SNOW WOMEN RALLY
TO DOWN GOLDEN EAGLES
by Mike Christensen

Lady Badgers Win 79-71

College of Southern Idaho guard Kalika Tullock takes the ball to the hoop Thursday during the first half of the Golden Eagles' home game against Snow College at the CSI Gymnasium in Twin Falls.

Randy Rogers will have to wait until at least Saturday to get victory No. 200.
Idaho product Abbie Beutler scored a game-high 20 points, and Tara Gehring scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half as Snow College rallied to down the College of Southern Idaho 79-71 on Thursday.

The Golden Eagles (14-7, 6-5 Scenic West Athletic Conference) watched an 11-point lead evaporate in the second half as they struggled to attack the Badgers’ compact 2-3 zone defense.

“That was a great adjustment by them,” said Rogers, who is 199-56 overall at CSI. “They really packed it in. They gave us perimeter shots, but we didn’t knock them down.”

While CSI clanked away from outside, going 2-for-15 from 3-point range, Snow (14-6, 5-5 SWAC) got rolling behind Gehring and Beutler.

“We got a lot of energy off of our press and started attacking,” said Beutler, who played in front of family and friends who made the trip from Weston.

Gehring repeated came off of screens to hit jumpers and 3-pointers to rally Snow.

“Those are big-time shots,” said Rogers. “They are Division-I shots. … She came off (screens), elevated and knocked them down with some range.”
Beutler, meanwhile, made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:45 to keep CSI at bay.

The Eagles were down just 74-71 after a basket Shauneice Samms with 45 seconds remaining, but CSI point guard Daidra Brown fouled out and sent Beutler to the line on a reach-in with 31.6 left.

“Daidra got frustrated and kind of took herself out of the game,” said Rogers. “When the score was still within reach, putting them on the free throw line with one of their better free throw shooters was not very smart.”

Snow went 17 of 22 at the stripe, adding to a season in which it ranks among the NJCAA’s top free-throw shooting squads. But CSI went 11-for-21 at the line and missed key front ends in 1-and-1 situations.

The Eagles were also outrebounded 45-38, a stat Rogers called “unacceptable.”

The loss wasted a solid scoring night from CSI’s post players as Maddy Plunkett scored 17, Samms 15 and Laurel Kearsley 14.

Kearsley had eight rebounds, while Brown added seven assists and six steals.

Samms keyed a 13-0 run to put CSI up 54-43 with 12:33 remaining, but Snow responded with a 10-0 run.

Beutler said her team’s 68-67 loss at Salt Lake last Saturday provided the drive for Thursday’s win.

“We were really motivated to come in and get a win,” said Beutler. “We’ve come up on the short end about four times by one point, so we were com ing to get one.”

Rogers will now shoot for the 200-win mark against rival Salt Lake, which lost 75-65 at North Idaho on Thursday.

Asked if reaching the milestone against the Bruins (17-2, 9-1) will make it more meaningful, he said, “Absolutely. I’d rather have 201 against Salt Lake right now, but I’ll take 200 if we can get a win Saturday.”

Snow 79, CSI 71