The Northwest College women’s basketball team had its Region IX North winning streak snapped on the road last Saturday — dropping a difficult contest to No. 16-ranked Casper College 85-46.

CASPER COLLEGE 85, NORTHWEST 46

Early on in the contest the Trappers (16-9 overall, 3-2 Region IX North) looked to keep pace with the Thunderbirds (23-3 overall, 6-0 Region IX North).

Northwest did just that over the first five minutes, keeping the game close and trailing 11-8 after the midway point of the first quarter.

After the media timeout the Trappers were held scoreless over the next four minutes, allowing Casper College to open up a double digit lead.

The Thunderbirds finished the final five minutes of the quarter outscoring the Trappers 15-2 — taking a 26-10 lead into the second.

Slow scoring continued to plague the Trappers, as they scored just two points over the first five minutes of the second quarter on a Darla Hernandez jumper, and in the blink of an eye the score swelled to 40-12 in favor of the Thunderbirds.

“It wasn’t so much Casper’s pressure that got to us, it was really our self-inflicted wounds that caused us to bleed out,” coach Lauren Davis said. 

The two teams continued to battle the rest of the first half, but Casper maintained its lead and took a 51-19 advantage into the locker room.

Both teams scored strong in the third quarter, with the margin stretching out to 39 — 75-36 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Both teams scored 10 points in the last quarter, making the final score 85-46.

Turnovers stacked up for the Trappers, who finished with their highest turnover since a game against United Tribes over a month prior — finishing with 21 turnovers in the contest.

Casper College outrebounded Northwest 39-28, led by Sandra Frau-Garcia who finished with 11.

“She out-rebounded us single handedly, which was our main point of focus, and we failed to execute that,” Davis said.

A quartet of Trappers finished with nine points, as Jimena Montoro-Cabezas, Nayeli Acosta, Hernandez and Batoul Khaleefah tied for the Trappers’ scoring lead.

KEY SECOND HALF SCHEDULE

Northwest now heads into the second half of the Region IX North slate, kicking off with a repeat matchup against Eastern Wyoming (5-18 overall, 1-5 Region IX North).

“Good teams bounce back and I have the confidence that we will,” Davis said.

That game was originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday, but has since been postponed to Thursday (today) due to inclement weather.

The contest will take place at 5:30 p.m. if the roads are open to travel from Torrington.

If that contest is postponed further, then the next contest for Northwest will be on the road Saturday at 2 p.m. against Western Wyoming in Rock Springs.

That will be the Trappers’ final contest for the week, before finishing with three games in five days starting next Thursday.

CASPER COLLEGE 85, NORTHWEST 46

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 9, Nayeli Acosta 9, Darla Hernandez 9, Batoul Khaleefah 9, Roxanne Rogers 5, Natalyah Nead 5

Rebounds — Natalyah Nead 5 (1), Batoul Khaleefah 5, Yaiza Vacas-Lopez 4 (2), Darla Hernandez 3, Roxanne Rogers 2 (1), Nayeli Acosta 2, Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 1, Ashly Botz 1, Kamber Good Luck 1

Assists — Nayeli Acosta 2, Roxanne Rogers 1, Darla Hernandez 1, Batoul Khaleefah 1

Steals — Nayeli Acosta 1, Darla Hernandez 1

Blocks — Jimena Montoro-Cabezas 1, Nayeli Acosta 1