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Northwest Drops Pair Against MCC, Western Wyoming
It was a tough week for the Northwest College women’s basketball team, losing a hard-fought double-overtime game on the road against Miles Community College, and falling at home to Western Wyoming.
MCC 76, NWC 71 2OT
The Lady Trappers squared off against the Lady Pioneers Wednesday, Feb. 15, dropping a 76-71 heartbreaker in double-overtime.
“Miles is a really tough place to play; (I) felt like the girls came out and played well,” said head coach Janis Beal. “We did little things to win the game. At the end of regulation, we had a shot that could have won it, but sometimes it’s just not your night and that seemed to be the case in that one.”
Three Trappers scored in double digits: Kira Marlow led with 19 points, Dani McManamen had 13 and Domenica Gomes scored 12.
Gomes also led the team in assists, alongside Jessie Lessard,with four each. Lauren Hinckley stole the ball twice.
Coach Beal said she felt the Lady Trappers “really battled,” which she really liked. The Lady Trappers took care of the ball, having only 20 turnovers compared to MCC’s 24, stole the ball nine times compared to the seven from MCC and blocked seven MCC shots; MCC didn’t get a single block.
For shooting percentages, NWC shot 34.8 percent from the field, 15 percent at the 3-point line and 68.8 percent at the free throw line.
MCC shot 31.9 percent from the field, 45.5 percent at the 3-point line and 71 percent at the free throw line. Beal said MCC’s offensive rebounding in the latter stages of the game contributed to the Trappers’ loss.
In the first half, MCC only had three offensive boards, but in the second half and overtimes, the Pioneers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. Beal said a lot of those offensive boards were then kicked out and knocked down for a score, many times a 3-pointer.
WESTERN WYOMING 79, NWC 50
On Saturday, NWC played Western Wyoming, Region IX North’s top squad.
“They’re the number one team in the region for a reason,” said Beal.
At halftime, NWC trailed by only seven points, 38-31.
“We were in the game at halftime, then it just kind of fell apart,” Beal said.
The third quarter went to Western Wyoming as the Lady Mustangs outscored the Lady Trappers 17-8 to make the score 55-39.
“I just felt like the energy wasn’t there, even coming out after half, they hit one shot and it just seemed like our girls kind of snowballed from there,” Beal said.
The fourth quarter was like the third, with Western Wyoming outscoring NWC 24-11 for the 79-50 win.
“I just need to do a better job of motivating them to understand (to) play through that one play, because I just felt like we lost that intensity and energy,” Beal said, adding that the loss was not the result of just any one thing.
Turnovers were not excessive, with the Trappers committing 18 to Western Wyoming’s 10. The Lady Trappers out-rebounded the Lady Mustangs, 28-24.
“It just kind of came down to, they hit some big shots, they took more shots than us,” Beal said. She added that the team shot well, percentage wise, which “is something we’ve struggled with.”
NWC shot 43.2 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent at the free throw line. Western Wyoming shot 47.5 percent from the field, 45 percent at the arc and 70 percent at the free throw line.
Beal said she felt that the Trappers were not aggressive enough in the game.
“We were not getting to the free throw line and really attacking the basket — kind of settling for outside shots where we could have attacked it,” the coach said.
Eleven of NWC’s 12 players put points on the board. Dallas Petties led the team with nine points, while Mattie Creager and Lessard each scored six.
Gomes led in assists with four. McManamen led with five rebounds.
The Lady Trappers hosted Central Wyoming Wednesday night.
On Saturday, the Lady Trappers travel to Sheridan to play Sheridan College at 3 p.m. for the final game of the regular season.
Going into Wednesday’s action, Sheridan sat in fifth place and NWC sixth in Region IX north.