TRAPPER WOMEN UNDEFEATED ON THE ROAD

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

A strong Northwest College women's basketball team finished undefeated during a road weekend in Montana, as the Trappers defeated Dawson Community College 96-67, Miles Community College 101-96 and United Tribes Technical College 77-56 to move to 4-1 in the early season.      

NORTHWEST 96, DAWSON CC 67
Starting their road trip in Glendive the Trappers (4-1) matched up with the Buccaneers (2-4) on Thursday.
The Trappers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the two teams went point for point in the first quarter as the Trappers held a slim advantage going into the second up 21-19.
Northwest started causing havoc and creating points through turnovers in the second quarter, pushing the lead to double digits before enjoying a comfortable 53-30 lead at the break.
That lead expanded further in the second half, with the Trappers pushing it to 64-38 midway through the third quarter.
Northwest continued taking advantage of strong shooting and made it a 72-44 lead heading into the fourth.
The Trappers cruised in the fourth quarter and finished with a 96-67 win.
Northwest dominated from the field shooting 38-72 (52.8%) and was able to pull ahead despite committing 32 turnovers compared to 23 for Dawson.
"It was a weird game because their press every once in a while got to us, but then when we broke it, it was a layup," coach Cody Helenbolt said. "I'd say overall we broke it enough to get a bunch of points on the scoreboard even though it wasn't always perfect with how we were doing it. Just some kind of careless turnovers a couple times. But like I told the girls, if you score 96 points with 32 turnovers, you could have easily been up towards 120-130 (points)."
Emma Pique led with 25 points, while Isabella Williams and McKinlee Covolo each had 16 as the other two Trappers in double figures.
Williams had nine rebounds to lead the Trappers, and tied for the team lead in assists alongside Pique with four each.
Pique led with six steals and Williams had the lone block.      

NORTHWEST 101, MILES CC 96
Continuing to Miles City the Trappers matched up with the Pioneers (3-3).
Northwest trailed early but gained the lead on a Covolo jumper with 6:33 left in the first quarter.
The Trappers capitalized on that advantage and pushed it out quickly to double digits, making it 32-20 heading into the second quarter.
Northwest pushed its advantage out to 17 midway through the second, leading 46-29 after a pair of Itziar Pozas free throws.
The lead reached as many as 17, as Northwest led 53-38 heading into the break.
Miles started the second half strong and cut the lead down to eight points, but Northwest held off the early charge and pushed its advantage back out to 14 after a Madison Kaufman 3-pointer made it 66-52 with 3:23 left in the third.
Northwest kept its advantage leading 77-62 heading into the fourth quarter after a Pique jumper.
The Trappers quickly pushed their lead to 17, and maintained the double-digit advantage at 90-77 until the midway point of the quarter.
Then the hosts caught fire.
A 12-2 run over the next two minutes by the Pioneers cut the lead down to a single possession at 92-89.
Williams' free throws stopped the bleeding and a 3-pointer by Jaila Childress made it 97-89.
After Northwest led 99-89 on a pair of Covolo free throws with 1:53 left the hosts again went on a 7-0 run, before two Pique free throws sealed the win with eight seconds left.
"They scored 44 in the fourth quarter, I mean they made every shot they threw up in the fourth quarter," Helenbolt said. "So to be able to win one like that is great, because usually if a team does that you're in trouble … I didn't always like how it went, but I like the fact that we were able to toughen up and get the win at the end of the day."
Williams led with 22 points, Covolo had 20, Pique had 14, Addison Hickey had 11 and Childress added 10 as all starters scored in double figures.
"Any time you can have all five (starters) in double figures, that means we're sharing the ball. We're finding the open spots," Helenbolt said. "That's one thing that I always like is having multiple scoring threats. So that they (the opponent) can't just focus on one person."
Covolo added 13 rebounds to lead all Trappers and complete her double-double, Childress led with six assists, Hickey and Pozas had two steals each and Williams had the lone block for Northwest.   

