Your future, our focus
Following a loss to Casper the opening weekend of Region IX North play, the Northwest College women’s basketball team has rattled off three straight victories — moving to 3-1 in Region IX play after defeating Laramie County Community College last Wednesday 78-61 and Central Wyoming College on Saturday 71-57.
NORTHWEST 78, LCCC 61After the game against Western Wyoming was postponed on Jan. 28, the Trappers (16-8 overall, 3-1 Region IX North) came out refreshed with a strong defensive mindset against the visiting Golden Eagles (16-7 overall, 2-2 Region IX North).
Northwest jumped out to an 8-2 lead midway through the quarter and held that advantage going into the second quarter up 13-7.
Northwest held LCCC to 3-16 from the field for the quarter, and 0-4 from 3-point range to help the Trappers keep the Golden Eagles at bay early.
“LCCC is super talented, I felt like my girls understood personnel and understood who does what, who does what well, and we did well limiting their strengths,” coach Lauren Davis said. “It’s a testament to my girls, they took pride in our scout and I think they did a great job executing it on the defensive end.”
In the second quarter Northwest started with a 9-0 burst to build a 15-point lead, and maintained a double-digit lead going into halftime up 33-22.
The lead swelled up to as many as 18 in the third quarter, and Northwest continued to hold LCCC to poor shooting heading into the fourth up 56-39.
Technical fouls stacked up in the second half for LCCC, with four being called on the Golden Eagles — attributing to the Trappers’ 29-43 (67.4%) shooting from the line for the night.
“Our girls were really composed the whole time,” Davis said. “They did a great job knowing how the game was being called, and they didn’t waiver. They stuck to the game plan of getting to the free throw line. The technicals did help our cause but we had composure in knowing what we could do.”
Northwest hit its largest lead of the game on a Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 3-pointer to start the fourth at 20 points, allowing the Trappers to cruise to a 78-61 wire-to-wire victory.
The Trappers held the Golden Eagles to 22-62 (35.5%) shooting and 6-21 (28.6%) from 3-point range.
Northwest had five players in double figures, led by Roxanne Rogers with 21, Darla Hernandez with 17, Montoro-Cabezas with 16, Nayeli Acosta with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and Kamber Good Luck with 10 points.
NORTHWEST 71, CENTRAL WYOMING 57Northwest stayed at home for another Region IX tilt on Saturday, taking on the Central Wyoming College Rustlers (2-18 overall, 0-4 Region IX North).
The Trappers again came out strong, reaching a double-digit lead in the first quarter after a 14-0 run, but held a 22-14 lead heading into the second.
Northwest continued to build the lead back out to double digits in the second quarter, reaching as high as 20 and taking a 41-24 lead into halftime.
In the second half the Trappers became complacent against the opposing zone, with Central chipping away at the lead and trailing 57-42 heading into the fourth.
“I think we started out really well,” Davis said. “We were energized and ready to go. Then we got a little relaxed in their zone and became stagnant. It’s something we can work on and will continue to work on.”
The visitors cut the lead down to six midway through the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer from Rogers shut down any hopes of the completed comeback and the Trappers finished the game with a 71-57 victory.
Northwest shot 3-13 (23.1%) from the field in the fourth but 7-8 (87.5%) from the free throw line to help seal the win.
The Trappers also outrebounded the Lancers 39-27.
Rogers and Hernandez both finished with 20 while Hernandez added 11 rebounds, and Natalyah Nead finished with 15 points as the other Trapper in double digits.
SCHEDULE RESHUFFLENorthwest was supposed to make up the rescheduled game at home with Western Wyoming (12-10 overall, 3-1 Region IX North) on Feb. 8, but it was rescheduled once again for Monday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m.
That means the Trappers next game will be this Saturday on the road at No. 17-ranked Casper College (21-3 overall, 4-0 Region IX North) at 2 p.m.
“Now that we have seen Casper the nerves are out of the way and we know what conference games are like,” Davis said. “We are prepared mentally more than anything.”
The Trappers were defeated by the Thunderbirds in their only matchup this season, dropping the home contest on Jan. 21 72-55.
NORTHWEST 78, LCCC 61Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()Points — Roxanne Rogers 21, Darla Hernandez 17, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 16, Nayeli Acosta 13, Kamber Good Luck 10, Natalyah Nead 1Rebounds — Nayeli Acosta 10 (3), Darla Hernandez 9 (2), Natalyah Nead 6 (2), Kamber Good Luck 6, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 5 (1), Roxanne Rogers 1Assists — Nayeli Acosta 4, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 3, Natalyah Nead 2, Roxanne Rogers 1, Darla Hernandez 1, Kamber Good Luck 1Steals — Roxanne Rogers 3, Nayeli Acosta 2, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 1
NORTHWEST 71, CENTRAL WYOMING 57Points — Roxanne Rogers 20, Darla Hernandez 20, Natalyah Nead 15, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 5, Batoul Khaleefah 5, Nayeli Acosta 3, Kamber Good Luck 3Rebounds — Darla Hernandez 11 (3), Kamber Good Luck 8 (3), Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 6 (1), Natalyah Nead 5 (2), Roxanne Rogers 4 (1), Nayeli Acosta 4, Batoul Khaleefah 1Assists — Nayeli Acosta 9, Kamber Good Luck 2, Darla Hernandez 2, Tyne Killip 2, Roxanne Rogers 1, Natalyah Nead 1, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 1, Batoul Khaleefah 1Steals — Roxanne Rogers 1, Natalyah Nead 1, Nayeli Acosta 1, Kamber Good Luck 1, Darla Hernandez 1, Tyne Killip 1Blocks — Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 1