COEUR d’ALENE — The North Idaho College women’s basketball nearly rallied from a 16-point deficit after halftime on Friday.

For redshirt freshman Mariah Swanson, her comeback is nearly complete.

Swanson, a 5-foot-11 forward, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee three games into last season, and missed the season.

This year, she has played in four of the Cardinals’ five games, starting the last three. Against Columbia Basin College on Tuesday, Swanson had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s been a very long road, but my team the whole time has been supportive and always included me in everything they do,” said Swanson, who sports a knee brace. “That made me want to come back even more. With the training staff and doing a ton of work to get back to playing, it just made me want to come back even more. Now, getting a chance to play, I’m glad I came back.”

During her senior year at Burlington-Edison High in Burlington, Wash., Swanson figured she’d quit if she got hurt.

“I used to say my senior year of high school, if I had a season-ending injury, I’d just be done and go somewhere and be a college kid,” Swanson said. “But the second I hurt it here, I just wanted to get back to playing again. Now, my knee feels good. I think about it mentally, but physically, it’s good.”

Swanson, who received a medical redshirt last year, is on track to graduate in the spring and said she plans to move on to another school after the spring semester.

“She’s been fantastic,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “To come from where she’s come from that injury, and almost have back-to-back double-doubles, she’s really fighting through. She’s doing a great job and I’m really proud of her for playing a great game.”

Swanson had 11 points and eight rebounds for NIC in a 75-67 loss to the Casper (Wyo.) College Thunderbirds on Friday at Rolly Williams Court.

Casper (6-3) opened a 36-18 halftime lead as NIC shot 21 percent from the field (7 of 32) in the first half, compared to Casper’s 46.9 percent (15 of 32).

“I thought our defense was really strong coming out of the gate, and I felt good about it,” Carlson said. “But we couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean there.”

NIC (4-2) outscored Casper 49-39 in the second half, battling back to tie the game at 59-all with 5:04 remaining, spearheaded by Monica Landdeck’s eight points in the second half.

“Monica really stepped up and some kids really attacked the rim like they can do,” Carlson said. “And then we come back and tie the doggone thing, and we couldn’t turn that corner and take the lead again.”

The teams play again today at 3 p.m. at Rolly Williams Court.

Ada Yalcin scored 18 points for Casper, including a 3-pointer with 59.4 remaining to seal the win. Kara Staggs scored 18 points for NIC, 12 coming in the second half.

“Getting a road win against a quality program is always nice,” fifth-year Casper coach Dwight Gunnare said. “We let the wheels come off a little bit in the second half, but maybe it was a little more them than what we did. Coach Carlson does a great job with his kids, and they never quit. When they tied the score up, the wheels could have came completely off, but we bounced back. Chris runs a class act program and that when they come to our place, or we come here, we know it’s going to be a battle. They’ve got a national title banner, and not too many places have those. It’s great competition and to come to a place where the program is ran well, it’s worth putting the miles on the bus.”

CASPER COLLEGE

Sakayla Davenport 1-3 1-2 3, Cierra Levias 1-3 0-0 2, Shanda Post 2-4 0-0 4, Ada Yalcin 8-13 0-0 18, Josie Sewell 0-0 0-0 0, Kassidy Scott 4-9 3-4 12, Alyssa Big Man 4-9 3-3 11, Nika Zyryanova 2-7 3-4 8, Grace Weeks 0-0 2-2 2, Gabby Johnson 6-9 1-2 13, Elissia Johnson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-59 13-17 75.

NORTH IDAHO

Samara Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Katie King 0-4 0-1 0, Maci Benedict 0-3 0-0 0, Bailey Schroeder 1-2 2-2 4, Ryleigh Swagerty 1-4 0-0 2, Kara Staggs 4-12 6-6 18, Monica Landdeck 4-10 0-0 8, Sabrina Earle 3-4 1-2 7, Caitlyn Behymer 1-8 1-1 3, Mariah Swanson 5-10 1-2 11, Grace Varcoe 0-0 0-0 0, Panisesi Taimani 5-10 4-5 14. Totals 24-67 15-19 67.

Halftime — Cas 36-18. 3-point goals — Cas 4-13 (Levias 0-1, Yalcin 2-6, Scott 1-2, Big Man 0-2, Zyryanova 1-2), NIC 4-21 (King 0-2, Benedict 0-3, Schroeder 0-1, Swagerty 0-1, Staggs 4-7, Landdeck 0-2, Behymer 0-1, Swanson 0-3, Taimani 0-1). Rebounds — Cas 46 (G. Johnson, Yalcin 6), NIC 33 (Swanson 8). Assists — Cas 8 (Scott 2), NIC 10 (King 3). Team fouls — Cas 22, NIC 18. Fouled out — Swanson.