A pair of Gem State teams remain in college basketball national tournaments-- the North Idaho College women in the NJCAAs and Lewis-Clark State's ladies in the NAIA Division I event.
The task for NIC is daunting... win a first-round game over Trinity Valley tonight and (most likely) face undefeated and top-seeded Jefferson College in the second round. This is NIC's first trip to the NJCAA national tournament in 12 years.
It's not much easier for LCSC, who opens with Cumberlands on Thursday. The two teams have a common opponent: Westminster. The Warriors beat Westminster in the Frontier Conference title game to reach the national tournament, but fell twice to their conference rival in the regular season. Cumberlands beat Westminster by 17 points early in the campaign.
LC State has one Idaho-grown player on the roster, Mountain View's Tasha Bishop.
North Idaho's roster is loaded with 'em: Brigitte Boucher (Lakeland), Natalie Nichols (Lakeland), Lauren Boyd-Miller (Centennial), Katie Sanders (Centennial), Lindsay Stark (Coeur d'Alene), and redshirt Deanna Dotts (Coeur d'Alene).