Your future, our focus
Northwest College’s women’s basketball team was felled on the road at Sheridan College last week, 67-54. However, the Trappers then shrugged off the loss, found their chutzpah and claimed a 61-52 victory Saturday at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs.
NWC coach Cam Levett said the win over the Mustangs was a great way to wrap up the regular season.
“Happy locker room after,” Levett reported. “We didn’t play great but made enough plays to win.”
The coach added that the squad “had some girls step up and get stops in the fourth quarter when some starters were in foul trouble.”
All 13 women who suited up for the game saw playing time for the Trappers.
Levett also noted that, with 11 wins against 18 losses, the Trappers have tripled their win total from a season ago.
“Credit to the sophomores for establishing the culture and the freshman class who stepped in and made an immediate impact,” he said.
Adela Smutna paced Trapper scoring against Western Wyoming with 15 points on three makes each from two and three. Riley Aiono added eight points in the post behind 2-5 field goal shooting and a flawless 4-4 free throws. The Henry sisters, Tess and Lily, netted seven points each.
Smutna stood tallest on the glass, with a team-high nine rebounds. The Trappers were tough customers under their own board with 25 offensive rebounds; overall, they grabbed 59 boards to Western’s 37.
“Our bigs had a great game down low,” Levett said, pointing to the points and rebounds put up by Lucy Tuigamala, Lily Henry and Aiono.
Samiyah Worrell and Melissa Martinez were credited with four and three assists. Raquel Turner and Martinez tapped out a pair of steals apiece.
As a team the Trappers shot 21-63 from the field at all distances, 7-21 behind the arc and hit 12-23 at the line.
Brittney Henrie of Western Wyoming planted 22 points in the string to claim game scoring honors while Mustang teammate Brittney Hatch had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“Going in we knew Western shot a lot of threes. Our goal was to contest each one,” Levett said. That goal went “poorly” in the first half, he said, with Western hitting 5-of-13 attempts from 3-point range. But the Trappers’ focus was “much better” in the second half and “our girls buckled down,” the coach said holding the Mustangs to just three treys on 21 attempts.
On Feb. 19, Northwest played Sheridan College’s Generals dead-even at 26-26 the second half, but they needed more to overcome a 41-28 halftime deficit.
Sharpshooter Smutna, the Trapper freshman from the Czech Republic, found her stroke and led Northwest with 22 points. That included going a flawless 7-7 at the line plus three treys. Smutna also led the Trappers with eight boards, a trio of assists and four steals.
Turner hit for 10 points.
Three Generals broke into double figures led by Emma Cheetham with 14 points. From 3-point range, Sheridan was 11-29, compared to 6-22 for Northwest. Free throws were a wash at 10-14 for both squads.
Rebound totals favored Sheridan, 44-35.
The Trappers will face a tough test Friday, as they’ll travel to face No. 21-ranked Gillette College at 6 p.m. Friday, in a Region IX Tournament play-in game. However, coming off last weekend’s win in Rock Springs, Levett said that “we have our confidence back.”
Sheridan 67, Northwest 54
Northwest — Smutna 22, Turner 10, T. Henry 6, Worrell 4, Aiono 4, Tuigamala 4, Jenna Lohrenz 2, L. Henry 2.
Sheridan — Cheetham 14, Walker 10, Roush 10, Green 9, Oca 8, Tarter 6, Trosper 4, McDermott 3, Bartlett 3.
Northwest 61, Western Wyoming 52
Northwest — Smutna 15, Aiono 8, L. Henry 7, T. Henry 7, Worrell 6, Martinez 6, Brittany Roberts 5, Turner 3, Knedall Wright 2, Tayler Groll 2.
Western — Henrie 22, Hatch 10, Gourlay 6, Thomas 6, Ross 4, Hobson 4.