Turnovers turn winning weekend into 1-2 trip

Posted 11/12/15

The Trappers (1-4) opened their three-game road trip with a 70-62 win at former region foe Dawson on Thursday, but fell 99-72 at Bismarck State Friday night and 66-62 to United Tribes Technical College on Saturday afternoon.

Bismarck pulled away …

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Turnovers turn winning weekend into 1-2 trip

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NWC women Lose freshman to knee injury

A blowout loss separated a gritty win from a fourth-quarter letdown for the Northwest College women’s basketball team this weekend.

The Trappers (1-4) opened their three-game road trip with a 70-62 win at former region foe Dawson on Thursday, but fell 99-72 at Bismarck State Friday night and 66-62 to United Tribes Technical College on Saturday afternoon.

Bismarck pulled away from the Trappers in the second quarter, while the tight contests that bookended Northwest’s trip weren’t decided until late in the fourth.

Head coach Janis Beal said turnovers proved to be the difference in the eight-point win and four-point loss.

Northwest committed 24 turnovers in each game, but it was the timing that swung the game for, and then against, the Trappers.

“I felt like in the Dawson game we turned the ball over early in the game, and then we kind of took care of those problems and finished well in the fourth,” Beal said.

The opposite was true against the Thunderbirds on Saturday.

“I don’t think we turned it over quite as much and then all of a sudden toward the end of the game, that’s when they put a press on us and we struggled with it,” Beal said.

The T-Birds outrebounded the Trappers 68-45, a 23-board advantage in a four-point game.

“(Rebounding) was crucial with United Tribes,” Beal said. “There was some free throw box outs we missed. There was definitely some crucial rebounds that they got putbacks when it was a two-point game. Those rebounds were definitely a big part of it. Those and the turnovers.”

The extra opportunities were vital for United Tribes, which shot just 30.6 percent from the floor, but won behind an extraordinary individual performance.

Freshman Katherine Briggs scored a game-high 40 points — 61 percent of her team’s total points — on 17-for-28 shooting. The rest of the T-Birds were just 9-for-57 (15.7 percent).

“I knew she was an athlete and a rebounder, just from stats,” Beal said of Briggs. “We just didn’t do a very good job of team defense. We gave her angles and let her finish shots instead of keeping her out of the lane.

“We did a good job at times, where we did send a double and the help side went and got the ball — and she actually turned the ball over a couple times when we did that — but we were slow to get the double, and that’s where she got so many points.”

The 6-foot-2 Briggs added 12 rebounds, including seven offensive boards that Beal said were all converted for points.

“Those seven offensive rebounds were probably 14 points, too. Those were ones she put right back up.”

Briggs had five steals and three blocks in the win.

Northwest’s Kealani Sagapolu was one point shy against Dawson of having three double-doubles over the weekend.

The sophomore forward scored 18 points and had a team-high 14 rebounds against Bismarck State, and 10 points and 15 boards against United Tribes. Her 11 rebounds at Dawson were a team high, and her nine points were good for fourth on the Trappers.

“Honestly I think she should average a double-double,” Beal said. “She’s a good rebounder, we just got to get her more touches. Play a little more inside-out. We have to get her more involved on the offensive end. We expect her to be a big force for us.”

Jacey Shaw scored 15 points in the win at Dawson and 17 against United Tribes.

“I expect Jaycee to be consistently scoring,” Beal said “She didn’t score as much (seven points) against Bismarck because she had foul trouble.”

Aubree Porter scored 14 against Bismarck and United Tribes, while Chandler Rose and Shelby Nicholson each had 11 against Dawson.

“The good thing about us is anyone has the ability to score. We just have to have a couple people score and not have everyone off on the same night,” Beal said.

Bismarck’s long-range shooting proved inefficient yet more than enough against Northwest. The Mystics were 12-of-45 from the 3-point line, but shot 53.8 percent on two-point field goals in their 27-point win.

Beal said the Trappers will have to better defend, and rebound, the 3-point shot when the teams square off again at 5:30 p.m. on Friday during the First Bank of Wyoming Shootout in Powell.

“That’s what their game is — space out and shoot the three. They knocked down 12 against us,” Beal said. “And with that, we have to finish with a box out. Long shot equals a long rebound.”

Even though Northwest held Bismarck to just 26.7 percent on threes, Beal said the volume was too much.

“The thing was, some of them that they shot were uncontested. That’s when it becomes a problem. If you’re giving them those uncontested open threes, that’s what their game is,” Beal said. “We have to do a better job of actually getting a hand up and making it the most difficult that we can.”

The Trappers face Eastern Wyoming at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Beal is still awaiting the return of Larissa Knight, and will have to move forward without Jessica Lohrenz, who will miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear.

“We’re hoping to get Larissa (Knight) back, but we still don’t have a timeline really on that,” Beal said. “We’re going to have to learn and rotate the eight or nine through because that’s the only amount we have.”

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