NWC WOMEN READY TO HIT THE ROAD

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

After taking a quick hiatus over Thanksgiving break the Northwest College women's basketball team is ready to get back on the court, heading on the road after a flurry of four home games before the short break.
Northwest is coming off a busy week where the Trappers went 2-2, moving their record to 8-3 in the early season.
Injuries continue to be one of the early season headlines; as leading scorer Emma Pique will return after missing two games and having limited minutes against the Rocky Mountain JV, but coach Cody Helenbolt is uncertain if he will have all of his injured players back this semester.
"Emma is good so that's very good news. She moved pretty well in the Rocky game, we didn't play her very much, but wanted to see her get back out there. She's looked good in practice," Helenbolt said. "My other ones are still out … Probably gonna have to redshirt two. We might not have Taylee [Carlson] until after Christmas. Injuries, that's the story of the year so far."
Following the Thanksgiving break where the Trappers had time off to rest, they're now preparing for game action this week and Helenbolt is hopeful they will be able to improve in certain areas.
"I just want to see us continue to improve in the areas we need to improve on, Helenbolt said. "I feel like we've taken some steps forward in some areas, we just need to put together full games, and not have the lulls
where we aren't as efficient for a little bit."
With his team still being so young, Helenbolt is hopeful they are learning the college game better, understanding there isn't much time to slow down and the need to push the initiative for the entire 40 minutes.
"Especially against good teams that are experienced and deep, we've got to keep the accelerator down the whole time, and not feel accomplished sometimes when we have a good little stretch," Helenbolt said. "Just understanding the game is longer in college and we're not in high school, and we've got to keep going the whole time. I think that's the challenge with a young group, is to handle pressure situations and to handle being able to play a full game with as much energy as it takes to play at this level. All the other things, the execution, defense, all those things are important, that's going to be equally as important to just be able to put together complete games."