey — a 5-8 guard of Tahoma High in Covington, Wash. — visited on the same weekend as 5-9 guard Angela Woods from Edmonds-Woodway High in Lynnwood, Wash., in the recruiting process during their senior year.

“We didn’t play against each other in high school, but we did in AAU ball,” Buskey said. “We visited together (to NIC), but didn’t actually know each other at the time. After playing in an open gym, we said to each other that we should come here and play together. I really like it and how they coach. Our freshmen year we roomed together in the dorms and ever since then, she’s been my best friend here. It’s been good to play with her.”

“I’d heard about it from Korina (Baker, who played point guard at NIC during the 2010-11 and ’11-12 seasons),” Woods said. “She and I used to play against each other in AAU. I had some looks from different schools right out of high school, but NIC was the right fit for me. Katie and I are really close now. Even though we didn’t room together (over the summer), we’ve picked up where we left off last year.”

Love recalled playing against Davenport in the past.

“We played a couple of times in high school, and a few times when we were in AAU,” Love said. “When I talked to coach (Carlson) at first, he said something about her coming here to play, so I added her on Facebook and we started to talk about it. Ever since then, we’ve been almost inseparable.”

Davenport played in the 5A Inland Empire League against a handful of the players that comprised the championship team at NIC two years ago.

“I think we’re two different teams,” Davenport said. “That team had a lot of talent and some really good players that have gone onto four year schools. Our team is a little different because I think we’ve got a little more depth.”

That’s where sophomores Aimee Durbidge and Mollie Kramer come in.

Durbidge, a 5-foot-11 guard/forward from Coffs Harbour, Australia, and Kramer, a 5-9 guard from Colton (Wash.), average a combined 10 points per game off the bench.

“That’s the best thing about our team,” Durbidge said. “Anyone can have a good game. Everyone just works hard.”

Durbidge got some company from her home country this season as freshmen Renae Mokrzycki and Georgia Stirton joined the team this season. Stirton, a point guard, was named SWAC Most Valuable Player.

“It’s been like getting a little bit of a taste of home,” Durbidge said. “They remind you every day that you’re from the other side of the world, too, and get to experience what I’ve experienced and have the same opportunities. I just love it. I’ve told them, ‘yep, I’ve dealt with homesickness and know they can get through it and I’m always here to talk in case you need someone to talk to.’ It’s been great.”

Buskey, who is averaging 10.9 points per game, is the only Cardinal averaging in double figures.

“Not just one player has to score,” Buskey said. “We don’t have one player averaging 20 points. Everyone is contributing. We’re more team oriented and if someone has a bad night, someone else picks them up.”

“We’re super balanced,” Woods said. “I think it is hard for teams to scout us because we’re so well-rounded, with scoring threats in different places.”

“It’s an awesome balance,” Kramer said. “We’ve got a deep roster with players that can do multiple things. We’ve got girls that can shoot the deep 3(-pointer) to girls that can drive and shoot. No matter who goes in there, we can move our guards (Angela and Katie) to forwards and still be OK.”

Kramer also played volleyball and softball for Colton, a class 1B (0-92 students) school.

“The only thing I’d really heard about NIC was a couple of girls from my school had came here to play softball, so I knew they had a good softball program,” Kramer said. “But I didn’t hear much about the basketball program until they won the national championship and someone said to me, would you like to go there?”

Despite chances to do two sports at a couple of Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges schools, Kramer stuck with basketball.

“If I wanted to be a dual-sport athlete, they said they could make it work,” Kramer said. “But my heart was with basketball. When someone said would you like to go to NIC — I never thought I’d end up here.”

Once she did, it was a far cry from her days in Colton.

“As the season started and was moving along, the tempo and intensity changed,” Kramer said. “I started to feel like these teams weren’t easy to play against. Coming from a smaller school, the competition wasn’t that great and it felt like there was a target on our back and those teams were thinking ‘I want to kill North Idaho,’ no matter who’s playing on that team. They wanted that revenge.”

In the week between the Region 18 tournament and when the at-large teams were announced, the team worked on conditioning, running and lifting weights waiting until last Monday morning, when they were officially informed they’d qualified for nationals.

“It was hard ... really hard,” Love said of the wait. “We did some conditioning to get us in shape, but it’s hard to practice when you don’t know if you’re going to get in or not. It was crazy. We had a meeting (on Monday) when the brackets came out and all of us just started screaming and jumping around. It was a good feeling.”

“It was tough mentally not knowing,” Kramer said. “For a lot of girls, it was hard to stay positive, but we had to keep picking each other up.”

But with social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the closer the announcement came, the more confident the players began to get.

“There was kind of some speculation because of some stuff on Road to Kansas on Twitter and the girls were following it like crazy,” Kramer said. “Once those actual words were there on the email, it was a weight lifted off our shoulders. We’d got the chance we wanted and since we didn’t win the Region 18 tournament we can still prove we belong there.”

Buskey said the intensity of the practices have increased since receiving the at-large bid.

“The latest practices have probably been the hardest of the year,” Buskey said.

However, the Cardinals suffered a setback on Thursday as Woods suffered a high ankle sprain on her left ankle in the final moments of practice, leaving her status for nationals in limbo.

