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NWC Grinds Out Wins Over Miles, Dawson
The Trapper women saved the best for the last in back-to- back games to overcome Miles Community College 75-71 and Dawson Community College 60-55 in the First Bank Shootout Friday and Saturday at Cabre Gym.
“Happy to have home games,” said a drained Lady Trapper basketball coach Cam Levett after his team avenged earlier road losses to both Montana schools. The pair of victories moved the NWC women to 7-6 for the season; only five of their 13 games have been played on the home floor.
NWC claimed the fourth quarter edge in both contests.
The Saturday win over Dawson featured a turnaround of epic proportions, as the Lady Trappers trailed the entire game. They were down by 10 points, 45- 35, after three periods, then proceeded to outscore Dawson 25-10 in the fourth quarter.
In Friday’s win over Miles, the game was close throughout, with the score tied 14 times and 15 lead changes. Northwest trailed 55-53 going into the final frame.
“We didn’t shoot the ball from the field very well in either game. But we made some free throws, and that was the difference,” said Levett. “We only had 15 turnovers against Miles and 16 against Dawson. We’re starting to value the basketball.”
With the sweep, the Lady Trappers are now 7-6 for the season.
LADY TRAPPERS 75, MILES CC 71
An offensive rebound and a put-back basket by freshman Riley Aiono of Bountiful, Utah, gave the Lady Trappers a 19-18 lead over Miles after one quarter.
The two teams went back and forth in the second period, with the largest lead by either team a five-point margin for Miles, 26-21, with 7:52 left in the half. Lydia Pintor’s basket with one second on the clock put Miles in front 36-34 at halftime.
Each team scored 19 points in the third quarter. Two free throws by freshman Kendall Wright of Greybull with 24 seconds in the period pulled the Trappers to within 55-53 at quarter’s end.
Fouls piled up on each team. Miles players amassed 35 fouls, and the Lady Trappers were whistled for 28. Six of the visitors fouled out, while NWC’s Samiyah Worrell and Lily Henry went to the sidelines with five fouls each.
A 3-pointer by freshman Sapirah Broussard of Albuquerque, New Mexico, drew the Lady Trappers even at 70-70 with 1:44 on the clock.
At the 1:01 mark, Adela Smutna was fouled on a drive to the basket, and she hit one of two free throws to give Northwest its first lead of the fourth quarter, 71-70. Miles tied the score again with a free throw of its own with 50 seconds to go.
That’s when Smutna, a 6-foot freshman from the Czech Republic, took over. She drew a blocking foul as she again drove to the basket, then cooly hit both free throws for a 73-71 Lady Trapper lead with 39 seconds left.
On the ensuing Miles possession, Smutna rebounded a missed shot and was fouled again with 22 seconds to go. Her two free throws gave Northwest its final 75-71 winning margin.
Smutna scored 19 points to lead the Lady Trappers. She connected on 11 of 12 free throws. Worrell added 18 points before fouling out, and Aiono was in double figures with 10.
As a team, the Lady Trappers shot just 26 percent from the field, but they were 20 of 24 for 78 percent from the free throw line. Miles out-rebounded Northwest 49-39.
LADY TRAPPERS 60 DAWSON CC 55
On Saturday, the NWC women struggled out of the gate. Down 12-0, Levett called a time out.
“We just weren’t ready to play,” he said. “Obviously, it took a lot of energy out of us to get a win the night before.”
The Lady Trappers got on the board for the first time with a pair of free throws by Lily Henry at 6:08 of the first quarter, but they had trouble making up ground in a period dominated by Dawson 20-10. They slowly chipped away in the second quarter and moved within five points at halftime, 33-28.
But Northwest couldn’t get anything going in the third quarter, scoring only two baskets and two free throws, and fell behind by 10 again at the end of three quarters, 45-35.
The energy and the momentum turned sharply in the fourth quarter, however. A field goal by Smutna midway through the period drew the Lady Trappers even at 47-47. A 3-pointer from Worrell put Northwest ahead for the first time in the physical game, 54-53, with 2:38 to play.
Lily Henry was fouled and knocked to the floor as she went to the basket. She was unable to shoot free throws and left the game. Her sister, Tess Henry, hit one of two from the line to make it 55-53.
Dawson’s Tamiya Francis made two free throws with 1:29 to play to tie the game again, 55-55.
But a 3-point play by Worrell inside one minute to go put the Lady Trappers in front 58-55, and they hung on during the tense final seconds in which four timeouts were called. Worrell added two more free throws for the final 60-55 score.
“We had a slow start, but then got it going,” Levett said.
The coach noted that contributions came from many players. He made special mention of sophomore Brittany Roberts from Denver. She transferred from Dawson to play for Northwest this year.
“She played 19 minutes, her high for the season, and scored seven points and had three rebounds. She also had four steals,” Levett said. “It was like she knew their playbook.”
“It’s a team sport,” he added. “Our scoring was spread out more than we usually do.”
Worrell led the way with 15 points. She was the only player to score in double figures. Aiono had nine, Roberts seven, Lily Henry eight, Smutna six, Tess Henry five, Lucy Tjigamala four and Sapirah Broussard and Melissa Martinez three each.
Dawson won the battle of the boards 52-43. Aiono and Worrell had eight rebounds each for NWC.
From the field, the Lady Trappers shot just 27 percent while going 16 of 22 from the free throw line for 73 percent.
The NWC women are back on the road this weekend, heading to Bismarck, North Dakota, to face Bismarck State College at 5:30 p.m. Friday and United Tribes at noon on Saturday.