BIANCA SILVA NAMED TO REGION IX FIRST TEAM PHILLIPS EARNS ALL-DEFENSIVE SPOT

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Two Northwest College women's basketball players garnered postseason honors for the 2024-25 season, as Bianca Silva was named to the Region IX First Team and Tayva Phillips was named to the Region IX All-Defensive team.   

FIRST TEAM HONORS
Just a year ago as a freshman from Florianopolis, Brazil, Silva was named to the All-Defensive team, before returning this season with that same passion on defense and elevating her game on the offensive side of the ball.

This season, Silva increased her scoring output for the Trappers from 9.3 to 13.3 points per game in a more consistent starting role while also elevating her assists and rebounding as the primary ball-handler for the Trappers.

"I had a good summer with workouts back home," Silva said. "But also how we wound up last year, I wanted to be better this year … I always have my assists. This year I scored more than last year, but maybe the team needed that too. That was just the role this year, and I guess I was ready."

Silva said the continued effort on defense helped the Trappers find their offense throughout the season and that everything started there.

"It helped us a lot," Silva said. "If we had a bad day on offense, we need to play defense and Tayva got the defense right … We can score, but we played good defense too against big teams."

She said the honor was a great personal accomplishment, but the main thing that mattered this season was what happened with the team.

"I think it's a personal accomplishment, we work hard every day and we want to win games. For me, just the win matters. But it's like a gift back, (it shows) your work is going the right way," Silva said. "They're (the team) like a family for me. This accomplishment that I have, it's also because of them too. They make me strong, they make me better."

She said that she intends to keep playing and was thankful for her two years playing at Northwest.    

ALL-DEFENSIVE HONOR
In her second year as a Trapper, Phillips continued to contribute on both ends of the floor as a sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colorado, obtaining one of her goals heading into the season to be named to the All-Defensive team.

"I spoke to coach [Cody] Helenbolt about it at the beginning of the year, telling him that I wanted it last year and came up short of that. So this year, that was my main goal, because I find defense to be what I love the most in basketball," Phillips said.

This season Phillips increased her steal tally from 55 to 72, and continually was one of the leaders on the defensive end for Northwest getting organized and shutting down opposing teams, playing a new style of defense under Helenbolt.

"We played a lot of zone this year, which was different for me, but I really liked it," Phillips said. "I think we adapted pretty quickly. I think it was different for us, especially from last year to this year … I think we got a lot of steals off of it. We also connected really well defensively."

While being one of the key components for the Trapper defense, Phillips also was a key contributor on the offensive end, chipping in 9.9 points a game this season while increasing her production across the board.

"Offense is definitely harder than defense can be because shots aren't always going to go in," Phillips said. "I had to always remind myself like next best play, next shot, because I knew Bianca or Carol [Ruiz] or whoever would be passing to me to look for that open look."

Throughout her two years as a Trapper, Phillips served as a strong vocal leader for the team, always cheering on her teammates whether on the court or the sideline.

"I just want my teammates to know that they are good. Stuff's going to go wrong, and I want to be their biggest supporter," Phillips said. "I think this year especially our team was really close with each other. So when one person messed up the whole team felt it, when one person did something great, the whole team felt it."

Phillips said she also intends to play on after leaving Northwest this spring.