“We were playing on opposite teams and she stepped up to pass and stepped on my foot,” Buskey said. “I hope she can play, but she needs to rest and get better. But she’ll be a leader off the court if she can’t play. She wants to play and right when she got hurt, she said ‘no, I want to play.’”

Woods sat out practice on Friday, but is hoping to return to the court next week.

“It’s getting there,” Woods said Friday. “Yesterday was really, really bad, but today, the swelling has gone down a lot. I’m hoping there’s a little glimpse of hope I can play next week and hoping they can take care of business on Monday and then I’ll be able to come back on Tuesday. We’ll just see how it goes and how much the swelling goes down.”

This will be the Cardinals’ ninth trip to the NJCAA tournament, starting with the 1983-84 season, with former coach Greg Crimp leading five trips and current coach Chris Carlson getting the Cardinals back four of the last five years.

Before the 2008-09 season, NIC hadn’t advanced to nationals since 1997.

“Both teams (this year and the 2011 team) play a darn good game of basketball,” Carlson said. “Both teams shot the ball really well. That title team, they were a little longer than we are now. I think this team has a little more depth to it and our defense has really been lockdown this year.”

En route to the 2011 championship, NIC scored 90 points in the semifinals and finals.

“That championship team, they could run off points,” Carlson said. “This team uses its defense to give us a chance.”

12th-seeded NIC opens the tournament Monday at 2:30 p.m. PDT against No. 21 Williston State (30-3), a team the Cardinals beat 58-46 in the second game of this season in Williston, N.D. Unlike previous years, due to the addition of at-large bids, the only consolation game is a third-place game for the teams that lose in the semifinals. One loss in any other game, and the team is done.

“We’ve always been a one-game-at-a-time team,” Carlson said. “When that first game is over, we’ll see where we’re at. This year, if you lose, you don’t get a chance to march back and play for seventh. Before, you still had a shot. This year, you just can’t lose. You just have to win every game.”

“Not a lot of teams can say they’ve already played the team they’re facing in the first national game,” Love said. “But it is a little comforting for us to know that we have played them already.”

“I’m actually excited to play them again,” Buskey said. “They’ve got a better record than us. They’ve progressed throughout the year — and so have we. It will be a good matchup.”

“Sometimes when you know the team you’re playing, you’re too relaxed,” Kramer said. “You think because you’ve already beaten them, you’re more relaxed and that kind of scares me to have that mentality. But it does help us because we’ve got game film and still remember — even though it was in November — some of the specifics from the game and even though we were still working on ourselves in that game, we can turn our focus on them.”

“I think we need to get off to a good start against Williston and get some confidence going,” Carlson said. “It’s going to be a challenging game and if we can get to a second game, we’ll play an undefeated team (No. 5 seed Shelton State, 32-0). After the first game, every game is a challenge. It’s a strong field.”

NIC’s only losses came to Southern Idaho (three times) and at Salt Lake on Jan. 5.

It’s been a damn good year for us,” Durbidge said. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster for us, but I wouldn’t take anything back. Nothing at all.”

NJCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

At Salina Bicentennial Center

Salina, Kan.

Opening-round games

Times PDT

Monday, March 18

8 a.m. — No. 16 Weatherford College, Texas (24-5) vs. No. 17 Northeast Community College, Neb. (28-4)

10 — No. 9 Blinn College, Texas (30-3) vs. No. 24 Kaskaskia College, Ill. (24-8)

Noon — No. 13 Midland College, Texas (26-7) vs. No. 20 Volunteer State Community College, Tenn. (23-4)

2:30 p.m. — No. 12 North Idaho (28-4) vs. No. 21 Williston State College, N.D. (30-3)

4:30 — No. 15 Crowder College, Mo. (28-5) vs. No. 18 Redlands Community College, Okla. (21-9)

6:30 — No. 10 Chipola College, Fla. (25-6) vs. Southwestern Illinois College (25-5)

Tuesday, March 19

8 a.m. — No. 14 Western Nebraska Community College (20-14) vs. ASA College, N.Y. (24-3)

10 — No. 11 Northwest Florida State College (24-4) vs. No. 22 Itawamba Community College, Miss. (19-9)

Noon — No. 1 Trinity Valley Community College, Texas (32-1) vs. Weatherford/Northeast winner

2:30 p.m. — No. 8 Darton State College, Ga. (30-3) vs. Blinn/Kaskaskia winner

4:30 — No. 4 Gulf Coast State College, Fla. (27-4) vs. Midland/Volunteer State winner

6:30 — No. 5 Shelton State, Ala. (32-0) vs. North Idaho/Williston State winner

Wednesday, March 20

11 a.m. — No. 2 Central Arizona College (29-1) vs. Crowder/Redlands winner

1 p.m. — No. 7 Southern Idaho (21-11) vs. Chipola/Southwestern Illinois winner

3 — No. 3 Hutchinson Community College, Kan. (33-1) vs. Western Nebraska/ASA College winner

5 — No. 6 Walters State Community College, Tenn. (29-1) vs. Northwest Florida State/Itawamba winner