NIC BASKETBALL: Cold shooting dooms Cardinal men in Tarkanian opener

• MEN

LAS VEGAS — It was a rough afternoon for North Idaho College.

Literally. 

The Cardinals shot 4 of 29 from the field in the first half and finished 12 of 55 in a loss to eighth-ranked Howard College of Big Spring, Texas, in the inaugural year of the JUCO division of the Tarkanian Classic at the Orleans Arena on Thursday. 

“It was the most physical game we’ve been a part of and we didn’t know how to respond to it,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “We started to settle in and play aggressively in the second half. We’re a finesse team and we had to learn to play through contact. Howard plays hard and they’re a real physical team.” 

Ajayi Simmons, a sophomore from Garfield High in Seattle, scored 14 points for NIC (8-3). 

“We really didn’t get going until the second half,” Symons said. “We picked a good night to have our best defensive game of the season. But we picked a bad night to have our worst offensive game.” 

Victor Yimga Moukouri scored 13 points for Howard (12-1). Dace Pleasant, who played at NIC last season, had six points and five rebounds for Howard. 

NIC faces 12th-ranked Indian Hills Community College of Ottumwa, Iowa, today at 4:30 p.m. at the Orleans Arena.

NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE  

Ne’quan Brown 2-12 4-8 9, Nyale Robinson 0-4 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 4-9 4-5 14, Austin Ouko 2-11 0-0 5, Gage Ontiveros 1-1 0-2 2, Vander Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Ace Arnold 0-2, 0-0 0, Cody Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Cason Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Justus Haseley 2-4 4-5 8, Aly Toure 1-5 5-6 7, Jacori Ervin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 12-55 17-26 45. 

HOWARD COLLEGE
Daniel Culberson 3-8 1-2 8, Oskar Sturner 1-2 2-2 4, Terry Copeland 3-5 3-8 9, Dace Pleasant 2-8 0-0 6, Elijah Tshibangu 3-5 1-2 8, Harouna Sangare 1-2 2-2 4, Kuai Deng 3-6 2-2 8, Brandon Ivery 0-3 0-0 0, Roee Oselka 0-0 0-0 0, Victor Yimga Moukouri 4-5 2-4 13. Totals 20-44 13-22 60. 

Halftime — Howard 33-14. 3-point goals — NIC 4-30 (N. Brown 1-6, Robinson 0-4, Simmons 2-6, Ouko 1-8, Arnold 0-2, Wright 0-1, Miller 0-3), Howard 7-18 (Culberson 1-3, Pleasant 2-7, Tshhibangu 1-1, Sangare 0-1, Deng 0-1, Ivery 0-1, Moukouri 3-4). Rebounds — NIC 34 (N. Brown 8), Howard 43 (Deng 8). Assists — NIC 6 (N. Brown, Robinson 2), Howard 14 (Culberson 3). Team fouls — NIC 18, Howard 20. Fouled out — none. 

• WOMEN

Northwest (Wyo.) 74 

North Idaho 47 

YUMA, Ariz. — The Cardinals concluded the nonconference schedule 5-8 following a loss to the Trappers of Powell, Wyo., in the Chapman Automotive Winter Classic at Arizona Western College. 

“A lot of our errors today were self-inflicted,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, whose team had 34 turnovers. “Northwest played hard, but we just didn’t have the juice today. You want to see resiliency and kids fighting through fatigue. But today, we caused a lot of problems on ourselves.” 

Liv Whitemarsh, a freshman from Pasco, Wash., had 10 points and four rebounds for NIC, which opens Scenic West Athletic Conference play on Jan. 3 against the College of Southern Idaho at Rolly Williams Court. 

“We’d been trending up recently,” Covill said. “We need to find a way to find the right lineup and mix and positions to compete in conference. Right now, we’re trying to find our identity and today was a step back.” 

Addison Hickey scored 22 points for Northwest (12-6), which beat NIC 82-55 on Nov. 1 at a tournament in Twin Falls. 

NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE 

Chloe Collin 1-10 1-2 3, Karsyn Freeman 4-10 1-3 9, Ripeka Edwards 2-9 3-3 8, Liv Whitemarsh 3-5 2-2 10, Summer Faleafa 1-4 1-3 3, Diana Nelson 4-8 0-1 8, Molly Axell 0-3 0-0 0, Sari Murphy 0-3 2-2 2, Kaytie Aanstad 2-7 0-2 4. Totals 17-59 10-17 47. 

NORTHWEST COLLEGE 

Emma Pique 4-12 9-10 17, Addison Hickey 10-16 2-3 22, Isabella Williams 7-13 2-3 19, Jalia Childress 1-6 0-0 2, Itziar Pozas 5-13 2-2 12, Elise Swan 0-2 0-0 0, Canyon Britt 0-2 0-0 0, Fallon Millican 0-1 0-0 0, Maddie Mills 1-1 0-0 2, Saige Kidd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 15-18 74. 

North Idaho    14    9    12    12    —    47 

Northwest    18    13    30    13    —    74 

3-point goals — NIC 3-19 (Collin 0-3, Freeman 0-1, Edwards 1-5, Whitemarsh 2-3, Faleafa 0-3, Axell 0-3, Murphy 0-1), NC 3-18 (Pique 0-4, Hickey 0-2, Williams 3-5, Childress 0-1, Pozas 0-2, Swan 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 52 (Collin 8), NC 33 (Hickey 10). Assists — NIC 8 (Edwards 2), NC 8 (Pique 4). Team fouls — NIC 17, NC 21. Fouled out — Swan.