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10-Minute Lapses Difference Between Home Wins And Losses
For 75 percent of the time, the Northwest College women’s basketball team played at or above the level of their opponents.
It was during the other quarter — or two quarters, to be exact — that the Trappers lost two Region IX contests over the weekend.
The Trappers fell at home in back-to-back games — 64-60 to Western Wyoming on Friday, and 72-60 to Central on Saturday — both of which got away from the Trappers in a single quarter.
Western took control of Friday’s game with a 20-8 third quarter, while Central jumped out to a commanding lead after a 23-11 first.
NWC head coach Janis Beal said her team has no choice but to forget about the wins that could have been as the Trappers continue their conference schedule.
“That’s the only way to approach it,” Beal said. “We’re starting to play teams for the second time. We’re just kind of starting it over. It’s kind of a new season in a sense, and we can’t dwell on those mistakes.”
Northwest (8-14 overall, 1-5 in Region IX North) had a plus 19-point differential outside of those two disastrous quarters, which is what Beal wants to take away from the weekend.
“We take two of them off,” Beal began, “But we’re trying to focus on those positives, look forward. It’s a second half, new season, time to make those changes.”
The Trappers looked well on their way to a weekend opening win, but an ill-advised change toward an up-tempo, long-range offense allowed Western to come back and pull away in the third quarter.
Sophomore Kealani Sagapolu, who had a double-double with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Mustangs, seldom touched the ball as Western racked up points in transition during an 18-0 run.
“We decided to live and die by the quick three. We shot way too many outside shots, and in turn that led to way too many buckets on the opposite end,” Beal said.
The Trappers were just 4-for-29 (13.8 percent) from the 3-point line, and continued to try their luck from outside after going 0-for-9 in the first half.
“There’s no reason where we should have shot 30 threes to begin with. We have one of the best post players in the region, and we need to get the ball to her,” Beal said.
Sagapolu led Northwest in scoring despite taking only six shots, fifth-most on the team. Northwest held an 11-10 lead after the first quarter, and started to find a better rhythm in the second.
Sophomore Whitney Hatch scored through a double team down low to put the Trappers up 20-15 halfway through the second quarter. An elbow jumper by Chandler Rose pushed the lead to seven, 24-17, two minutes later.
Rose finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
Western (10-8, 2-4) closed the gap to 24-21 but former Mustang Larissa Knight made a technical free throw following a foul on Western’s coach, and sophomore Shelby Nicholson scored on a drive to give Northwest a 27-21 lead at the half.
Knight scored 12 points against her old team, plus two assists and a rebound. Nicholson had 10 points and six boards.
The Trappers started the third strong with two more baskets by Nicholson, a Jacey Shaw 3-pointer and a layup from Sagapolu, as Northwest and Western traded points to a 36-30 Trapper lead four minutes into the half before all went south for NWC.
Western scored 18 unanswered points before a free throw from NWC sophomore Kennedy Netto snapped Northwest’s cold streak.
Beal said the Trappers settled for their first available shot, instead of working for a high-percentage shot, in that deciding quarter.
“It’s tough, the guards, they might have had an open shot, but it’s that tough fine line between, it’s an open shot but it’s not the best shot we can get for our team,” Beal said.
Northwest came out with a new starting five — Hatch, Netto and Maddy Johnson replaced Sagapolu, Nicholson and Shaw next to Rose and Knight — against Central and fell behind early before reverting back to its usual rotation.
The Rustlers (11-9, 3-3) got out to a 7-1 lead before Knight hit from the elbow for Northwest’s first field goal of the game. Central turned around and made a 3-pointer to go up 10-3 and prompt a Trapper timeout.
Northwest struggled early on the defensive glass, which allowed the Rustlers to pile up first-quarter, second-chance points.
“They did get some early put-backs,” Beal said. “We need to do a better job on the boards, can’t give them second opportunities. Their smallest guards were getting offensive rebounds.”
Another put-back put the Rustlers up 15-7 as they finished the first quarter on a 13-6 run, which extended to 19-6 in the beginning of the second before Knight broke it up with a 3-pointer.
Knight led the Trappers with 13 points, giving her two straight games of double-digit scoring for the first time all season.
Knight has played in just 12 of Northwest’s 22 games due to injury, but has played at least 20 minutes in five of the past six games. Her return has given the Trappers another scoring option, though they are still trying to figure out where she best fits on the court.
“We’re still trying to get rotations figured out, but it’s good to have her back because she can score it and also handle the ball for us,” Beal said.
Back-to-back buckets by Shaw and Rose, followed by Aubree Porter’s three-point play brought Northwest to within 10 points, before Central finished the first half on a 10-5 run to lead 44-29 at the break.
The Trappers played the Rustlers to a 49-49 tie through the final three quarters.
Northwest won the rebounding battle by three, and each team committed 19 turnovers. The Trappers shot 26.4 percent compared to 49.1 percent for the Rustlers.
“It definitely comes down to that first quarter. That’s where we dig ourselves a hole,” Beal said, noting that it wasn’t just the offense that started slow. “At the same time we have to make shots more difficult on them.”
Rose and Sagapolu had identical lines of 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Shaw scored eight points and grabbed five boards.
Northwest played at No. 12 Casper (18-2, 6-0) on Wednesday evening. The results can be found at facebook.com/powelltribune.
The Trappers then host Gillette (12-9, 6-0) at 6 p.m. on Saturday.