TRAPPER WOMEN IMPRESS IN 3-0 WEEK

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

An impressive week on the road and at home saw the Northwest College women's basketball team post a 3-0 record to improve their early season record to 4-1.

The Trappers defeated Treasure Valley Community College 103-64 and Clarendon College 88-79 in Riverton before returning home and breezing past Miles Community College 84-35 in their home opener Tuesday night.  

NORTHWEST 103, TREASURE VALLEY 64
Heading down to Riverton the Trappers (4-1) matched up with the Chukars (0-2) out of Oregon to start the weekend.

Northwest came out strong against Treasure Valley, quickly building a double digit lead up 14-2 less than four minutes into the contest.

That lead continued to swell early, as the Trappers attacked often and built the lead out to 30-12 before the first quarter break.

Early in the second quarter the lead reached 20, and then reached 30 just before halftime as Northwest led 55-25.

At the break the Trappers led 57-30.

"We were kind of clicking on all cylinders," coach Cody Helenbolt said. "I think we're going to be really tough to beat when we play well … We didn't have any film on them or anything so it was kind of an unknown … When our shots are going down, we're tough."

The Trappers maintained their lead early in the half, leading 66-39 midway through the third quarter.

Northwest continued pressing, pushing the lead out to 83-44 after the third.

The Trappers maintained that advantage, finishing with a 103-64 win.

Tayva Phillips led the Trappers with 19, Bianca Silva had 17, Carolina Ruiz had 13 and Selen Ucak had 11 as the four players in double figures.

Silva led Northwest with seven rebounds, just ahead of Jai'La Porter and Sydnee Harris who each had six.

Porter, Silva and Ruiz each had five assists, while Silva led with four steals.   

NORTHWEST 88, CLARENDON COLLEGE 79
The win on Friday matched the Trappers up with the Bulldogs (3-1) on Saturday, as Northwest looked to stop Clarendon's undefeated start.

After a close scoreline over the first four minutes, the Trappers exploded out to a double digit lead up 23-12 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Northwest held onto that lead and grew it out further to 29-15 heading into the second quarter.

The Trappers stretched the lead out to as much as 41-23 midway through the quarter, before Clarendon started chipping away at the lead.

"We just weren't quite clicking," Helenbolt said. "The beginning of the game we were and then I felt like the last three quarters were a bit of a struggle."

Over the final five minutes the Trappers were outscored 13-4 and the lead was trimmed to single digits at the break up 45-36.

Within the first minute of the third quarter the Trappers found themselves only up five points, before finiding their offensive groove once again.

The lead stretched back out near double digits, before Clarendon responded and cut it down to 51-47.

The Trappers used turnovers to help regain full control of the contest, pushing their advantage back out to 61-47 with just a couple minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A 3-pointer at the buzzer cut the lead back down to 11 as the Trappers led 66-55 heading into the fourth quarter.

Midway through the fourth quarter a Northwest run was answered by a run by Clarendon that cut the lead down to two at 77-75 with just under four minutes remaining.

The Trappers held the Bulldogs to two points over the next three minutes, extending the lead back to 83-77 before each team finished the final 40 seconds with free throws and Northwest won 88-79.

"I was honestly happy to get a win under those circumstances, because I didn't think we played that well in that game," Helenbolt said. "It was actually really good for us. You always want to play great, but you're not always going to play great. It's nice when we had to take some charges, we had to get some huge rebounds and we had to hit free throws at the end of the game."

Porter led Northwest with 16, Silva had 15, Ruiz had 12 and Emma Pique had 11.

Harris had 10 rebounds, Porter added eight.

Silva had eight assists, while Porter and Elise Swan tied for three steals each.    

NORTHWEST 84, MILES CC 35
The two wins on the road gave Northwest some momentum coming home Tuesday for its first game of the season, kicking off the Cabre Gym campaign against the Pioneers (1-5).

Northwest burst out the gates in front of the home crowd, building the lead as large as 22 before the Pioneers got on the board, as the Trappers led 22-2 after the first quarter.

"That's something that we've been talking about a lot is playing hard all the time. Effort and attitude, part of that is getting up and getting after people on defense," Helenbolt said. "I was very proud of how they came out and turned them over a bunch right at the beginning of the game and kind of set the tone for the game."

The scoreline hovered around a 20 point margin as the Trappers continued  forcing the Pioneers into constant turnovers and led 36-16 at the break after an Elise Swan 3-pointer.

The lead reached 30 midway through the third quarter, as Northwest led 51-21, and the Trappers nearly made it 40 when they were up 61-23 after the third quarter.

Less than a minute into the fourth the margin reached 40 points, and the Trappers cruised in the fourth quarter to an 84-35 with the largest lead reaching 51.

Northwest forced 33 turnovers by the Pioneers, recorded 26 steals as a team and every player received playing time and scored in the contest.

