NWC News Desk

Trapper women's slide continues

Losing Streak Reaches Four Games 

Looking for its first win since Nov. 18, the Northwest College women’s basketball team came up empty-handed during its most recent road trip to Arizona. 

Over the weekend, the Lady Trappers dropped contests to Arizona Western College and Cochise College at the Arizona Western College Tournament, in Yuma, Ariz. 

On Friday, NWC (4-7) fell to the hosts of the tournament, 75-64, due in part to a 23-2 first-half run staged by the Matadors. 

Behind the strong shooting of sophomore Dana Bjorhus (team-high 19 points), the Trappers managed to cut the deficit to 41-31 at the half. The two squads went neck-and-neck over the second half, but a need to foul down the stretch allowed Arizona Western to pull away. 

NWC head coach Janis Beal said that continued inconsistency on offense combined with turnovers hurt her team. 

“Some of the same problems hurt us again ... it’s a lack consistency with every possession,” Beal said. “And 26 turnovers, many of which occurred during Arizona’s big run, that’s unacceptable.” 

On the positive side, Bjorhus, as well as Hatti Snyder (10) points continue to be threats with the basketball. Reserve Kealani Sagapolu also came off the bench to score seven points to go with nine rebounds. 

On Saturday, the Trappers showed poise in the first half, grabbing a 30-24 lead over Cochise. But NWC’s defense again came up short, as Cochise outscored the Trappers 45-26 over the final 20 minutes of play to earn a 69-56 victory. NWC struggled from the floor, shooting just 33.3 percent (18- of-54) from the field while committing 22 turnovers. The Trappers also missed 11 of their 28 free throws. 

A night after watching Bjorhus play well against Western, Cochise also opted to focus on the scorer, holding her to 11 points. Sagapolu stepped up big time with 17 points and 17 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for NWC.

“We’re learning ... we’re playing some good teams, and that’s the way to get better, to play good teams that are going to challenge us,” Beal said. “That’s going to help us once we get to region play.” 

NWC is now 1-4 on the road, compared to 3-0 at home, and won’t return to Cabre Gym in Powell until Dec. 11. The Trappers will finish up their road swing with games against the University of Montana-Western junior varsity at 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday) in Dillon, Mont., before taking on the University of Great Falls junior varsity at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Great Falls, Mont.

 

Contact

Tim Carpenter
Tim.Carpenter@nwc.edu
Communications/Web & Social Media Specialist
307-754-6009