NORTHWEST 77, UNITED TRIBES 56
Playing the third game in three days the Trappers took on the Thunderbirds (3-3) in a neutral site game.
Northwest came out and took the lead 11-5 midway through, before the Thunderbirds responded the rest of the quarter and led 18-17 heading into the second. 
The Trappers trailed early in the second but gained the lead, making it 29-26 four minutes into the quarter before taking control heading into the break.
Northwest made it a double-digit scoreline up 36-26 with 1:12 remaining, and led 40-29 at the break after a Pique jumper.
In the second half the Trappers started with a 12-4 stretch and quickly made it 52-33 after a Covolo free throw midway through.
Scoring slowed down the remainder of the third quarter, but Northwest made it a more than 20 point advantage heading into the fourth quarter up 57-35.
Northwest maintained its lead and cruised in the fourth quarter to a 77-56 win to end the weekend 3-0.
"I wasn't happy with the defense against Miles City, that might have been a little bit of a matchup issue. United Tribes was a little more post oriented, which I think we're really well equipped to guard posts this year," Helenbolt said. "Even though we scored the least amount of points (on the weekend), we just seemed to be more overall in sync in that game."
Pique led with 22 points, Hickey had 16 and Covolo added 15.
Covolo had 13 rebounds to earn another double double, Childress led with three assists, Pique led with five steals and Covolo added three blocks to lead the Trappers.
"Emma was huge for us all weekend, her defense was great," Helenbolt said.     

IDAHO TRIP
Northwest continues on the road this weekend, heading north once again, this time to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
The Trapper women will take on College of Spokane (0-0) at 3 p.m. on Friday, before taking on Bellevue College (0-0) at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
"We've got no film so we'll figure it out as we go," Helenbolt said. "That's kind of how it goes in preseason, you don't always have all the information. You've got to go out and just play basketball, which is in some ways kind of nice."      

NORTHWEST 96, DAWSON CC 67
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Emma Pique 25, Isabella Williams 16, McKinlee Covolo 16, Madison Kaufman 9, Addison Hickey 8, Jaila Childress 8, Canyon Britt 5, Fallon Millican 5, Itziar Pozas 4
Rebounds — Isabella Williams 9 (2), Addison Hickey 8 (2), Jaila Childress 6 (1), Madison Kaufman 6 (2), Fallon Millican 4, Itziar Pozas 4 (1), McKinlee Covolo 3 (2), Canyon Britt 3, Emma Pique 2 (1), Elise Swan 2, Saige Kidd 2
Assists — Isabella Williams 4, Emma Pique 4, Elise Swan 3, Fallon Millican 3, Jaila Childress 2, Itziar Pozas 2, Addison Hickey 1, McKinlee Covolo 1, Canyon Britt 1
Steals — Emma Pique 6, Isabella Williams 2, Canyon Britt 2, Itziar Pozas 2, McKinlee Covolo 1, Jaila Childress 1, Elise Swan 1, Fallon Millican 1
Blocks — Isabella Williams 1      

NORTHWEST 101, MILES CC 96
Points — Isabella Williams 22, McKinlee Covolo 20, Emma Pique 14, Addison Hickey 11, Jaila Childress 10, Madison Kaufman 8, Fallon Millican 8, Itziar Pozas 5, Canyon Britt 3
Rebounds — McKinlee Covolo 13 (10), Fallon Millican 9 (4), Addison Hickey 7 (4), Madison Kaufman 7 (4), Isabella Williams 5 (1), Emma Pique 4 (3), Jaila Childress 2 (1), Elise Swan 1, Itziar Pozas 1 (1)\
Assists — Jaila Childress 6, Emma Pique 5, Isabella Williams 3, Madison Kaufman 3, Elise Swan 2, Fallon Millican 2, Addison Hickey 1, McKinlee Covolo 1
Steals — Addison Hickey 2, Itziar Pozas 2, Emma Pique 1, Isabella Williams 1, Canyon Britt 1
Blocks — Isabella Williams 1      

NORTHWEST 77, UNITED TRIBES 56
Points — Emma Pique 22, Addison Hickey 16, McKinlee Covolo 15, Itziar Pozas 7, Jaila Childress 6, Madison Kaufman 6, Isabella Williams 2, Elise Swan 2, Saige Kidd 1
Rebounds — McKinlee Covolo 13 (4), Addison Hickey 8 (3), Madison Kaufman 6 (1), Emma Pique 3 (1), Jaila Childress 3 (1), Fallon Millican 3, Isabella Williams 2, Itziar Pozas 2, Elise Swan 1, Canyon Britt 1, Maddie
Mills 1 (1), Saige Kidd 1 (1)
Assists — Jaila Childress 3, Itziar Pozas 2, Emma Pique 1, Addison Hickey 1, McKinlee Covolo, Fallon Millican 1
Steals — Emma Pique 5, Addison Hickey 2, Jaila Childress 2, Madison Kaufman 2
Blocks — McKinlee Covolo 3, Itziar Pozas 1