A back-and-forth affair wrapped up the regular season for the Northwest College women’s basketball team, as the Trappers fell 77-74 to Gillette College on Thursday.

“We battled, we had chances toward the end of the game to take the lead,” said NWC coach Cody Helenbolt. “It was a very similar game to the one we played at Gillette, where it was just close, but we couldn’t quite take the lead and keep it.”

The NWC women will have one more chance to play in Cabre Gym after winning tiebreakers to host a Region IX play-in game.

GILLETTE COLLEGE 77, NORTHWEST 74

Needing a win to guarantee a home court postseason game, the Trappers (17-13 overall, 4-8 Region IX North) battled against the Pronghorns (21-9 overall, 8-4 Region IX North) without their leading scorer, Bianca Silva.

Northwest held off the Pronghorns early, holding a 5-3 advantage midway through the first quarter. The Trappers boosted their advantage to as much as five points before Gillette made a strong run to take a 14-13 lead into the second quarter.

The Pronghorns pushed their lead out to eight at 22-14, before a 9-0 run put the Trappers up 23-22.

Northwest was poised to take a two-possession advantage into the locker room after a Tayva Phillips 3-pointer, but a response by Gillette made it 32-31 in favor of the Trappers going into the break.

Gillette started the third quarter stronger. The visitors took a 43-36 lead five minutes into the half, then pushed their lead to double digits, 48-38, with 2:42 left in the third.

Northwest went on an 8-3 run to end the quarter, cutting the deficit to 51-46.

In the final frame the Trappers continued their strong run, eventually taking a 58-57 lead on a Carolina Ruiz free throw with 6:07 remaining.

The two teams exchanged the lead until Gillette appeared to pull away, going up 71-64 with 1:58 left. The Trappers made a final push, but a few free throws helped the Pronghorns pull out a 77-74 win.

“I honestly thought we played pretty well, especially not having Bianca [Silva],” Helenbolt said. “We just missed a couple rebounds that were in key spots. When they needed a basket, they got an offensive board. Just a couple times we missed where we should have probably boxed out.”

Kelsi Nicholson led NWC with 15 points and had seven rebounds. Jai’La Porter and Ruiz each had 13 points and five assists.

Emma Pique had 12 points while Phillips chipped in 11 and added three steals alongside Porter.

HOME POSTSEASON GAME

The loss made it unlikely that Northwest would host a Region IX play-in game, but thanks to tiebreakers, the Trappers will host a play-in game against Eastern Wyoming Community College (14-16 overall, 4-8 Region IX North) at 2 p.m. Saturday.

That came courtesy of a three-way tie between the Trappers, Eastern Wyoming and Laramie County Community College, as each team had four wins in regional competition.

Had it been a head-to-head tiebreaker between the Trappers and Lancers, the Trappers would have been heading to Torrington, as those two teams split in the regular season and Eastern had a win against a higher seeded opponent.

However, the Trappers got the nod to host as the No. 4 seed by having the best head-to-head record among the three teams against each other: Northwest was 3-1 against Eastern and LCCC while Eastern was 2-2 and LCCC was 1-3.

The Lancers defeated the Trappers in Torrington 82-68 in January before the Trappers returned the favor in Powell in February, 87-63. That sets up Saturday’s rubber match.

“It’s honestly going to come down to making shots,” Helenbolt said. “The first time we played them [Eastern] they shot 55%. Any time someone shoots that it’s going to be a long day. Then we shot 36%.”

In February’s rematch, however, the Trappers shot 54% and the Lancers shot 31% “and we won by a lot,” the coach noted, “so that really is going to be the key. Then trying to limit second chances, just trying to do as much as I can coaching wise to limit the size disadvantage that we’re at.”

GILLETTE COLLEGE 77, NORTHWEST 74

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Kelsi Nicholson 15, Jai’La Porter 13, Carolina Ruiz 13, Emma Pique 12,Tayva Phillips 11, Taylee Carlson 4, Selen Ucak 3, Elise Swan 3

Rebounds — Kelsi Nicholson 7 (3), Emma Pique 6, Jai’La Porter 5 (1), Carolina Ruiz 5 (2), Selen Ucak 2 (1), Elise Swan 1, Taylee Carlson 1

Assists — Jai’La Porter 5, Carolina Ruiz 5, Selen Ucak 4, Emma Pique 2, Tayva Phillips 1, Kelsi Nicholson 1, Elise Swan 1

Steals — Tayva Phillips 3, Jai’La Porter 3, Selen Ucak 1, Emma Pique 1

FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS

SATURDAY

TBD No. 7 Central Wyoming at No. 2 Western Wyoming

2 p.m. No. 5 Eastern Wyoming at No. 4 Northwest

6 p.m. No. 6 Laramie County Community College at No. 3 Gillette College