COEUR d'ALENE - As North Idaho College women's basketball coach Chris Carlson said following Saturday's 68-63 overtime loss to Salt Lake at Rolly Williams Court, this is one that they'll remember.

"It was a great game," Salt Lake coach Betsy Specketer said. "They're always going to be like that. This group, the sophomores, they know how tough it is playing up here and I thought we made some big shots down the stretch and defensively had some big stops."

Salt Lake (14-4, 3-0 Scenic West Athletic Conference) sophomore Summer Yack hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining in the second half to take a 58-56 advantage, but Bailey Schroeder sent the game to overtime on a jumper with 10 seconds remaining for 14th-ranked NIC (16-3, 2-2 SWAC).

The game remained scoreless in overtime until Yack hit a 3-pointer, her second of the game, with 1:33 remaining to give the Bruins a 61-58 lead, which they extended on another 3-pointer by Natalie Parsons with 36 seconds remaining.

Salt Lake sealed the game from the foul line to get the win, the second on the road in three days for the unranked Bruins. Salt Lake won at sixth-ranked Southern Idaho on Thursday.

NIC sophomore Renae Mokrzycki had 16 points and nine rebounds, but fouled out with 2:52 remaining in regulation after tying the game at 51.

"The defense was just incredible for both teams," NIC coach Chris Carlson said. "It really hurt us not having Renae out there. It really hurt our flow on offense. They banked that 3-pointer in overtime and that's the way it goes sometimes."

NIC freshmen Kara Staggs hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cardinals within a 66-63 deficit, but they were forced to foul late.

"We had some kids step up and do some good things," Carlson said. "But it really hurt us not having Renae out there."

Staggs had 14 points, Taimani 10 points and 11 rebounds and Stirton 10 points and five rebounds for NIC.

"This was our second overtime game," Carlson said. "We're 2-2 in league with two overtime losses and I'd attribute that to our experience. Hopefully we'll learn from this stuff, because this is one of the game tapes we'll look at really closely."

"It seemed like that wanted it a little more than us," Stirton said. "We looked to be scattered a little bit, but it happens. Hopefully we'll bounce back. We need to work harder in practice and have a better understanding of what the plays are and focus on the little things to get better."

NIC hosts Southern Idaho on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Parsons and Mercedes Riggs scored 15 points each for Salt Lake.

"It's the first round of conference, so you want to have a good start," Specketer said. "Winning at CSI (70-58 on Thursday) gave us the confidence we could win on their home floor. These are two of the best teams in the conference, but to go and get it done is a different thing. Execution is equally important."

Salt Lake hosts Utah State-Eastern on Thursday.

In other SWAC action on Saturday, CSI (14-2, 3-1) beat Snow (7-9, 0-3) in Twin Falls and Utah State-Eastern (8-9, 2-1) beat Colorado Northwestern (5-11, 0-3) 90-53 in Price, Utah.

SALT LAKE

Britney Johnson 1-3 6-6 8, Summer Yack 2-7 0-0 6, Bella Swan 0-2 2-2 2, Natalie Parsons 5-11 2-3 15, Mercedes Riggs 4-10 5-8 15, Miranda Averett 1-2 0-0 3, Raushan Gultekin 1-2 0-0 3, Cassidy Fraughton 4-12 4-4 12, Tanesha Daniels 0-2 0-0 0, Ateh Ade 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-54 20-25 68.

NORTH IDAHO

Georgia Stirton 3-8 3-4 10, Katie King 0-1 0-0 0, Jansen Butler 0-6 0-0 0, Bailey Schroeder 1-5 2-2 5, Kara Staggs 5-17 1-1 14, Renae Mokrzycki 7-9 2-2 16, Caitlyn Behymer 2-3 0-0 4, Panisessi Taimani 5-13 0-1 10. Totals 25-65 8-10 63.

