GAME NOTES: 

• The Snow College women's basketball team is returning home for a pair of games against North Idaho College Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and No. 9 College of Southern Idaho Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Badgers are currently on a five-game slide dating back to their conference opener against Colorado Northwestern Community College Jan. 3, where they were victorious 68-46. 

 

• The Badgers are coming off a standalone game against in-state rival Utah State University Eastern last week, where they fell in a heartbreaking fashion, 60-59 in overtime. 

 

• The Badgers have won two of their six tip-offs in conference play with a record of 1-1 and are 0-4 when they lose the opening tip. They are 7-2 on the season when they win the tip-off and 58-30 under Head Coach Zu Grinsell. When they lose the opening tip, they are 6-6 on the year and are 25-33 under Grinsell. 

 

• Under Grinsell, the Badgers are 75-12 when they lead at half and 15-57 when they trail into the break. They are 12-1 this season when they head into the half with the lead and 1-6 when they enter it trailing. 

 

• The Badgers have taken fewer free throws in four of their previous six game and have lost all four of those contests. They are 4-6 on the year and 36-37 under Grinsell when attempting fewer free throws.

 

• Alternatively, when Snow College takes more free throws than its opponents, it is 5-1 on the year, 0-1 in conference, and 52-31 under Grinsell.  

 

• The Badgers are shooting 65 percent from the free-throw line, which is 94th in the NJCAA and last in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. They have shot worse than their opponents in 10 games and are 3-7 in those games; five of those losses came in SWAC play, and they are 30-38 under Grinsell.  

 

• NIC holds an overall record of 8-12 and a conference record of 3-4, which puts them in fourth place in the standings. The Cardinals' conference wins came against CNCC twice (72-49),(76-42), and Snow College, 63-45. 

 

• The Badgers trail the series against NIC 15-7, with the last 10 matches being split evenly 5-5. The Badgers are 3-7 against the Cardinals at home, with a win in their last meeting inside the Horne Activity Center, 65-59.  

 

• CSI is 20-2 on the year with a 6-1 record in conference play and is currently ranked No. 9 in the NJCAA Division 1 Top 25. The Golden Eagles' sole conference loss came against USUE (77-71). 

 

• CSI leads the all-time series 38-14 and is currently 9-1 against the Badgers in their last 10 matchups. The Badgers are 8-17 against the Golden Eagles in Ephraim, with the last home victory coming in the 2020-2021 season, 67-53. 

LAST TIME OUT: The Snow College women's basketball team wrapped up its three-game road stretch against in-state rival Utah State University Eastern. The Badgers fell to the Eagles in overtime, 60-59. 

The Badgers were coming off a trip to Idaho, where they fell to both No. 9 College of Southern Idaho 72-49 and North Idaho College 63-45. They have lost their last five games dating back to their conference opener win over Colorado Northwestern Community College, 68-46. 

The Badgers tipped the game off on a 7-2 run, which was bookended by a Sara Aoki 3-pointer and a Lala Baldwin jumper. USUE would bounce back on its own 7-2 run to knot the game at nine. The Eagles would continue to outscore the Badgers in the first quarter, 10-2, to enter the second period up 19-11. 

The second quarter started slowly as both teams scored five points over the first five minutes. Snow College kicked it into gear over the final five minutes as it went on a 10-2 run, with Kysa Shippen capping it off with back-to-back jumpers, the second of which left five seconds on the clock. The Badgers would enter the break tied at 26 with the Eagles. 

The third period saw the lead change five times over the course of the period. Neither team was able to string together a proper run until the Badgers ended the third quarter on a 5-0 burst. It was orchestrated by a pair of jumpers from Dalana Jakovljevic and Shippen and capped by an Avery Allred free throw that put the Badgers up 39-35 entering the final stanza. 

USUE opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 over the first four and a half minutes to go up 43-39. The Badgers would battle back and trim the lead down to three points with 22 seconds left in regulation before Baldwin hit a contested shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 51 and send it to overtime. 

Snow College would start the overtime on a 5-1 run before USUE would trim the deficit down to three with 54 seconds left in the game. Jakovljevic got fouled with four seconds to go and would hit one of her two free throws to put the Badgers up two points. USUE would then have a player fouled at the buzzer, and she would go on hit all three of her free throws to put the Eagles on top 60-59. 

Baldwin led the way in scoring for the Badgers with 12 points. Jakovljevic and Hillary Akomatsri both followed suit with 11 points. Jakovljevic was the leading rebounder, recording eight. 

UP NEXT: Snow College will turn its attention to a pair of road games against in-state rival No. 25 Salt Lake Community College Feb. 5 at 5:00 p.m. in Taylorsville. They will then head to Rangley, Colorado, to take on CNCC Feb. 7 at 1:00 p.m. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.