CHEYENNE, WY – Too many turnovers in the second half doomed the Laramie County Community College women's basketball team on Friday night as they fell to the Northwest College Trappers 55-49 in a Region IX North battle that saw defense take the forefront at the Blue FCU RAC.

The Golden Eagles and the Trappers both had issues finding the bottom of the hoop in the first five minutes and the media timeout arrived with only six points between the two teams with LCCC on top 4-2.

"That was probably the most (zone defense) that we have seen all season," Head Coach Danielle Rinaldo said. "So, it was just adapting to that offensively and figuring out what was working for us and what wasn't. We settled in once we realized they weren't taking the zone off."

Ties followed at four and seven until the Golden Eagles exploded for a 10-4 run to close out the quarter highlighted by a pair of threes from Flora Lukow and back-to-back steals from Nuria Florensa that resulted in coast-to-coast layups and a 17-11 lead for LCCC going to the second quarter.

Both teams struggled from the field again in the opening minutes of the second quarter and the scoreboard reflected it, with LCCC still up by six, 21-15 with 4:45 to go.  

Northwest went on a 9-3 run to tie the game at 24 but the Golden Eagles closed the quarter on a 5-0 run, capped by an Irelynd Barnes three to go into the break with a 29-24 edge.

Both sides put on some runs in the second half and the Trappers were able to earn a slight edge as they trimmed the LCCC lead to 34-32 but steals from Florensa led to more fast break points and they were able to go on a 7-0 run to build the lead to a game high 41-32 with 4:44 remaining in the third.

"Once you go on those type of runs, you just can't settle. You have to keep going," Rinaldo said. "Sometimes we think we are good, we have a lead, now we can coast, and it caught up to us. We started going away from our game plan and you could just tell the physicality increased once (Northwest) caught that momentum."

Coming out of the media timeout, LCCC saw their offense grind to a halt. Northwest was able to take advantage of it and rolled off a 10-1 run to close the quarter and extended it into the fourth to take their first lead, eventually building it to 46-42 before a Florensa three closed the gap to one and gave the Golden Eagles their first field goal in over six minutes.

Leads were exchanged over the next few possessions and LCCC seemed to have the edge when they went up 49-48 on a coast-to-coast run after a steal from Marcela Pinedo-Saavedra, but that would be the last offense the Golden Eagles would produce.

The Trappers finished the game on a 7-0 run and handed LCCC their first loss of the conference season, dropping them to 10-8 overall and 1-1 in Region IX North action.

Only two Golden Eagles finished in double figures for the game as Pinedo-Saavedra and Florensa both had eleven. Sabela Carro added nine more as well.

Pinedo-Saavedra also led the team in rebounding with eight to go with three blocks and Florensa finished with six steals to match her career high.

As a team, LCCC only was able to shoot 31 percent from the field and was only 6-31 from three for a 19 percent clip. The also turned the ball over 28 times, including 15 in the second half. This countered the 16 team steals they were able to manage and 30 turnovers they forced from the Trappers.

"I was really pleased with the defense. We kept the pressure up and the girls adjusted well to the foul calling since they were calling it a little tight tonight. We just have to create that defense and turn it into offense, and I think that's where our offense stalled later in the game," Rinaldo said.

The Golden Eagles are back at it on Saturday at noon when they take on the Central Wyoming College Rustlers at the Blue FCU RAC and Rinaldo said the game will be a critical bounce back opportunity for the Golden Eagles.

"We can't let our loss tonight linger tomorrow. It has to be a bounce back. By tomorrow morning, it's a brand-new opponent and I think the team will be hungry," Rinaldo said.

Tickets for the game and more information on the LCCC women's basketball schedule can be found at www.golccc.com.