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Losses On Road To LCCC, EWC
The Northwest College women’s basketball team opened Region IX North conference play with a pair of tough road games last week. The Lady Trappers fell to Laramie County Community College and Eastern Wyoming College to run their overall record to 2-15 on the year.
At LCCC on Thursday, Jan. 10, the Lady Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 29-10 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, winning 90-72. Against Eastern Wyoming Saturday, the Lady Trappers trailed by just two points heading into the fourth quarter, but the Lady Lancers held on to win 79-70.
“We played eight quarters, and we had one bad quarter out of the two games,” said NWC head coach Camden Levett. “Unfortunately, that one bit us in the butt. But we played well overall, we made a lot of great strides.”
The NWC women continued conference play Wednesday on the road against Western Wyoming, and will host Gillette Saturday afternoon. Gillette is 9-8 on the season and is 2-0 in Region IX North conference play. Levett said the key for the Lady Trappers will be to maintain their confidence.
“I think we got a lot of momentum, even though we came up short against LCCC and Eastern,” Levett said. “We played well, and I think these girls understand that they can compete with anybody when they have the right mindset.”
LCCC 90, LADY TRAPPERS 72
Northwest spotted the Lady Golden Eagles a 19-point lead in the first quarter and never quite recovered,.
“That first quarter really got us,” Levett said. “For whatever reason, we just weren’t ready to go. We woke up after that first quarter and got rolling after that, but we just came up short.”
The Lady Trappers battled back in the second, outscoring LCCC 17-14 to cut the lead to 14 at the break.
The second half was a much closer contest, with LCCC outscoring the Lady Trappers by just two points, 47-45. But Northwest couldn’t make up the ground lost in the first quarter, losing 90-72.
“Against LCCC we saw 40 minutes of a zone,” Levett said. “I think that’s a credit to the way our post players have been playing. We had to adjust to that, and when it came down to it, we just didn’t make enough shots.”
Three Lady Trappers finished the gamein double figures, with Juliana Ribeiro, Melissa Martinez and Jenna Lohrenz netting 11 points each; Martinez and Lohrenz scored their points off the bench. In all, 11 players saw action on the court for Northwest.
“I think we had very good ball movement in this game — we found the open man,” Levett said. “We just didn’t make enough shots to win that game. But I thought Jenna [Lohrenz] and Melissa [Martinez] did really well; they’re a couple of our more consistent shooters. So when LCCC zoned us, I felt comfortable playing them extended minutes. They did well for us.”
Selena Cudney chipped in nine points, to go along with five rebounds, while Berkley Larsen added eight points and seven rebounds. Shelby Wardell, Tayler Groll and Tayla Sayer scored six points apiece, with Sayer leading the team in assists with nine.
For LCCC, Haylie Anderson led all scorers with 26 points, followed by Ja’Kia Wells with 18.
EWC 79, LADY TRAPPERS 70
NWC got off to a quick start Saturday against Eastern Wyoming, outscoring the Lady Lancers 24-19 in the first quarter.
“We came out ready to go Saturday, we jumped on them 10-0 to start the ball game,” Levett said. “It was back and forth the entire game.”
The Lady Trappers came back to earth a bit in the second quarter, however, and trailed 38-34 at the half.
NWC kept it close in the final two quarters but could never quite get over the hump, as EWC held on for the 79-70 win.
“The fourth quarter they [EWC] switched to a 1-3-1 zone, which kind of got us,” Levett said. “In all honesty, that was a good team — they were 13-1 at the time we played them. It was right down to the wire.”
Northwest trailed by only four points with three minutes left and “we were right there with them,” the coach said.
Four of the Lady Trappers’ five starters scored in double figures, led by 13 points each from the freshman post duo of Cudney and Larsen. Sophomore Kaylee Brown finished with 12 points, while Sayer netted 11.
“Tayla Sayer came out and did her thing, taking care of the basketball for us,” Levett said. “Selena Cudney was great, she shot 71 percent from the field over the weekend. Berkley [Larsen] was another strong presence in the post.”
Ribeiro and Tess Henry rounded out NWC’s top scorers with eight and seven points, respectively.
“I told the team after that we can compete with anybody when we come out and play with that intensity,” Levett said.
Lady Lancer Paula Martinez Sanz led all scorers with 18 points off the bench, followed by teammates Emily Buchanan with 17 and Kelliann Raff with 11.