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Team Slips At Sheridan Though
The Northwest College women’s basketball team split its first games in Region IX North play this past week, defeating Central Wyoming 67- 55 at home last Wednesday before falling 73-54 at Sheridan College on Saturday.
The Trappers will carry a 6-6 record into tonight’s (Tuesday’s) game at Dawson Community College.
Kennedy Allen finished with 30 points for Northwest College against Central Wyoming. Savannah Minder added 13 of her 17 points after intermission to help the Trappers overcome a sluggish start.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well early on, but once we got settled in we were able to knock down some shots and get into a rhythm,” said Northwest College head coach Janis Beal.
Allen was on fire throughout the night, despite working at a size disadvantage against a taller Central lineup that featured former Mountain View prep standouts Emily Smith, now standing 6-2, and Stephanie Smith, now listed at 6-6 on the roster. To compensate, the shorter Allen resorted to a variety of fadeaway and scooped shots around the outstretched arms of defenders. Allen also utilized her speed and ability to dribble, posting up higher and counting on her agility to create shooting space off the drive.
As Central Wyoming countered in the second half by sagging to account for Allen, it opened up space for Minder, who scored all but four of her 17 points in the final 20 minutes. Minder also came up with four assists and four steals in the contest.
“Savannah did a nice job shooting the ball and taking what we were being given in the second half,” said Beal. “We had a number of kids who hit some open shots for us in that second half.”
The Trappers also did a good job of protecting the basketball. Plagued by early season turnovers, Northwest was guilty of just 13 giveaways against Central. The Trappers forced 25 turnovers at the defensive end of the floor.
Those extra possessions were valuable as the Trappers were outrebounded by a 36-27 final margin.
“Central is a much taller team than we are, but you’d still like to see that gap be a little closer,” said Beal.
That rebounding gap was central to the Trappers’ Saturday struggles in Sheridan. Northwest was on the short side of a 51-31 rebounding disparity against the Generals.
The Trappers also struggled from the floor, hitting just 29.2 percent of their shots. The onetwo punch proved more than the team could overcome.
“When you’re getting outrebounded and you’re not shooting the ball well, those two things combined are a pretty deadly combination and you’re not going to win very often,” Beal said. “Sheridan did a nice job against us defensively. They doubled Kennedy and took her out of the game and we weren’t ready for that. We didn’t adjust.”
Andressa Augusto was the only Trapper to reach double figures on Saturday, finishing with 11 points. Leslie Thronburg and Minder each chipped in with eight points.
Sheridan’s Milomilo Nanai had an impressive final line in the box score. Nanai finished with 16 points, 18 rebounds and five assists for the Generals.
After the Region IX contest against Dawson tonight (Tuesday), the Trappers return home for Friday and Saturday games in the Trapper Tournament. Those contests will be the final pre-Christmas action for Northwest College basketball.
Northwest 67, C. Wyoming 55
Minder 17, Augusto 6, Allen 30, Thronburg 2, Si. Williams 2, Vilela 4, Winterholler 2, Simpson 4.
Sheridan 73, Northwest 54
Minder 8, Augusto 11, Allen 7, Thronburg 8, Blackburn 6, Si. Williams 3, Winterholler 7, Lund 2, Simpson 2.