Your future, our focus
COVID-19 has impacted every Northwest College athletic program this fall, but perhaps not quite like it has for the women’s basketball team.
Due to positive cases within the program, the Trappers had more than three weeks out of the gym and practiced just four times in a month’s span. And the team was already at a disadvantage heading into the semester with just nine players on campus.
But these roadblocks didn’t halt the Trappers last weekend. NWC went 2-0 in scrimmages on Friday, defeating Dawson Community College and Dickinson State’s JV squad.
“We went up there with nine and won two games,” head coach Camden Levett said. “It was a good day.”
Northwest started the evening against Dawson, escaping with a 33-31 exhibition win. Freshman Daya Thornton led the team with eight points in that game on 4-of-5 shooting.
After defeating Dawson, NWC faced Dickinson State and won 37-23. This time, sophomore Raquel Turner was the Trappers’ leading scorer, with nine points.
NWC combined for 25 steals in the two games, with 15 coming against Dickinson State. The Trappers’ defensive prowess was on display in both friendlies.
“Our defense was pretty dang good at times,” Levett said. “We forced a lot of turnovers, contested threes as well. The defense was great.”
On the defensive end, Kierra Cutright was a key performer. A freshman, Cutright notched six steals across the two games, with four coming against Dawson. “She was probably our best post defender and worked really well down there,” Levett said.
Turner was another standout all around, excelling on both sides of the court. Her 14 combined points were a team-high, and she was also “really productive” on defense, Levett said.
Though NWC escaped with two scrimmage wins, Levett still found areas the team needs to work on. Most notably, shooting and passing stood out to the coach.
“Our assist numbers don’t look great,” Levett said. “But you have to make a lot of shots to get assists, so we have to work on that.”
Northwest is slated to play another scrimmage this weekend against Central Wyoming College in Riverton, but that is up in the air, as both programs’ coaches want to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
It’s now only a few weeks until players will go home for winter break. Before that, Levett plans to watch film and learn more about his squad before sending his players home for more than a month.
“We’ll get back to it this week,” Levett said. “It’s nice to actually have film to watch.”
With a handful of players not on campus this semester, Levett doesn’t have a full team in Powell. Because of this, much of his coaching has been working on the girls’ individual games.
The coach hopes this can make his team even stronger when all of the players come together in the spring.
“I know what they’re made of; I know their strengths and weaknesses,” Levett said. “They’re all girls that I want to coach. Not having a full team this spring, it’s been better to see people on an individual basis and see where they’re at.”