TRAPPER WOMEN SPLIT OPENING WEEKEND IN IDAHO

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

The Northwest College women's basketball team opened the season 1-1 in Twin Falls, Idaho, losing a close game to hosts College of Southern Idaho 82-73 on Friday before defeating North Idaho College 82-55 on Saturday in a neutral site game.

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO 82, NORTHWEST 73
The Trappers (1-1) started the Idaho trip with a difficult opponent in the host Golden Eagles (2-0).
The hosts got off to a strong start, taking the lead and making it a 13-8 contest midway through the first.
Northwest found its groove the rest of the quarter, tying things up at 18 on a 3-pointer by Madison Kaufman with 2:07 left.
Both teams exchanged baskets back and forth but one free throw gave CSI a 21-20 lead after the first quarter.
The Golden Eagles extended their advantage early in the second quarter, making it a double digit game with a 13-4 start over the first four minutes.
Northwest fought back the rest of the quarter, cutting it down to one possession after an Isabella Williams layup with 1:19 remaining to trail 36-33.
CSI maintained a 41-36 lead going into the halftime break.
The hosts once again pushed their lead out early in the third, making it a 50-41 game just under three minutes in.
It reached as many as 11 with 2:26 remaining, and stayed at a double digit scoreline at 61-51 heading into the fourth quarter.
Northwest started the third quarter on a 13-3 run to tie the score, capped off by an Emma Pique layup with 6:27 left.
CSI held off the Trapper charge, for awhile, but Northwest eventually took the lead on a layup by McKinlee Covolo with 4:32 remaining, up 69-68.
"There were a lot of times playing four freshmen and a sophomore, so to be able to hang in there and come back multiple times from deficits that we got into and retake the lead late, and just be really competitive with a really good team is huge for us," coach Cody Helenbolt said. "A huge step in the right direction."
After taking the lead, the hosts responded with an 11-0 run, shutting down any hopes of the Trappers earning the road win to go up 79-71 with a minute remaining.
The Golden Eagles ended with the 82-73 victory.
"I was really happy with it for the first game of the year to compete with a team like that. They're always on the verge of being nationally ranked, it's at home for them," Helenbolt said. "There are a lot of reasons that's a tough game, and we took the lead there toward the end of the game. I was getting pretty excited. But they're tough. I thought their experience at the end of the game, they had five sophomores out there, and you could just tell those sophomores refused to lose."
Covolo led with 23 points and 11 rebounds, all offensive.
Pique added 11 and Jaila Childress had 10 as the other Trapper in double figures.
Childress led with six assists, Pique and Kaufman each had four steals while Williams and Covolo each recorded a block.      

NORTHWEST 82, NORTH IDAHO 55
Remaining in Twin Falls the Trappers took on the Cardinals (0-2) in a neutral site contest.
North Idaho immediately jumped out to an 8-0 advantage over the first four minutes before Northwest got on the board.
The Trappers battled back and took the lead on a Fallon Millican layup with 1:49 remaining at 12-11, and finished with an 18-15 lead on a pair of Williams free throws after the buzzer.
"We started off rough in that one, I thought our bench did a great job in that game," Helenbolt said. "I thought that was kind of the story. Our bench got us going in that and then once we settled in, then my first group kind of did their thing and had a little more success."
Northwest started the second quarter in reverse to the first, pushing the lead out to double digits over the first three minutes at 25-15 after a Williams jump shot.
The Trappers continued  pushing, leading by as many as 17 — holding a 40-28 lead at the halftime break.
Northwest continued its strong scoring and finally pushed it to 20 at 57-37 with 3:55 remaining in the third on an Addison Hickey layup.
That advantage kept growing to 66-39 before the end of the third, as the Trappers were able to cruise in the second half leading by as many as 33 en route to an 82-55 win.
Kaufman led with 16 points, Covolo had 15 and Itziar Pozas added 13.
"We had a really balanced effort from everybody throughout the weekend. That's something that's really important, because it just makes us tougher to play against when my kids off the bench are scoring double digits," Helenbolt said. "My starters are all right around double digits. It's just really hard to nail down a game plan against us when we're well-rounded like that."
Millican led with 11 rebounds and tied for the team lead with three assists alongside Childress.
Childress led with four steals, and Williams, Covolo and Millican each had a block.    

MONTANA ROAD TRIP
The Trapper women now head north, starting a three game road swing in eastern Montana.
Northwest starts with a game against Dawson Community College (2-1) at 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday) in Glendive.
The Trappers then head to Miles City, taking on Miles Community College (1-2) at 5 p.m. on Friday before finishing against United Tribes Technical College (2-1) in a neutral site game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
"I want to see the competitiveness consistently in all three games," Helenbolt said. "That's what I'm looking for. I don't want to have times when I have to motivate us to play hard. I just want them to play hard the whole time. The teams are a little bit unknown, they've played games but they don't have tons of film."    

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO 82, NORTHWEST 73
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — McKinlee Covolo 23, Emma Pique 11, Jaila Childress 10, Addison Hickey 8, Isabella Williams 7, Fallon Millican 6, Madison Kaufman 4, Itziar Pozas 4
Rebounds — McKinlee Covolo 11 (11), Isabella Williams 8 (1), Fallon Millican 4 (1), Jaila Childress 3 (1), Canyon Britt 3 (1), Emma Pique 2 (2), Addison Hickey 2 (2), Madison Kaufman 1
Assists — Jaila Childress 6, Isabella Williams 4, Emma Pique 1, Addison Hickey 1, Canyon Britt 1, Madison Kaufman 1, Fallon Millican 1
Steals — Emma Pique 4, Madison Kaufman 4, Addison Hickey 2, Isabella Williams 1, Jaila Childress 1, McKinlee Covolo 1, Itziar Pozas 1
Blocks — Isabella Williams 1, McKinlee Covolo 1       

NORTHWEST 82, NORTH IDAHO 55
Points — Madison Kaufman 16, McKinlee Covolo 15, Itziar Pozas 13, Emma Pique 9, Isabella Williams 9, Addison Hickey 7, Canyon Britt 5, Fallon Millican 4, Jaila Childress 2, Elise Swan 2
Rebounds — Fallon Millican 11 (2), McKinlee Covolo 8 (4), Addison Hickey 6 (2), Madison Kaufman 3 (1), Emma Pique 2, Jaila Childress 2, Itziar Pozas 2, Elise Swan 1
Assists — Jaila Childress 3, Fallon Millican 3, Elise Swan 2, Madison Kaufman 2, Addison Hickey 1, Isabella Williams 1, McKinlee Covolo 1, Canyon Britt 1
Steals — Jaila Childress 4, Isabella Williams 3, Itziar Pozas 3, Addison Hickey 2, Canyon Britt 2, Fallon Millican 2, Emma Pique 1, Madison Kaufman 1
Blocks — Isabella Williams 1, McKinlee Covolo 1, Fallon Millican 1