Your future, our focus
Lady Trappers End 2014 With Victory
After making a resounding statement on Dec. 11, the Northwest College women’s basketball team was forced to take it back the next day.
Fortunately for the Lady Trappers, they had time for a rewrite.
After blowing out Dawson Community College in a 102-37 victory at Cabre Gym Dec. 11, NWC followed that up with a tough 76-68 loss to the visiting Utah Select on Friday. After a game in which the Trappers at one point enjoyed an 11-point lead, coach Janis Beal was left searching for consistency from her team.
“We needed a bounce-back effort after that loss,” Beal said. “That loss hurt us a little bit, and we needed to know we could be more consistent when we got out to a big lead like that.”
The Trappers proved they could Saturday afternoon, hosting a group of former NWC players known as the Northwest All-Stars, and cruising past Beal’s former players for a 75-45 victory.
Much like Friday’s contest, the Trappers raced out to a big lead early against the All-Stars, using a Whitney Hatch layup, a Caitlin Clancy 3-pointer and Shelby Nicholson’s layup for a quick 7-0 spurt and a 21-8 advantage.
This time however, NWC made the lead stand.
“We really needed to prove to ourselves that we could play as well as we did against Utah early on for an entire game,” said freshman Aubree Porter, who scored a team-high 15 points against the All-Stars. “I think ball security and a more focused approach on defense really helped us.”
The Trappers surrendered a season-low nine turnovers to the All-Stars while forcing 22. And as the defense did its part in limiting the visitors to just 32-percent shooting from the floor (16 percent the first half), the offense continued to roll.
After the All-Star’s McKenzie Garrett converted two free throws to cut NWC’s lead to 21-11, the Trappers went off. Kealani Sagapolu (10 points, 14 rebounds) followed the foul shots with a layup that started a 16-0 Trapper run that included eight straight field goals by NWC. Porter added back-to-back steals that she converted into layups during the burst, and following Kayla Cheney’s jumper to end the run, NWC was ahead convincingly, 37-11.
“We really needed to pick each other up, and I think we did that today,” Sagapolu said. “Once we got comfortable defensively, the rest just sort of fell into place.”
Clancy added 11 points and 10 rebounds for NWC, who is now 8-8 this season. The Trappers will return to Cabre Gym to start the second half of their season on Friday, Jan. 9, and will host Sheridan College at 5:30 p.m.
NORTHWEST COLLEGE 102, DAWSON COMM. COLLEGE 37
In one of the Trappers’ more lopsided wins of the season, NWC surged to a 25-3 lead with 7:45 remaining in the first half, and continued to pour it on the visiting Buccaneers.
“We made it a goal to come in and play strong defense,” Porter said on Thursday after scoring a team-high 16 points off the bench. “We want to force 30 turnovers and give our offense opportunities.”
NWC didn’t force 30 turnovers; it forced 41, and held Dawson to just 19-percent shooting in the first half while building a 45-12 halftime lead. NWC also limited DCC to just nine free throw attempts and two made 3-pointers. NWC also wreaked havoc with 29 steals.
Dana Bjorhus (15), Chandler Rose (13), Cheney (11) and Sagapolu (10) had double-digit scoring efforts for the Trappers.
UTAH SELECT 76, NORTHWEST COLLEGE 68
Friday’s loss left NWC scratching its head after the Trappers were in control for most of the first half. After Bjorhus’ 3-pointer gave the Trappers a 33-22 edge with less than five minutes remaining before halftime, the Select surged ahead on the legs of a 17-1 run that leaked over into the second half.
“It was disappointing to see the game turn the way it did,” Beal said. “I just think we lost some intensity once we got the big lead.”
The Select then attempted to pull away, leading by as much as eight (44-36) with 14:44 left to play before NWC made a final push.
Down five, the Trappers started a 6-0 rally with a Sagapolu layup. Hatti Snyder followed with a layup of her own before draining two free throws to pull her team ahead 59-58 with 5:18 to go. But the Select made the next five shots, including an Abbie Beutler 3-pointer to end the run and put Utah ahead again for good at 69-59. The Trappers never came any closer than five the rest of the way.
“Tough loss, but we’ve just got to be more consistent ... period,” Beal said Friday. “On defense and on offense. We need to work on that and fix it.”
Then came Saturday, and NWC fixed “it,” at least for a day.