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Team Sweeps Little Big Horn, Air Force Prep
After battling through some offensive struggles in its previous two games, the Northwest College women’s basketball team broke out of its shell in a big way last week. The Trapper women scored 114 points — their highest offensive output since March 6, 2004 — in a 114-51 win over Little Big Horn.
The Trappers also scored a 73-70 non-region win over Air Force Prep on Saturday to move to 13-12 on the season.
“We did a good job shooting the basketball,” said head coach Janis Beal, whose team connected on better than 56 percent of its shots over the two-game stretch. “Our defense allowed us to get some things going in transition.”
Northwest was in control for most of the way in its game against Little Big Horn, but a late first half run threatened to pull the Rams close just before the half. Northwest responded with six quick points before intermission to carry a 50-34 lead into the locker room.
Then the fireworks really began.
The Trappers emerged in the second half to outscore Little Big Horn by a 64-17 margin. The Rams did not break into double-digit scoring in the half until 5:36 remained in the contest. Long before that, the Trappers had transformed their comfortable halftime lead into a decisive rout of their Region IX North opponent.
Kennedy Allen finished with 29 points for the Trapper women to lead a parade of four scorers in double figures for Northwest College. Layana de Souza added 18, Mariah Duran finished the game with 12 points and Saige Hartman had 10 points as every player in a Trapper uniform scored at least one bucket in the contest.
For Northwest College, it was the team’s highest point total since hanging 127 points on the scoreboard against Southeast College in the opening round of the 2004 regional tournament.
The Trappers were equally dominant on the rebounding glass, where Northwest held a commanding 61-23 advantage. Leslie Blackburn pulled down 10 boards. Taylor Ryan added nine rebounds as, once again, every Trapper contributed to the stat category.
The Trappers were also in control for much of Saturday afternoon’s game against Air Force Prep. Despite a final score of 73-70, Northwest led for almost the entire game, but were unable to ever put away their opponent.
Northwest College used some pinpoint shooting and transition opportunities in the first half to open a lead of as many as 12 points. Air Force Prep trimmed that gap to six by halftime and drew within one in the early stages of the second half. Northwest reasserted itself behind the play of Allen, to re-open a lead of almost 10 points.
“They didn’t really know what to do with Kennedy, and you could see that out there,” Beal said of her starting post, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “You could see they were struggling with playing behind her, trying to front her, double teaming.”
Despite their difficulty defending the paint, Air Force Prep remained within striking distance thanks to its overall athleticism and the scrappy play of guard Erica Norwood, who gashed the Trappers’ defense for 23 points, many of them coming in the second half as AFP looked to attack the Trappers more off the dribble.
Taylor Ryan added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds in support for Northwest College, which had to defend against a 3-point attempt in the waning seconds to preserve the victory.
With the wins, Northwest climbed back over the .500 mark for the season and takes a 13-12 mark into this week. The Trappers travel to nationally ranked Casper College on Wednesday. The team will be back at home on Saturday for a date against Miles Community College.
NWC 114, LITTLE BIG HORN 51
Kennedy Allen 29, Saige Hartman 10, Daria Sharova 2, Savannah Minder 6, Meagan Butler 6, Layana de Souza 18, Mikail Burningham 5, Taylor Ryan 6, Leslie Thronburg 6, Mariah Duran 12, Brecka Carrizales 6, Leslie Blackburn 8.
NWC 73, AIR FORCE PREP 70
Meagen Butler 7, Mariah Duran 9, Savannah Minder 5, Kennedy Allen 24, Saige Hartman 6, Layana de Souza 9, Taylor Ryan 10, Leslie Thronburg 3.