Your future, our focus
Fall To Bismarck State, Defeat All-Stars
Fouls doomed the Northwest College women’s basketball team on Friday night, as the Lady Trappers fell to Bismarck State College at home.
However, the NWC women bounced back on the second day of the Big Horn Federal Shootout, riding a pair of dominating quarters to handily defeat an All-Star/ alumni team Saturday afternoon.
“We shot the ball better in that [All-Star] game than we ever have,” said NWC head coach Camden Levett, referencing the team’s 51.6 percent shooting percentage. “So that’s something we can grow on there.”
Levett hopes his squad will “keep that rolling” as the Lady Trappers (3-3) head to Colorado Springs for a pair of weekend games.
BISMARCK STATE 82, LADY TRAPPERS 66
The Lady Trappers doubled up Bismarck (5-0) in the early goings, building a 32-16 lead in the second quarter. However, the Lady Mystics went on a 15-2 run to close out the period. By halftime, NWC led by just three points, 34-31.
“It’s a game of runs and we made our run early in the first half and they [Bismarck] did enough to stick around there,” Levett said. “We helped them out by fouling quite a bit.”
The Bismarck momentum carried into the second half, as the visitors from North Dakota quickly grabbed the lead and pulled away to win by a score of 82-66.
“We hung our heads and let them make a big run in that third quarter and it was just too much for us to overcome,” said Levett, adding that “part of it is Bismarck’s a really good team.”
Bismarck State sophomore Amber Stevahn led all scorers with 24 points, adding 10 rebounds.
Raquel Turner paced the Lady Trappers with 13 points. Kendall Wright of Greybull provided a spark off the bench, scoring 12 points in 21 minutes on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.
“She stepped up,” coach Levett said of Wright.
Meanwhile, Lily Henry grabbed 10 rebounds, which the coach said “was big for us.” Aubrie Stenerson of Powell added one point, being among 11 NWC scorers.
Coach Levett said the Lady Trappers played really good defense, but fouls and free throws proved to be the killer: With 28 fouls called on NWC, Bismarck State got to the line a whopping 42 times and sank 32 (76.2 percent).
“I don’t think I’ve ever given up 42 free attempts at a home game,” Levett said. “But that’s stuff we need to address,” he said, referencing a need to improve on rebounding and positioning.
Meanwhile, the Lady Trappers went just 13 for 23 at the charity stripe on 17 Bismarck State fouls.
“I thought we played well at times, but we’ve got to learn from that,” Levett said.
LADY TRAPPERS 85, ALL-STARS 47
The NWC women never trailed Saturday, crushing the All-Stars 29-7 in the first quarter. The Lady Trappers shot better than 63 percent in the period, capped by a last-second -pointer from Jenna Lohrenz that pushed the lead to 22 points.
The All-Stars regrouped in the second quarter while NWC went into “coast mode,” Levett said; he noted that it’s difficult to stay focused in an alumni game.
“They’re kind of joking around and we’ve got to take it serious, because it is a counter game for us,” he said. At halftime, “really, the message there was just to have fun, but realize we have to work on some things,” Levett said.
The Lady Trappers came out of the locker room and slammed the door on any comeback, outscoring the All-Stars 29-8 in the third quarter.
Before the game was over, 15 members of NWC squad had gotten into the game.
Wright led the Lady Trappers with 12 points.
“She stepped up and played great for us this weekend,” Levett said of Wright. “She’s kind of been a difference-maker for us as a freshman. We’re glad she shows up and hopefully she keeps getting better.”
Sapirah Broussard added 11 points and Lily Henry chipped in 10.
Samiyah Worrell — who went a perfect three-for-three from 3-point range — added nine points. She and Riley Aiono each had a team-best seven rebounds, followed by Lohrenz with six.
The Lady Trappers will head south this week, playing against Air Force Prep at 3 p.m. Friday and the Colorado Ballers at noon on Saturday.