NWC News Desk

Lady Trappers On Five-Game Win Streak

Posted December 14, 2017
By Trapper Athletics

BREANNE THIEL Tribune Sports Writer
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

NWC Stands With 11-4 Record

Pushing their winning streak to five games, the Lady Trappers basketball team won two on the road last week, beating Williston State College, 82-38, and Dawson Community College, 70-58. The Northwest College women now have an overall record of 11-4 heading into the Christmas break. 

“I’m proud of the girls with how they’ve really done a good job of bringing energy,” said head coach Janis Beal. “And they’ve done a great job of cheering for teammates.” 

Beal said that energy and cheering have been factors in the team’s success so far. 

NWC 82, WILLISTON STATE 38
The Thursday, Dec. 7, contest at Williston State College in Williston, North Dakota, played out similarly to a matchup from earlier in the year, when the Lady Trappers beat the Tetons 88-32. This time, NWC took an 82- 38 victory. 

Beal said Williston played better on its home court. Beal said the game was “balanced,” meaning that NWC’s points and rebounds were distributed among all of the team’s players. 

“I thought we shot the ball really well,” Beal said. 

The team had two doubledigit scorers: Charri McArthur with 14 points and Kira Marlow with 11. Dani McManamen had nine points and Tala AumuaTuisavura, Dallas Petties and Julynne Silva each scored eight. 

Overall, 12 of NWC’s 13 players put points up on the board. 

“I think that we did a good job defensively that allowed us to get some easy looks,” Beal said. “We passed the ball well so our shooters were able to get some open looks in good situations.” 

As a team, the Lady Trappers shot 75 percent from the free throw line, 33.3 percent at the 3-point line and 54.4 percent from the field. 

Williston shot 53.8 percent from the charity stripe, 21.4 percent at the 3-point line and 27.5 percent from the field. 

As a team, NWC outrebounded Williston State College 36-24. 

On the boards, Silva led the team with nine — all defensive boards. The next highest rebounders were McManamen, Marlow and Aumua-Tuisavura with four apiece. 

Also getting back into action for a couple minutes was Domenica Gomes, who had been injured earlier in the season. 

“We wanted to be able to get her just a chance to play before break,” Beal said of Gomes, “and she did well the six minutes she played — and then she played a few minutes on Friday against Dawson.” 

NWC 70, DAWSON 58
Beal had guessed that Friday’s road game against Dawson Community College was going to be closer than the 109- 58 drubbing the Lady Trappers delivered at home on Dec. 1. She was right. 

“I don’t think Dawson played real well when we played them here. They played much better the night after playing us,” said Beal, noting the Buccaneers went on to defeat Gillette College. From watching game film, she said, Dawson looked like a better team.

“... Especially at their place, it was going to be a much different game,” Beal said. “They’ve got some kids that can shoot it; they’ve got some real athletic kids. But it was good for us to have that toughness tested on the road.” 

Dawson led by around 14 points early, forcing the Lady Trappers to battle back. 

At one point, NWC held a 20-point advantage, but Dawson cut the lead down to single digits in the fourth quarter before the Lady Trappers pulled out the 70-58 win 

“It was good for us to have one of those games that we were able to withstand their run, make some shots down at the end and kind of finish the game,” Beal said. “It’s a tough place to play in Dawson. I think the girls did a good job just with the environment and being able to finish the game.” 

The team also had to play with different combinations of players on the court after running into foul trouble. Early in the game, NWC’s posts got into foul trouble and in the second half, the point guards struggled with fouls. 

“We had different combinations of people sometimes playing different positions that they weren’t used to,” said Beal, adding the team did a good job of responding to that challenge. 

NWC was led by Petties with 12 points, Marlow with 10 and Silva with nine. 

As a team, the Lady Trappers shot 66.7 percent at the line, 35.3 percent at the arc and 42.1 percent from the field. 

Dawson shot 59.1 percent at the free throw line, 41.7 percent from the 3-point line and 35.7 percent from the field. 

On the boards, Silva led with eight — two offensive and six defensive — and Petties had six. 

With the Lady Trappers on a winning streak, “that’s where sometimes as a coach you don’t like to have a break, ’cause you gain momentum and you’re doing well and you’d like to keep going,” Beal said. “But I really do think this team has the right mindset in that I think this break will even be good for us.” 

The season started in October, the team didn’t get Thanksgiving off and the season ends in March. 

“I think it’ll be a good break for them to just get refreshed and ready to come back for region [play],” said Beal. 

She described the season as being three separate parts: the time before Christmas break, a second part after Christmas, where the team will play regional games for their conference record, and then the postseason. 

“I feel like we’ve done well and that we’ve grown well throughout this part of the season and hopefully the momentum will just continue as we go start region play,” Beal said. 

The Lady Trappers will resume action on Jan. 6 with the addition of an All-Star game to the schedule that will start at 3 p.m. in Cabre Gym.