Beating Gillette was a get-well game for the Northwest College women’s basketball team.
The tone of the thorough 82-53 victory was set in the first quarter in a game that came at the right time.
After 10 minutes the score was 23-12 and in three of the four quarters Northwest’s margin was comparable.
The Lady Trappers only recently had a nine-game winning streak, but going into last Saturday’s defeat of Gillette at Cabre Gym, they had a more recent two-game losing streak.
“It was really important,” said guard Dani McManamen of halting the L streak promptly. “It felt like we had taken a step back.”
McManamen contributed 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, shot 100 percent from the floor and did not commit either a foul or a turnover in compiling what can be seen as a nearly perfect line score.
Northwest, 16-6, was scheduled to face Sheridan at home Wednesday night in a Region IX contest.
Center Julynne da Silva Sa had a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Dallas Petties scored 13 points and Charri McArthur 11.
Earlier in the week the Lady Trappers fell to Casper College 73-60 on the road.
McManamen had 14 points in that one with da Silva Sa the only other double-figure scorer with 12. Kira Marlow added nine.
“Casper’s a good team,” McManamen said. “We needed to make smarter passes.”
Point guard Tala Aumua-Tuisavura said she thought the Trappers took a step backwards against Casper, but the solid outing against Gillette would be beneficial.
“We weren’t playing as a team,” Aumua-Tuisavura said of the loss. But the turn for the better should help. “It’s big going into the next one.”
Northwest did a lot of things right versus Gillette, hitting 48.6 percent from the floor and while committing just 10 turnovers.
da Silva Sa indicated there was a sense of urgency going into the Gillette game.
“We had to get together as a team,” she said. “We were thinking, ‘OK, this is the time we have to get it.’
“We won with a good score, so we’re back to where we were.”