TRAPPER WOMEN SPLIT MATCHUPS

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

The Northwest College women's basketball team split its matchups in Rock Springs for the Western Wyoming Community College Classic, defeating Northeastern Junior College 80-67 on Friday before another difficult loss, 73-69, late on Saturday against Utah State University-Eastern.   

NORTHWEST 80, NORTHEASTERN JC 67
Starting with a Region IX South opponent the Trappers (8-4) took on the Plainswomen (2-10) in Rock Springs.
Northwest came out the gate strong, and built an early advantage up 11-7 midway through the first quarter.
The Trappers built on that advantage and made it 21-14 on a late Madison Kaufman 3-pointer heading into the second.
Northeastern started the quarter with a quick 5-0 run, before the Trappers responded with a 14-0 run of their own capped off by a Jaila Childress layup to make it 34-19 with four minutes remaining in the half.
"We just stuck with what we were doing and every time they made a run, we would just make a run back at them," coach Cody Helenbolt said. "We didn't get too high or too low when anything was going on in that game."
A slow scoring stretch allowed the Plainswomen to cut the lead down to single digits before Northwest held off the push and led 36-25 heading into the half.
The Trappers maintained their double-digit advantage early in the second half, extending the lead to 52-38 midway through the third quarter.
Northwest extended the lead out to 20 on an Addison Hickey layup to make it 60-40 with 2:30 left in the third.
Before the end of the quarter the lead reached 22, but Northwest led 64-45 heading into the fourth quarter.
Northeastern tried making a run at it, but the Trappers held off any comeback attempts and walked away with an 80-67 win.
"I don't think it was our best game. It wasn't our worst game, it was just kind of an in-between one," Helenbolt said. "It's nice to be able to win games when you're not at your best, because sometimes in college you can't do that, you have to play at a really high level. Coming off the Thanksgiving break, I think it affected us a little bit. These preseason games are to try to learn the team and see what you need to get better at. Overall, just a solid win. Nothing spectacular, nothing really bad either."
Hickey led with 18 points and nine rebounds, Emma Pique had 16 points, and led with five assists and tied for the team lead at four steals with Isabella Williams.
Pique also recorded the lone block.
McKinlee Covolo added 15 points while Kaufman and Childress had 11 and 10 respectively.   

USU-EASTERN 73, NORTHWEST 69
Continuing the action in Rock Springs the Trappers matched up with the Eagles (8-5) on Saturday.
Northwest started strong, building a 12-0 advantage capped off by a Pique layup midway through the first quarter.
USU-Eastern battled back the rest of the frame, and made it an 18-17 contest heading into the second quarter.
Northwest held off the Eagles' momentum and pushed the lead back out to 29-24 midway through on a Covolo layup.
The Trappers pushed the lead back to double-digits, making it 36-26 on a Kaufman layup.
USU-Eastern again cut into the lead before the break, as Northwest led 42-35 at halftime.
Northwest again held off an early push from the Eagles, and held a 54-43 lead midway through the third quarter.
USU-Eastern cut the advantage down the rest of the quarter and the Trappers led 60-53 heading into the fourth.
Northwest again held off an early charge, but the Eagles continued to press the initiative and try to cut into the lead.
The run finally paid off for the Eagles, as they took the lead 67-66 with three minutes remaining.
"We just had a stretch where we missed shots that we normally make. We got decent looks, we had two that rolled around the rim. If we would have made one of those two, we would have won," Helenbolt said. "It took a lot of different things for us to lose that lead, just missing a lot of shots we normally make."
That lead grew to 70-66 and held until an and-one by Pique with 1:15 remaining made it 70-69.
Both teams had opportunities to take the lead or extend it, before a missed free throw after a 1-2 trip to the line by USU-Eastern led to a confusing situation on the court.
It was eventually deemed that it was an inadvertent whistle by the officials, awarding a timeout to the Trappers before the ball was in possession. That resulted in the ball going back to the Eagles with 1.9 seconds left before the Trappers were forced to foul and the Eagles went 2-2 to seal the game for the 73-69 win.
"We had some calls go against us, more calls (seem to) go against us at the end," Helenbolt said. "It's frustrating, because all of our losses have been ones that we've had a chance in. But, it's part of having a young team and trying to establish that culture of 'hey, we're going to win.' It doesn't just happen, even with our team last year that had more sophomores … You can't just sit around and hope, not finish shots and different things like that. You've got to go out and earn them. So I think that's the biggest thing is just little details that will help earn us wins in those games against good teams, close games, stuff like that."
Despite yet another close loss, Helenbolt feels the Trappers are making progress in close games as all four losses have come late in contests.
"If you look back to CSI (College of Southern Idaho), we really kind of fell apart. Took the lead and then immediately went 0-8 … It's getting there now. Just ready for the breakthrough," Helenbolt said. "That's what we need to focus on is being able to break through and just win one of these."
Hickey led the Trappers with 15 alongside Covolo, Pique had 13 and Williams had 10 as the final double-digit scorer.
Covolo led with nine rebounds, Pique led with three assists and two blocks while Hickey finished with four steals to lead the Trappers.    

