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Second Half Rally Comes Up Short
Sixth-ranked Casper College used an abundance of foot speed and some gritty second-half defensive stops to deliver a 66-57 defeat to Northwest College in Region IX North women’s basketball action on Saturday.
The Trappers’ undoing came early in the contest as Casper held Northwest without a field goal for an eight-minute stretch in the first half. During that time, the Thunderbirds opened a double-digit lead as Northwest struggled against Casper’s defensive pressure.
A strong showing at the defensive end of the floor and a series of free throws by sophomore Layana de Souza kept the Trappers close during that prolonged shooting slump. Despite holding Northwest to just 6-for-26 shooting in the first half, Casper led by just 12 points, 33-21, going into intermission.
“We weren’t quite prepared mentally for their pressure,” said Trapper head coach Janis Beal. “Casper is a very good team and they forced us to do things a little quicker than we wanted that first half.”
That changed during the intermission. The Trappers came out in the second half and did a much better job handling the basketball against Casper. After a couple early baskets by the T-birds pushed the visitors’ lead to 15 points, Northwest set about the task of chipping away at the advantage.
The Trappers cut the lead to seven midway through the second half, then watched as Casper flexed its muscle to quickly press its lead back to the halftime margin of 12 points. Northwest continued to battle and chopped the margin back to five points, but could get no closer.
“We did a much better job in the second half of handling their speed,” said Beal. “We just need to do that from the beginning of the game. Overall though, I’m not disappointed with our effort. Casper is a very good team.”
De Souza, who scored 12 of the Trappers’ first 24 points to keep the Trappers within striking distance, finished the night with 17 ponts to lead all scorers in the game. She also paced the Trappers with six rebounds.
Savannah Minder caught fire in the second half to end her night with 11 points. Kennedy Allen added nine points.
The Thunderbirds had four players finish in double figures, led by Rosalie Curti’s 16 points. Casper’s starting five in the contest accounted for all but seven of the school’s points.
“We did a good job of shooting the ball from the free throw line tonight,” said Beal, whose team finished 20-for-23 at the charity stripe. “We needed to do a better job on the boards though.”
The Trappers were outrebounded by a 41-27 margin in the contest.
With the loss, the Trappers slide to 10-7 this season. The team holds a 2-2 mark in Region IX North play.
Northwest returns to action this Wednesday with another Region IX North contest. The Trappers will travel to take on Miles Community College in a Wednesday evening affair. The two schools are currently tied for fifth place with 2-2 records.
“It’s an important game from the regional standpoint,” Beal said. “Miles has had some impressive results this season. We need to be ready to play.”
The next home action for the Trappers will come Saturday against Western Wyoming.
CASPER 66, NORTHWEST 57
Meagan Butler 4, Kennedy Allen 9, Layana de Souza 17, Taylor Ryan 7, Mariah Duran 5, Savannah Minder 11, Saige Hartman 4.