Northwest College

In the News

Lady Trappers Season Ends With Close Semifinals Loss

CASPER – Despite four double-figure scorers and scrappy play that brought them back from an early deficit, the Northwest College Lady Trappers basketball team fell to Western Nebraska, 67-62 in the semifinals of the Region IX playoffs.

The defeat for the 25-8 Trappers ends the season – the best in coach Janis Beal's nine years at the helm – and ends the careers of nine sophomores.

Northwest could not contain guard Karli Seay, who poured in 34 points for the 29-3 Cougars.

Center Julynne da Silva Sa scored a team high 11 points for Northwest and added 13 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Alexi Payne, Charri McArthur and Dallas Petties each had points for Northwest.

The Trappers were burned by the Cougars' speed early and fell behind 10-2 and 26-15. They actually had just one lead for 20 seconds in the entire game, at 56-55, when Payne made a lay-up.

However, Northwest tied the game seven other times. The last time was 62-62 when guard Tala Aumua-Tuisavursa made a free throw with 1:57 to go. Norrthwest could not capitalize on its final possessions.

An uncharacteristic problem for a high-scoring team was the Trappers missed opportunities in close.

"We couldn't finish layups in the first half," da Silva Sa said.

A few games ago, freshman guard Kaylee Brown specifically chose to describe a Northwest victory in Shakespearean terms, calling it a masterpiece. This time, Brown, who had 6 points, invoking the same theme, called the loss, "a tragedy. Definitely a tragedy."