BUSY FINAL WEEK
The Trappers now have a busy final week of the nonconference season, starting with a pair of games at home this weekend.
Northwest takes on two opponents for a second time this season, having already defeated the visitors on the road.
The Trappers start with a game against Dawson Community College (2-10) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday before taking on Miles Community College (8-8) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
"Competing every possession I think that's the key. Continue to take care of the ball, execute what we need to execute, compete the whole time and put together 40 minutes of it," Helenbolt said.
The action doesn't stop there, as the Trappers head on the road to Yuma, Arizona, taking part in the Arizona Western Tournament starting on Tuesday.
Northwest opens against Central Arizona College (6-4) at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, before taking on host Arizona Western (5-6) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday before finishing the tournament against North Idaho College (4-6) at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.
"I think it'll be fun for the kids. Just get something different, this kind of replaces going up to North Dakota," Helenbolt said. "Enjoy some nice weather, and just keep trying to get better and get a couple of extra games in there."     

NORTHWEST 80, NORTHEASTERN JC 67
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Addison Hickey 18, Emma Pique 16, McKinlee Covolo 15, Madison Kaufman 11, Jaila Childress 10, Isabella Williams 6, Elise Swan 2, Itziar Pozas 2
Rebounds — Addison Hickey 9 (3), Jaila Childress 7 (2), Isabella Williams 5 (1), McKinlee Covolo 4 (1), Emma Pique 3, Fallon Millican 3 (2), Madison Kaufman 2, Elise Swan 1, Itziar Pozas 1
Assists — Emma Pique 5, Isabella Williams 4, Addison Hickey 2, McKinlee Covolo 1, Madison Kaufman 1, Itziar Pozas 1
Steals — Emma Pique 4, Isabella Williams 4, Addison Hickey 3, Jaila Childress 2, Madison Kaufman 1
Blocks — Emma Pique 1     

USU EASTERN 73, NORTHWEST 69
Points — Addison Hickey 15, McKinlee Covolo 15, Emma Pique 13, Isabella Williams 10, Madison Kaufman 6, Jaila Childress 4, Itziar Pozas 4, Fallon Millican 2
Rebounds — McKinlee Covolo 9 (2), Addison Hickey 8 (4), Jaila Childress 5 (1), Madison Kaufman 4 (3), Isabella Williams 3, Fallon Millican 3 (1), Emma Pique 1
Assists — Emma Pique 3, Isabella Williams 2, Jaila Childress 2, McKinlee Covolo 1
Steals — Addison Hickey 4, Jaila Childress 3, Isabella Williams 2, McKinlee Covolo 2, Emma Pique 1, Fallon Millican 1
Blocks — Emma Pique 2, Isabella Williams 1