Northwest College

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Northwest Extends Win Streak To Five

Wardell Nets 35 In Win Over Little Big Horn College Saturday

With just a couple of weeks to play in the regular season, the Northwest College women’s basketball team is poised to make a run in the playoffs, adding a pair of conference wins last week to push their record to 8-2 in Region IX North. 

The Lady Trappers beat Central Wyoming College on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 7, by a 82- 57 margin and then dismantled Little Big Horn College at home on Saturday, 117-33. NWC is riding a five-game win streak headed into this week’s action, and is ranked second in the conference. 

NORTHWEST 117, LITTLE BIG HORN 33
Lady Trappers head coach Janis Beal is on record saying the reason she recruited freshman Shelby Wardell to play for NWC was her ability to put the ball through the hoop. 

The Lovell native lived up to her scouting report Saturday against Little Big Horn College, hitting on 11 of 14 shots from the field, including an impressive 9 for 12 from behind the arc. Wardell led all scorers with 35 points in the 117-33 demolishing of the Lady Rams, who due to injuries, suited just six players for the game. 

“Shelby [Wardell] shot the ball really well and the team, it was fun to see them get behind her,” said Beal, adding that the team wanted to get her the ball to see how many points she could score. 

“It was a fun game; the girls’ energy was really good,” Beal said. “For an 80-some point game, it really was a fun game, just the energy and excitement was there.” 

Saturday’s win was the third game of the season in which the Lady Trappers have scored over 100 points. The Lady Trappers first reached the century mark Nov. 25 against Tohono O’Odham Community College in a 113-56 win. They did it again on Dec. 1 with a score of 109-58 against Dawson Community College. 

“I was just impressed with the team as a whole and the energy,” Beal said of the Little Big Horn game. 

The Lady Trappers held the Lady Rams to single digits for three out of the four quarters. In the first quarter, Northwest outscored Little Big Horn 27-8 and in the second, the Trappers scored 38 points to lead 65-18 at halftime.

During the third quarter, the Lady Trappers outscored the Lady Rams 17-6 and in the fourth, they scored 35 points to Little Big Horn’s nine.

Despite the score, the Lady Trappers finished with just two players in double digits. Joining Wardell in that category was Alexi Payne, who had 16 points to go along with her five rebounds.

Tala Aumua-Tuisavura led NWC in assists with 11.

Every Lady Trapper on the roster contributed to the score by putting points up on the board. 

NWC shot 56 percent from the field, 51.9 percent from the arc and 79.2 percent from the free throw line.

The Lady Rams shot 21.7 percent from the field, 18.2 percent at the 3-point line and 61.1 percent from the charity stripe. 

Northwest had a total of 11 steals, led by Tayla Sayer and Kaylee Brown with four each. 

Julynne Silva had two blocked shots and led in rebounds with six. The Lady Trappers outrebounded the Lady Rams 43-23.

LADY TRAPPERS 82, CWC 57
The Lady Trappers traveled to Riverton to play Central Wyoming College on Wednesday, Feb. 7 and came away with a 82-57 win.

“I was very, very pleased with our defensive effort,” said coach Beal. 

In the first quarter, the Lady Trappers outscored the Lady Rustlers 27-18.

With a minute to go in the second quarter, the Lady Trappers were up by six points. However, they entered halftime with a 13-point lead, 43-30. 

“We went on that defensive spurt that got us those points and just continued with that in the third quarter,” Beal said. 

For about the first eight minutes of the third quarter, Central was held scoreless. The Lady Trappers outscored the Lady Rustlers 22-7 for a score of 55-37 going into the fourth. 

“So defensively I just felt the girls did a great job,” Beal said. Central has two players averaging 15 points per game each and NWC held both of those players to a combined total of seven points, the coach noted. 

Beal also felt her players really committed to the game plan and scouting report.

Central struggled to hold on to the ball, committing 36 turnovers — 26 were steals by NWC. Beal said the team got a lot of offensive opportunities from those 26 steals. 

“When it’s a steal, it’s usually leading to a fast break point or something instead of just a travel or something like that,” Beal explained. “So I really felt that the defensive intensity was really good.” 

Aumua-Tuisavura and Kira Marlow both had five steals, Sayer had four, Domenica Gomes had three and Dani McManamen and Dallas Petties contributed two apiece. Silva, Brown, Wardell, Payne and Charri McArthur all recorded one steal each. 

Beal said the team tried to focus on being aggressive and attacking the basket and “I thought they did a fairly decent job of that,” she said. 

Petties led the team with 17 points, McManamen had 13 and Gomes had 10. 

On the boards, McManaman led with five — four on offense and one on defense — and Silva had four. 

The Lady Trappers got to the free throw line a total of 28 times and shot 78.6 percent. 

At the 3-point line, the Lady Trappers shot 18.2 percent while sinking 46.8 percent of their attempts from the field. 

Central shot 42.6 percent from the field, 64.7 percent from the charity stripe and made zero 3-point baskets out of six attempts. 

On Wednesday night, the Lady Trappers played Miles City Community College, which is ranked third. Results from that game will be in the Tribune next week. 

On Saturday, the Lady Trappers will host the final home game of the regular season against the No. 1 team in Region IX and No. 15 team in the nation — Casper College.

Casper has a 10-0 conference record and is 24-2 for the season. 

“It’s always fun to play those fun teams and see where you stack up,” Beal said of the Casper game. She added that, with only four more games left during the regular season, “every game is big.” 

Saturday’s game will also be sophomore night, where the Lady Trappers will recognize their sophomores: Savanna Savage and Charri McArthur of Lovell, Dani McManamen of Torrington, Domenica Gomes of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mattie Creager of Weston, Idaho, Alexi Payne of Molt, Montana, Kira Marlow of Shelley, Idaho, Dallas Petties of Denver, Colorado and Julynne Silva of Barcarena, Brazil.