A late run on Friday night led to a weekend split for the Northwest College women’s basketball team at the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic, losing to Bismarck State College 88-85 on Friday before defeating Dawson Community College 81-46 on Saturday.

BISMARCK STATE 88, NORTHWEST 85

Kicking off the classic the Trappers (5-4) matched up with a difficult opponent in the Mystics (8-1), in a high paced contest from the jump.

That fast pace generated a good start for Northwest, which started with a 13-11 lead after the first four minutes.

“I didn’t realize they were getting their All-Region point guard back. So we kind of had to switch the game plan really quick mid-game because it’s tough to press a point guard like that,” coach Cody Helenbolt said.

The Trappers built on that momentum, and pushed that lead further out to a double digit advantage before the break, when an Emma Pique 3-pointer made it 25-15 with a minute left, as that scoreline held after the first quarter.

Northwest held that advantage midway through the second quarter, as a Kelsi Nicholson and-one made it 36-25 with 5:23 left.

Over the final five minutes the visitors made their push, switching into a zone and slowing down Northwest while cutting into the lead.

Just seconds before halftime, a Mystics 3-pointer made it a one possession game, as Northwest led 48-47 at the break.

The Trappers once again pushed the lead out early in the second half, building it back to 10 with 5:56 remaining in the third after a Bianca Silva layup made it 60-50.

Another late push by Bismarck cut the lead down to six, with Northwest leading 64-58 going into the fourth quarter.

Northwest again pushed the lead out early in the fourth quarter, when a Pique 3-pointer with just over seven minutes left made it a 74-62 advantage.

In just over two minutes the visitors tied the score at 76 after a 3-point barrage.

“They just made a crazy amount of shots. That’s kind of been our thing that’s happened every once in a while is we just run into a hot shooting, good team,” Helenbolt said.

The comeback continued, as the visitors took the lead shortly after, and pushed it to as many as five with two minutes left.

The Trappers cut it down to a single point at 84-83 after two straight jumpers by Silva, but four straight free throw misses in the final minute kept the Trappers from regaining the lead. The visitors went 4-4 down the stretch and Northwest finished 2-6 in the final minute at the line in an 88-85 loss.

“(We) just couldn’t quite get enough stops or buckets at the end of the game,” Helenbolt said. “We’re really close. We haven’t lost to anyone that’s not a really good team. So I think that’s a positive. Now, for my own sanity, I’d like to find a way to beat some of those teams.”

Jai’La Porter led the Trappers with 20 points, just ahead of Pique who had 18, Carolina Ruiz had 16 and Bianca Silva had 12.

Nicholson finished with nine points and led with nine rebounds.

Silva led with six assists and Pique led with four steals.

NORTHWEST 81,

DAWSON CC 46

Following the difficult loss on Friday the Trappers turned around to face the Buccaneers (4-4) on Saturday and put the loss in the rearview mirror early.

Northwest quickly pushed the lead out to double digits at 12-2 just four minutes in, and held a 21-8 lead after the first quarter.

“They (Dawson) got a win against Central Wyoming the night before, so they were kind of riding high. So I thought we just came out and did a good job of executing the game plan, excited to play, trying to kind of get the bad taste of losing on Friday out of your mouth a little bit,” Helenbolt said.

Northwest expanded the lead in the second behind strong play from Silva, pushing it over 20 points early and holding a 47-21 lead at the break after a late 3-pointer by the Buccaneers.

Another scoring drought struck the Trappers early in the third quarter, when Dawson took advantage of errors by Northwest, quickly cutting the lead down to 14 at 49-35 with 4:08 remaining in the quarter.

Luckily Northwest recovered, extending the lead to 20 before the end of the quarter at 57-37.

“Dawson wasn’t as efficient scoring it so it didn’t hurt us as bad,” Helenbolt said. “I think turnovers and rebounds are the two things that can get us in trouble a little bit. You know it doesn’t matter who you play, if you turn it over and don’t rebound, you’re going to be in trouble at this level.”

In the fourth the Trappers pushed the advantage over 30 after a 3-pointer by Ashlyn Wight with 5:30 left, and Northwest finished the game with an 81-46 win.

“I thought Ashlyn was a good storyline, coming off the bench and getting double-digits,” Helenbolt said. “We’ve seen that in practice sometimes where she can fill up a score sheet pretty quick, but it was nice to see it in a game against another junior college team and get that confidence going.”

LONG ROAD TRIP

Northwest will head back out on the road this weekend, making the trip to North Dakota to get an immediate rematch against the Mystics at 4:30 p.m. today (Friday).

“They’re a good team,” Helenbolt said. “They can just score the basketball so it’ll be a challenge for us. I think the kids are excited for it.”

The Trappers will then take on United Tribes Technical College (4-5) at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

“They have their style that they are going to play. So I think the biggest part is how well we can adjust to what’s going on in the game,” Helenbolt said. 

Northwest will make a quick pit stop at home on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to take on the Rocky Mountain JV.