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Shooting, Turnovers Prove Costly for NWC
The Northwest College women’s basketball team suffered a pair of weekend losses at the Williston State College tournament. The Trappers fell 86-61 to nationally ranked North Idaho. The team also dropped a 79-63 decision to the host Tetons.
The losses move Northwest’s season record to a mark of 1-3.
Against North Idaho, the Trappers were overwhelmed by a 59 percent shooting night from the Cardinals, who put four players in double figures in the scoring column. By contrast, Northwest struggled against North Idaho’s defense, shooting 37 percent from the field and committing 22 turnovers in the game.
Northwest was able to convert six of the 13 shots it took from behind the arc, however. Kennedy Allen finished with 19 points and four rebounds — both team highs — to spearhead the Northwest College offense. Andressa Augusto added 16 points and four additional rebounds. Augusto connected on four of her five shots from behind the arc on the night.
Northwest’s starting lineup accounted for all but 10 of the team’s points in the contest.
“I thought we played well in the first half and put ourselves in contention,” said Trapper head coach Janis Beal. “In the second half, we turned the ball over too much and you can’t do that against a good-shooting team like North Idaho. They’ll make you pay for your mistakes.”
The Trappers looked to recover from the loss on Saturday against Williston State, but found themselves again at a turnover disadvantage. Northwest gave the ball away 16 times while coming up with just 12 takeaways. The Trappers were also outrebounded in the contest by a 34-29 count and were outshot at the free throw line 38-to-12.
The combination of Allen and Augusto were once again out in front of the Trapper scoring effort. Both players finished with 14 points in the game. Augusto was again stellar from deep range, hitting four 3-pointers on six attempts.
“She’s shooting the ball well right now,” said Beal. “And the nice thing about her is that if teams come out to take away those shots, she has the ability to drive past them. She’s a good attacker.”
Amari Simpson just missed double figures with nine points. The Trappers and Williston State play again on Friday in a 5:30 p.m. game at Cabre Gymnasium.
“We’ll change things up a bit defensively to be more aggressive and also to hopefully cut down the number of times we put them at the line,” Beal said of the upcoming rematch. “We also need to do a lot of little things better as far as valuing the ball better when we have possession and blocking out for rebounds.”
The Trappers also host the Northwest All-Stars in a 3 p.m., Saturday, contest
N. Idaho 86, Northwest 61
Minder 8, Augusto 16, Allen 19, Thronburg 4, Blackburn 4, Si. Williams 2, Lund 6, Simpson 2.
Williston St. 79, Northwest 63
Minder 8, Augusto 14, Allen 14, Thronburg 4, Blackburn 1, Si. Williams 6, Vilela 2, Lund 5, Simpson 9.