Your future, our focus
The first round of stats compiled made Janis Beal want to burn the update sheet.
After the Northwest College women’s basketball team committed eight turnovers in the first five minutes of play in a 74-58 loss to Gillette last Saturday, the coach knew the Lady Trappers were going to have trouble coming all the way back.
“After that we made it a battle,” Beal said.
Still, a losing one in the Region IX contest.
Northwest’s failure to take care of the ball also gave Gillette many more shot opportunities in the first half, an inescapable number comparison of 34-17.
“They shot the ball twice as much we did,” Beal said.
Obviously meaning Gillette had twice as many chances of piling up points.
The ugly turnover figure reached 18 by halftime, but the Lady Trappers got the message during Beal’s intermission talk and committed just seven more in the final 20 minutes.
“We have to do a better job of valuing our possessions,” Beal said.
Gillette put five players in double figures. Northwest, which prides itself on its depth, struggled to shoot 39.1 percent from the field and saw just one player record a truly notable all-around game.
Dani McManamen scored a team-high 18 points, complemented by 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
The next-highest Trapper scorer was guard Domenica Gomes with 7 points.
“Dani played really, really well,” Beal said.
Northwest (9-9) faces Little Big Horn in Montana and on Saturday Miles City Community College at home in Powell at 2 p.m.
(Lew Freedman can be reached at lew@codyenterprise.com.)