A long road trip to Utah kicked off the season for the Northwest College women’s basketball team, as the Trappers defeated Utah State University-Eastern 60-50 on Friday before defeating the host Snow College on Saturday 67-62.

NORTHWEST 60, USU EASTERN 50

The Trappers (2-0) took on the Eagles (0-1) in a neutral site contest to begin the season.

Baskets were exchanged back-and-forth throughout the first five minutes, with Northwest holding a slight advantage 12-8.

Scoring slowed down as the Trappers held a one possession lead up 17-14 after the frame.

The Trappers created some separation between the two teams midway through the second quarter, as Isabella Williams’ putback made it a 30-20 scoreline.

USU-Eastern went on an 8-0 run over the next four minutes, but a Rachel McBride layup late made it 32-28 heading into the half.

The Eagles quickly tied the game a minute into the second half, before the Trappers went on a 9-2 stretch and made it a 41-34 contest with 4:14 left in the third on a Williams 3-pointer.

Northwest didn’t allow the Eagles to make a run, and held a 47-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Trappers immediately stretched the lead to double-digits on a McKinlee Covolo layup, but Eastern found a way to trim the lead down to five midway through the final frame 55-50.

Northwest ended the game with a 5-0 stretch to secure the 60-50 win.

Williams led with 25 points, as Peyton Schiltz and Semaj Williams both chipped in 10.

“Bella coming out with 25 was awesome … That’s kind of what we expect from her. She’s a really good player, and so it was nice to see her have such immediate success,” coach Cody Helenbolt said.

Addison Barnes had 14 rebounds and led with four assists, Williams led with six steals as Northwest recorded 17 in the contest.

Five different Trappers recorded a block in the game.

“I thought we played really hard. I think that was a big positive,” Helenbolt said. “I think you can fix mistakes through effort, and I thought we did that pretty well … Just happy with their overall mindset. It’s hard to have a 13-hour bus trip and then be really sharp.”

NORTHWEST 67, SNOW COLLEGE 62

On Saturday the Trappers took on the Badgers (0-1).

Baskets were extremely hard to find early on for either team, as Northwest held a slight 2-1 lead after both teams only scored on free throws in the first five minutes.

Each team managed 10 points the rest of the quarter as Northwest led 12-11 heading into the second quarter on Kysa Shippen’s 3-pointer.

The Trappers started the second quarter on a 17-0 run, as Izzy Wyaskett’s free throws made it 29-11 just past the midway point.

Northwest continued to hold its lead 34-18 heading into the locker room.

Snow trimmed the lead to single digits in the third, making it a 38-30 contest with 6:41 left.

The lead was cut down to as few as four, but Northwest held a 49-44 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Snow took the lead with 5:27 on the clock, as a 3-pointer made it a 55-54 game in favor of the hosts.

Northwest quickly regained the lead, not allowing the Badgers to jump back in front as the Trappers took the 67-62 victory.

Williams again led with 15 points, just ahead of Shippen who had 13 against her former team.

“It was one of those games where I just had a feeling that Kysa was gonna do something because she was really excited for that game,” Helenbolt said. “I snuck her in there as often as I could, and obviously she responded … That was a cool early season moment for her to step up and kind of put us over the top against her old team.”

Williams added 11 rebounds to complete her double-double, as Williams led with four assists and steals. Covolo and Rachel McBride each had two blocks.

ROAD TRIP CONTINUES

Northwest now heads northeast into Montana this weekend, starting with a game against Dawson Community College (3-0) at 3 p.m. today (Thursday).

“That’s (Dawson) going to be a huge challenge for us early in the season. I’m excited to see how we react to that environment because they usually have a decent crowd there, and it’s a good atmosphere,” Helenbolt said.

The Trappers then head to Miles City to take on Miles Community College (0-3) at 5 p.m. on Friday. The weekend concludes with a neutral site game against the Bismarck State College JV team in Miles City at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Northwest returns next week for its home opener, taking on the Rocky Mountain College JV at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

“We’re still kind of in the early stages,” Helenbolt said. “We’re still kind of figuring things out.”

NORTHWEST 60, USU EASTERN 50

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Isabella Williams 25, Peyton Schiltz 10, Semaj Williams 10, McKinlee Covolo 7, Kysa Shippen 4, Addison Barnes 2, Rachel McBride 2

Rebounds — Addison Barnes 14 (5), Isabella Williams 7 (2), McKinlee Covolo 6 (5), Rachel McBride 5 (2), Peyton Schiltz 2, Semaj Williams 2 (1), Izzy Wyaskett 1, Erica Wilson 1 (1)

Assists — Addison Barnes 4, Semaj Williams 3, Rachel McBride 3, Izzy Wyaskett 2

Steals — Semaj Williams 6, Isabella Williams 5, Izzy Wyaskett 3, Addison Barnes 2, McKinlee Covolo 2

Blocks — Addison Barnes 1, Izzy Wyaskett 1, Coy Erickson 1, Rachel McBride 1, Erica Wilson 1

NORTHWEST 67, SNOW COLLEGE 62

Points — Isabella Williams 15, Kysa Shippen 13, Addison Barnes 9, Izzy Wyaskett 9, McKinlee Covolo 8, Semaj Williams 6, Peyton Schiltz 5, Rachel McBride 2

Rebounds — Isabella Williams 11 (3), Addison Barnes 9 (2), McKinlee Covolo 5 (4), Izzy Wyaskett 4 (2), Peyton Schiltz 3 (1), Kysa Shipper 3 (2), Rachel McBride 3 (1), Noa Romero 2, Erica Wilson 2 (1), Kaycee Kosmicki 1

Assists — Semaj Williams 4, Addison Barnes 3, Isabella Williams 1, Izzy Wyaskett 1, Erica Wilson 1

Steals — Isabella Williams 4, Peyton Schiltz 1, Addison Barnes 1, Izzy Wyaskett 1, Erica Wilson 1

Blocks — McKinlee Covolo 2, Rachel McBride 2, Isabella Williams 1