NIC, CCS women’s basketball teams to play for holiday tournament titles

Mariah Swanson had 15 points and six rebounds and the North Idaho women’s basketball team earned a spot in the Lower Columbia Holiday Classic title game with a 79-56 rout of Centralia (10-2) Monday in Longview, Washington.

Kara Staggs added 10 points for the Cardinals (9-4), who will play Snow (13-0) today at 3 p.m. Snow advanced with a 91-52 win over Umpqua (11-2).

• Community Colleges of Spokane (10-4) edged Bellevue (7-6) 61-55 and will play Big Bend in today’s Skagit Valley Holiday Tournament championship game in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Big Bend (6-5) beat Skagit Valley (8-6) 67-61 in the semifinals.

• Eastern Washington’s Lexie Nelson was named the Big Sky Conference and College Sports Madness Player of the Week after making seven 3-pointers and scoring 28 points in the Eagles’ 67-56 win over Florida on Dec. 22.

• Kelsey Plum scored 32 points and Talia Walton added a season-high 21 as Washington (11-1) routed No. 5 Texas A&M (11-2) 70-49 in a nonconference game in Seattle.

The win was the Huskies’ 11th straight after a season-opening loss to Oklahoma. The streak is UW’s longest since the 1989-90 season.

Men’s basketball

Jordan King led a balanced attack with 14 points and six rebounds and North Idaho defeated Medicine Hat 73-51 in a nonconference game in Coeur d’Alene.

Djuan Piper chipped in 13 points for the Cardinals (15-2).