NWC WOMEN READY TO HIT THE ROAD
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.
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."
Northwest starts with a Region IX South opponent, taking on Northeastern Junior College (2-8) at 1 p.m. on Friday and Utah State University-Eastern (7-4) at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
"They'll both be tough," Helenbolt said. "They're [Division I junior college], so they have talent. Anybody can beat anybody. USU Eastern is a solid team, they've had some solid results. They've got a lot of recruits that were highly sought after, so that'll be a tough one."
Over the next couple of weeks the Trappers will be busy on the court, starting with this weekend and ending with their seventh game in just under two weeks on Dec. 18 before the winter break.
Northwest will play two more games in that span, hosting the Booster Club Tournament next weekend on Dec. 12-13.
"I'd just like to see us smooth out the rough patches and try to get us to a point where we're able to execute everything, offensively and defensively, and we don't have breakdowns or times when kids don't know what they're doing. Stuff like that," Helenbolt said. "Just keep competing. That's our goal is to be the most competitive team when we step on the floor and so long as we do that, even when we do make mistakes, we'll be alright."