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Trappers Slide to 10-9
The Northwest College Trapper women’s basketball team slid to 10-9 this season after dropping a pair of Region IX North contests last week. Northwest fell 82-68 on the road at Miles Community College, then dropped a 77-54 decision to Western Wyoming at home on Saturday.
With the results, Northwest is now 2-4 within Region IX North play.
“Our defense didn’t really play team ball,” head coach Janis Beal said of the Trappers’ performance in Miles City last Wednesday. “We didn’t rotate like we needed to and that resulted in them having a big 3-point percentage in the first half.”
Miles connected on seven of its 14 shots from behind the arc in the first half. Several of those made buckets came during the course of a 13-0 run that transformed the contest from a backand- forth affair to a sizable 45-28 halftime lead for Miles.
“It went from being a close game at the 10-minute mark to being a case where we had to really battle if we were going to get back into it,” said Beal.
The Trappers did a better job of guarding the perimeter inthe second half, but it came at the expense, Beal said, of giving up too many easy buckets underneath.
“The other problem we had was that we didn’t make them play defense that much,” Beal said. “We came down the floor and either threw up a quick shot or turned it over. We got Kennedy (Allen) the ball in the second half and that’s when she was able to get a lot of her points.”
Allen finished with 24 points to lead all scorers in the contest. Taylor Ryan added 11.
On Saturday, the Trappers were done in by turnovers. Visiting Western Wyoming forced Northwest into 31 giveaways. Despite 17 of those mishandlings coming in the first half, the Trappers trailed by only seven points, 33-26, at intermission.
“We were basically beating ourselves at that point,” Beal said. “We have to value the ball more than we are right now.”
In the second half, Western shot 50 percent from the floor while Northwest managed to connect on just eight of its 28 shots. The result was a Mustang team that gradually extended its lead throughout the final 20 minutes.
Allen again reached double figures with 18 points in the contest. Mariah Duran was the next-highest scorer for the Trapper women with nine points.
Northwest travels to Gillette College on Wednesday and will continue on the road to face Dawson on Thursday.
MILES 82, NORTHWEST 68
Meagan Butler 9, Kennedy Allen 24, Layana de Souza 6, Taylor Ryan 11, Mariah Duran 8, Savannah Minder 2, Saige Hartman 6, Leslie Thronburg 2.
W. WYOMING 77, NORTHWEST 54
Kennedy Allen 18, Layana de Souza 5, Taylor Ryan 6, Mariah Duran 9, Daria Sharova 1, Savannah Minder 6, Saige Hartman 1, Leslie Thronburg 2, Brecka Carrizales 4, Leslie Blackburn 2.