Halftime - NIC 27-25. Regulation - Tied at 58. 3-point goals - SLCC 8-15 (Yack 2-5, Parsons 3-6, Riggs 2-3, Gutekin 1-1), NIC 5-20 (Stirton 1-1, King 0-1, Butler 0-2, Schroeder 0-2, Grier 1-2, Staggs 3-11, Taimani 0-1). Rebounds - SLCC 38 (Johnson 8), NIC 41 (Mokrzycki 9). Assists - SLCC 8 (Riggs 6), NIC 8 (Stirton 5). Team fouls - SLCC 16, NIC 19. Fouled out - Fraughton, Mokrzycki.

"They're really good defensively and probably the best defensive team in the conference," Phay said. "They're long and really big, so that helps. They really kept their composure. They've got some great leadership and just never panicked."

Payton, who signed with his dad's alma mater, Oregon State, in November, made three of the team's final five points.

"We couldn't finish any defensive possession out with a box out," Kesler said. "We'd play hard for 20-25 seconds and wouldn't box out. The last couple of minutes, we just couldn't get a shot up and made some bad decisions. But we're still together and a family."

"There's going to be a lot more games just like this," Phay said. "I told them there's not many 10-point wins, but more like two-point overtime games. We need to execute late and take care of the basketball."

Salt Lake won the Region 18 tournament last year in Coeur d'Alene, then beat Arizona Western in a play-in game to advance to the NJCAA tournament.

"It's hard to beat Jared here," Phillips said. "I've been here three times as a head coach, and it's hard to win up here, but we'll take it. I do enjoy being up here, Coeur d'Alene is great and I like that, but I just don't like playing Jared."

Salt Lake, which lost to CSI 64-61 on Thursday in Twin Falls, returns home to face Utah State-Eastern and Colorado Northwestern this week.

"It was really big for us to get the split," Phillips said. "These two games and teams are probably the best two in our league, and to get this one was really big for our psyche."

NIC hosts Southern Idaho on Saturday at 5 p.m.

"We can't dwell on this one too much," Phay said. "We need to have a good week of practice and get ready for CSI."

In other SWAC play, Utah State-Eastern (3-0, 16-1) thumped Colorado Northwestern (6-11, 0-3) 107-54 in Price, Utah, and Southern Idaho (16-2, 3-1) scored the final 12 points to rally past Snow (9-8, 0-2) 66-64 in Twin Falls.

SALT LAKE

Kurtis Toolson 4-7 1-2 11, Gary Payton II 4-10 5-6 13, De'Sean Parsons 4-12 0-4 8, Jaden Jackson 2-8 0-0 4, C.J. Spjute 0-1 0-0 0, Zerrion Payton 1-6 1-3 3, Larry Okhomina 3-3 1-2 7, Aquavius Young 1-2 0-0 2, Neal Monson 7-12 4-6 18. Totals 26-61 12-23 66.

NORTH IDAHO

Braxton Tucker 5-12 0-0 10, Brad Wallace 1-4 2-2 5, Bryce Leavitt 4-8 4-4 12, Will Dorsey 3-12 1-1 8, Cole Kesler 6-10 1-2 17, Fuquan Niles 2-5 0-2 4, Tatafu Nuku 2-4 2-2 6, Jordon King 0-1 2-2 2, Shikei Blake 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 23-57 12-15 64.

Halftime - NIC 29-25. 3-point goals - SLCC 2-14 (Toolson 2-3, G. Payton 0-3, Parsons 0-3, Jackson 0-3, Spjute 0-1, Z. Payton 0-1), NIC 6-17 (Wallace 1-3, Leavitt 0-2, Dorsey 1-6, Kesler 4-6). Rebounds - SLCC 37 (Monson 10), NIC 40 (Niles 10). Assists - SLCC 14 (Toolson, Z. Payton 4), NIC 11 (Leavitt, Dorsey 4). Team fouls - SLCC 18, NIC 17. Fouled out - none.