"That was my message in the locker room at the end of the game. I said 'look, it's hard for me to sub with this team because I like what all of you guys are doing,'" Helenbolt said. "I really trust every one of those kids to do something for us. Obviously there's gonna be matchups and things that dictate that a little bit, but 1-13, I have a lot of faith in them and that's a good feeling as a coach."

Phillips led Northwest with 16 points after going 4-9 from 3-point range, and Taylee Carlson was close behind with 15 points after going 5-7 from 3-point range.

Those were the only two Trappers in double figures.

Bella Yates led with six rebounds, Silva led with four assists, Swan led with five steals and Harris led with two blocks.    

BACK ON THE ROAD
Northwest will head back out on the road this weekend, with the Trapper women heading to Casper for the first time this season on Friday and Saturday.

The Trappers will take on the Air Force Prep on Friday at 1 p.m. before taking on Arizona Western College (3-0) at noon on Saturday.

"We're going to have to execute better," Helenbolt said. "We're not going to be able to just rely on our transition as much. It's going to be a good growing experience. I'd say these games are going to be more like some of our Region IX games, so it'll be tough."

The Trappers will return home next weekend for the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic starting on Friday.      

NORTHWEST 103, TREASURE VALLEY 64
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Tayva Phillips 19, Bianca Silva 17, Carolina Ruiz 13, Selen Ucak 11, Sydnee Harris 9, Emma Pique 7, Bella Yates 7, Taylee Carlson 7, Jai'La Porter 4, Elise Swan 3, Sienna Fuller 3, Kelsi Nicholson 3
Rebounds — Bianca Silva 7 (1), Jai'La Porter 6, Sydnee Harris 6 (4), Emma Pique 5 (2), Kelsi Nicholson 5 (1), Selen Ucak 3, Bella Yates 2 (2), Taylee Carlson 2 (1), Tayva Phillips 1, Elise Swan 1, Carolina Ruiz 1
Assists — Jai'La Porter 5, Bianca Silva 5, Carolina Ruiz 5, Emma Pique 3, Tayva Phillips 3, Ashlyn Wight 2, Selen Ucak 2, Taylee Carlson 2, Sydnee Harris 1, Sienna Fuller 1
Steals — Bianca Silva 4, Emma Pique 3, Tayva Phillips 3, Kelsi Nicholson 3, Bella Yates 2, Carolina Ruiz 2, Jai'La Porter 1, Elise Swan 1, Selen Ucak 1, Taylee Carlson 1
Blocks — Jai'La Porter 1, Bianca Silva 1, Bella Yates 1   

NORTHWEST 88, CLARENDON COLLEGE 79
Points — Jai'La Porter 16, Bianca Silva 15, Carolina Ruiz 12, Emma Pique 11, Tayva Phillips 8, Kelsi Nicholson 8, Taylee Carlson 7, Elise Swan 5, Selen Ucak 4, Sydnee Harris 2
Rebounds — Sydnee Harris 10 (5), Jai'La Porter 8 (4), Emma Pique 4, Tayva Phillips 4 (1), Elise Swan 4 (1), Bianca Silva 3, Selen Ucak 3 (1), Carolina Ruiz 3, Kelsi Nicholson 2, Bella Yates 1 (1), Taylee Carlson 1
Assists — Bianca Silva 8, Tayva Phillips 4, Emma Pique 3, Elise Swan 3, Selen Ucak 3, Carolina Ruiz 3, Sydnee Harris 1
Steals — Jai'La Porter 3, Elise Swan 3, Emma Pique 2, Tayva Phillips 2, Carolina Ruiz 2, Selen Ucak 1   

NORTHWEST 84, MILES CC 35
Points — Tayva Phillips 16, Taylee Carlson 15, Bianca Silva 9, Jai'La Porter 8, Sydnee Harris 8, Bella Yates 8, Selen Ucak 5, Kelsi Nicholson 4, Emma Pique 3, Elise Swan 3, Carolina Ruiz 2, Sienna Fuller 1
Rebounds — Bella Yates 6 (3), Kelsi Nicholson 5 (3), Tayva Phillips 4 (1), Sydnee Harris 4 (2), Bianca Silva 4 (1), Taylee Carlson 3 (1), Selen Ucak 2, Emma Pique 1, Elise Swan 1, Ashlyn Wight 1
Assists — Bianca Silva 4, Jai'La Porter 3, Elise Swan 3, Ashlyn Wight 3, Carolina Ruiz 3, Tayva Phillips 2, Selen Ucak 2, Emma Pique 1, Bella Yates 1
Steals — Elise Swan 5, Bianca Silva 4, Tayva Phillips 3, Ashlyn Wight 3, Jai'La Porter 2, Selen Ucak 2, Carolina Ruiz 2, Emma Pique 1, Sydnee Harris 1, Sienna Fuller 1, Bella Yates 1, Kelsi Nicholson 1
Blocks — Sydnee Harris 2, Taylee Carlson 1