• WOMEN

EPHRAIM, Utah — “When the turnovers came, they came in bunches.” 

The good thing for North Idaho College on Thursday was, so did the scoring from reigning Scenic West Athletic Conference Player of the Week Esmeralda Galindo. 

Galindo, a freshman from Davis High in Yakima, scored 40 points on 16 of 20 shooting, as the Cardinals beat the host Snow Badgers 72-57 in a conference game. 

“At first, Essie was the only one that could get downhill and get to the paint,” said North Idaho coach Nathan Covill of Galindo, who scored 21 in the first half. “She’s so good at getting to the paint and drawing fouls. When Summer (Faleafa) and Chloe (Collin) can start chipping in, we’re going to be tough. But even though there was a 40-piece, it was a total team effort tonight and we did what we had to do to take care of business.” 

NIC (10-8, 2-2 SWAC) turned the ball over 25 times, compared to 22 for the Badgers. 

“Once the turnovers came, they came in bunches,” Covill said. “We rebounded the ball well and when you get stops on defense, it’s huge and our defense allowed us to take away the 3-point shot. They did a good job of making us one-dimensional in the half court, but once we got set, I thought we could loosen them up.” 

Faleafa had 10 points and six rebounds and Collin eight points, six steals and five assists for NIC, which faces Utah State-Eastern in Price, Utah, on Saturday. 

Maliyah Elliott scored 15 points for Snow (12-7, 1-3)). 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 4-7 0-3 8, Kylani Rookstool 1-7 2-2 5, Esmeralda Galindo 16-20 4-5 40, Iratxe Amorrortu 1-4 0-0 3, Summer Faleafa 4-10 0-0 10, Tiarnee Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Ripeka Edwards 1-3 0-0 2, Emmalee Secrest 2-4 0-0 4, Elisa Holakeituai 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 6-10 72. 

SNOW 

Brooke Pennington 3-8 0-0 7, Maliyah Elliott 6-9 2-4 15, Kiriana Hawaikirangi 3-3 0-0 6, Lili Suguturaga 1-4 2-2 4, Iyana Beh 2-7 4-6 8, Hadley Richins 2-5 0-0 4, Madison Hosino 2-4 2-2 8, Sydnee Smith 2-2 1-2 5, Seini Tuipulotu 0-2 0-0 0, Alisi Peaua 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-46 11-16 57. 

North Idaho    16    16    19    21    —    72 

Snow        15    15    9    18    —    57 

3-point goals — NIC 8-18 (Collin 0-1, Rookstool 1-3, Galindo 4-5, Amorrortu 1-2, Faleafa 2-5, Edwards 0-1, Secrest 0-1), Snow 4-10 (Pennington 1-2, Elliott 1-2, Suguturaga 0-1, Richins 0-1, Hosino 2-4). Rebounds — NIC 36 (Collin 7), Snow 22 (Elliott 4). Assists — NIC 20 (Faleafa, Edwards 4), Snow 11 (Pennington 4). Team fouls — NIC 13, Snow 16. Fouled out — none. 

• MEN

Snow 88 

North Idaho 81 

EPHRAIM, Utah — Freshman Ajayi Simmons hit a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining for the Cardinals, who were unable to get any closer in a Scenic West Athletic Conference loss to the top-ranked Badgers at the Horne Activity Center. 

Sophomore Vaughn Weems had 27 points, four rebounds and two steals for NIC (11-8, 1-3 SWAC). 

Isaac Finlinson, a Utah Tech transfer, scored 30 points and Weber State transfer Chance Trujillo added 17 for Snow (18-1, 4-0), which used a 15-1 run over a five-minute span in the first half to take a 27-12 lead. 

“They got out to a big lead within the first eight minutes, but we won the other 32 minutes,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “We need to start with a little more energy. Our guys just don’t understand how tough this league is. Once we settled down, we competed right with them.” 

Both Finlinson and Trujillo have received Division I offers, but have yet to sign according to Symons. 

NIC travels to Utah State-Eastern on Saturday. 

Snow remains home to face the College of Southern Idaho. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 9-18 7-10 27, Deng Diew 7-10 0-0 14, Tayshawn Colvin 1-1 0-0 2, Bryce Henry 0-2 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 5-11 0-0 15, Ne’quan Brown 1-7 0-2 2, Dace Pleasant 3-9 2-2 9, Jeremiah Sibley 1-1 0-0 2, Sam Marbury 2-5 0-0 5, Jacori Ervin 1-2 3-4 5, Tautoko Wynyard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 12-18 81. 

SNOW 

Mark Brown 1-8 6-6 9, Chance Trujillo 6-12 1-1 17, Isaac Finlinson 10-17 7-8 30, Kyle Lemke 1-6 1-2 3, Isaac Garrett 4-7 2-2 10, McCaden Adams 0-4 0-0 0, Coleman Ford 4-10 8-8 17, Aaron Bliss 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 27-67 25-27 88. 

Halftime — Snow 45-38. 3-point goals — NIC 9-24 (Weems 2-6, Diew 0-2, Henry 0-1, Simmons 5-8, Brown 0-1, Pleasant 1-4, Marbury 1-2), Snow 9-29 (Brown 1-5, Trujillo 4-7, Finlinson 3-7, Garrett 0-2, Adams 0-3, Ford 1-5). Assists — NIC 12 (Marbury 5), Snow 15 (Brown, Garrett, Ford 3). Team fouls — NIC 17, Snow 18. Fouled out — none.