Women’s basketball can’t topple Walla Walla

NIC women’s basketball lost a tightly contested game against second-ranked Walla Walla 74-62 at home Saturday afternoon.

Down five points with a little over a minute left in the game, Halle Eborall and a Walla Walla defender dove to the floor for a loose ball. Walla Walla managed to call timeout despite many NIC players, staff and fans arguing that there wasn’t clear possession.

NIC head coach Chris Carlson received a technical foul for voicing his displeasure with the call, and Walla Walla went 1-2 from the free throw line to extend their lead to six.

Rilee Mangun looks to pass in the first half. The Cards average 10.1 assists-per-game, which is the seventh least in the NWAC. NIC is the only team in the bottom ten in APG with a winning record.

Carlson continued to voice his frustration with the officials after a foul by NIC, and received a second technical and was ejected from the game. Walla Walla sunk three out of four free throws to extend their lead to nine and ultimately put the game out of reach.

The Cards were much more competitive against Walla Walla (11-0, 22-1) than they were in their last meeting, which resulted in a 70-40 loss. NIC led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter, and was within a few points of the lead for most of the game.

Cheyenne Green led the Cards in points with 13 on 5-8 shooting despite only playing 13 minutes. Sydnie Peterson added 12 points and four rebounds, and Demi Randall had nine points while coming up with four steals.

The Cards (7-4, 13-9) play three straight road games starting with Wenatchee Valley (8-3, 17-7) on Feb. 12, Blue Mountain (1-10, 3-19) on Feb. 15 and Spokane (4-8, 11-10) on Feb. 19 before returning home to play Yakima Valley (9-3, 19-6) on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m.