• MEN'S BASKETBALL

COEUR d’ALENE — In the Scenic West Athletic Conference, any win is a big win. 

Well, North Idaho College got another big one in the men’s standings on Thursday. 

Freshman Deng Diew scored a game-high 30 points on 11 of 17 shooting, leading the Cardinals past the Utah State-Eastern Eagles 81-77 on Thursday at Rolly Williams Court. 

NIC (13-10, 3-5 SWAC) moved ahead of Utah State-Eastern (9-8, 2-5) for fourth in the conference. The top four teams advance to the Region 18 Tournament at the site of the regional champion. Colorado Northwestern handed Salt Lake an 80-66 loss in Rangely, Colo., on Thursday. 

Sophomore Vaughn Weems, who leads the nation in scoring with 27.3 points per game, had eight for NIC. 

“Utah State-Eastern runs a box-and-1 and they just face guarded him,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “He did a good job of being patient and letting the game come to him and getting everyone else involved.” 

Diew scored 18 in the second half for NIC. 

“He’s really, really tough around the basket,” Symons said. “We were able to throw the ball into him and let him do his thing. It was just a great all-around team win. In this league, any win is a good win. And we’ve got another big one coming up on Saturday.” 

NIC hosts top-ranked Snow, a 93-89 winner against Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, on Saturday. 

Ike Palmer had 23 points and six rebounds for Utah State-Eastern. 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Ryker Richards 2-7 2-2 7, Mark Huber 6-11 4-7 17, Jaxon Heiden 2-4 3-5 7, Mark Reichner 0-3 0-0 0, Ike Palmer 6-10 10-10 23, Sevastian Rosado 4-10 2-4 10, Kayin Turner 3-7 5-5 12, Reece Robinson 0-0 0-1 0, Brooks Jones 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 23-54 27-36 77. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 3-8 2-4 8, Deng Diew 11-17 8-10 30, Ne’quan Brown 3-7 1-3 8, Dace Pleasant 4-13 3-4 12, Tayshawn Colvin 0-2 0-0 0, Jeremiah Sibley 4-7 8-10 18, Sam Marbury 0-0 0-0 0, Jacori Ervin 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Henry 1-4 1-1 3, Ajayi Simmons 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-60 23-32 81. 

Halftime — NIC 38-36. 3-point goals — USUE 4-16 (Richards 1-4, Huber 1-2, Heiden 0-1, Reichner 0-2, Palmer 1-4, Turner 1-3), NIC 4-15 (Weems 0-2, Diew 0-1, Brown 1-3, Pleasant 1-5, Colvin 0-1, Sibley 2-3). Rebounds — USUE 25 (Palmer 6), NIC 39 (Brown 10). Assists — USUE 4 (Huber 3), NIC 7 (Pleasant 2). Team fouls — USUE 23, NIC 24. Fouled out — Turner, Henry. Technical fouls — Heiden. 

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

North Idaho 70 

Utah State-Eastern 59 

COEUR d’ALENE — Freshman Esmeralda Galindo scored a game-high 30 points for the Cardinals, who pulled away with 26 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Eagles in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court. 

Sophomore Kylani Rookstool scored 10 points for NIC (14-8, 6-2 SWAC), which led 44-43 after three quarters before outscoring Utah State-Eastern 26-15 in the final 10 minutes. 

Utah State-Eastern was 2 of 20 from the 3-point line. 

“We had some big shots in that quarter,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, whose team shot 9 of 15 in the fourth quarter. “Summer (Faleafa) and Iratxe (Amorrortu) hit some big 3-pointers, and we got some stops when we needed to. We defended the 3-point line really well tonight and won the rebounding battle for the fifth straight game. It was a total team effort and great to see.” 

Freshmen Chloe Collin and Summer Faleafa had nine points each for NIC, which hosts Snow on Saturday. Snow beat No. 14 Southern Idaho 69-60 in other conference play on Thursday. CSI visits NIC on Feb. 8. 

Ellie Esplin scored 17 points for Utah State-Eastern (11-10, 3-4). 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Ellie Esplin 8-17 1-1 17, McKenzie Allen 0-7 0-0 0, Madison Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, Addasyn Scrivner 6-9 2-2 16, Marlee Pieper 2-5 0-0 4, Avery Sanders 0-5 0-0 0, Brynn Wagner 2-4 2-4 6, Aly Coombs 2-3 2-2 6, Addisyn Johnson 5-7 0-0 10. Totals 25-61 7-9 59. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 3-9 3-4 9, Kylani Rookstool 4-8 2-4 10, Esmeralda Galindo 12-19 3-4 30, Iratxe Amorrortu 2-3 0-0 5, Summer Faleafa 3-5 0-0 9, Tiarnee Smith 1-5 1-1 3, Ripeka Edwards 0-3 0-0 0, Emmalee Secrest 0-0 2-2 2, Tayler Adams 1-1 0-1 2, Elisa Holakeituai 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 11-16 70. 

Utah State-Eastern    7    14    22    16    —    59 

North Idaho        16    13    15    26    —    70 

3-point goals — USUE 2-20 (Esplin 0-3, Allen 0-5, Anderson 0-1, Scrivner 2-3, Pieper 0-2, Sanders 0-3, Wagner 0-1, Coombs 0-1, Johnson 0-1), NIC 7-20 (Collin 0-2, Rookstool 0-3, Galindo 3-5, Amorrortu 1-1, Faleafa 3-4, Smith 0-2, Edwards 0-2, Holakeituani 0-1). Rebounds — USUE 27 (Pieper 5), NIC 30 (Galindo, Smith 6). Assists — USUE 6 (Esplin, Pieper 2), NIC 7 (Smith 2). Team fouls — USUE 19, NIC 18. Fouled out — Galindo. 

• WRESTLING

North Idaho 35 

Big Bend 20 

MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Ethan Boulton (141 pounds) and Jacob Hubby (157) had pins for the Cardinals, who wrapped up the regular season with a dual win over the Vikings at Big Bend Community College. 

Gabe Lake won by technical fall at 165 for NIC, which hosts the Region 18 Tournament on Feb. 10 at Christianson Gymnasium. 

125 — Elijah Cater, NIC, by forfeit. 133 — Simon Cervantes, BBCC, d. Hoyt Hvass, 10-3. 141 — Ethan Boulton, NIC, p. Aiden Meikle, 1:28. 149 — Alexander Barajas, BBCC, tf. Jackson Webb, 16-1. 157 — Jacob Hubby, NIC, p. Cole Starr, 1:21. 165 — Gabe Lake, NIC, tf. Jaden Lopez, 19-4. 174 — Hunter Gonzales, NIC, p. Wyatt Romero, 2:32. 184 — Drake Wood, BBCC, by forfeit. 197 — Mac Laird, BBCC, by forfeit. 285 — Darrell Leslie, NIC, by forfeit. 

• SOFTBALL

North Idaho 6 

Chandler-Gilbert 3 

YUMA, Ariz. — Kristine Schmidt, a sophomore from Coeur d’Alene High, struck out six for the Cardinals in a win over the Cougars in the Arizona Western College Classic. 

Freshman Megan Nelson singled and drove in two runs for NIC (5-1), which faces Yavapai and Southern Nevada today. 

Alina Arjon had an RBI triple in the third inning for Chandler-Gilbert in its season opener. 

North Idaho    130    101    0    —    6    10    3 

Chan.-Gilb.    001    110    0    —    3    5    1 

Kristine Schmidt and Megan Nelson; Lexa Anderson and Alex Martinez.  

HITS: NIC — Drake, Nelson, Larney 2, Hanchey, Nichols 2, De La Cruz, Parks 2. C-G — Schultz, Arjon 2, Tinsdale, Martinez. 2B — Nelson, Nichols, Parks, Schultz. 3B — Arjon. 

    KYLE DISHAW PHOTOGRAPHY North Idaho College freshman guard Kylani Rookstool drives to the basket during Thursday's Scenic West Athletic Conference game against Utah State-Eastern at Rolly Williams Court.