Tiyahana Trottier wasn’t happy with her performance coming out of winter break. Whether it was the rough practices she had upon returning to Lake Region State College, or her inconsistent shooting stats, or simply her joy for playing the game, something wasn’t right.
“When I came back from break, I was having a hard time wanting to play basketball again,” she said. “I talked to my coach about it, and he said, ‘Let’s just ease back into it.’”
Over the course of this month, which has seen the Royals go on a nine-game winning streak and beat one of the top teams in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference, Trottier has found her groove again. And it was no more apparent than on Wednesday night, when LRSC (13-7, 6-5) beat North Dakota State College of Science (17-4, 10-2) in an upset 58-51 victory, handing the Wildcats just their second conference loss of the season. Trottier led with 23 points, including four three-pointers.
It was a bounceback win after the Royals lost their nine-game winning streak to United Tribes Technical College on Sunday.
“We just lost to Tribes, which was a bad loss for us because we weren’t making our shots. We weren’t really making anything,” Trottier said. “It felt good to come out and finally make all of our shots today. Especially — I never really celebrate my shots, like ever, and then I made that three at the end of the game, and I just had to.”
The Royals struggled making layups in that loss to the Thunderbirds. But after the frustrating loss, which almost seemed to deflate the good run they had going, assistant coach Connor Sevier worked with them on exactly that: layups, among other technical areas they were lacking in on Sunday. He held a skills day that was entirely voluntary — no obligation for any of the players to attend.
“Everyone went,” Trottier said, “which felt good because it proves that everyone wants to put in work.”
That dedication paid off Wednesday. The Royals made 40.4% of their field goals and 41.2% of their three-pointers — a far cry from last game’s marks of 28.1 and 6.7, respectively. The Wildcats, who were averaging about 75 points a game coming in, made just 28.6% of their field goals, and the Royals led them in defensive rebounds, 30-22.
“It’s not a thing that they don’t have the ability; it just hasn’t gone in for us right now,” head coach Ryan Clark said. “But it will. They work hard every day. And it’s hard, when the shots aren’t going, to keep defending the way they do. They show up every time on that end and guard super hard. I’m just so proud of them.”
The Wildcats, who by all accounts were the favored team on paper, came out to a 5-2 lead in the opening minutes. But Kelsey Crossan had a go-ahead three, and Nicole Lillard went back-to-back. That was more threes than the Royals had in the entirety of Sunday’s game.
Trottier made it three successive threes, giving LRSC a 12-7 lead. A sense of urgency seemed to befall the Wildcats, who realized this game wasn’t going to be a rollover.
“I’ve had ups and downs throughout the whole season,” Trottier said. “I have games where I make a couple shots; then I have games where I completely would not make a single shot. And it just feels good to finally come out and have everything fine for me.”
The Wildcats went for some threes themselves but missed them. They stayed in the game by getting rebounds and making layups and free throws, but they shot just 2-of-12 from deep. Clark has praised the Royals’ defensive ability all season long, even when things haven’t gone their way offensively.
“We switched off the screens good. We fronted good,” Trottier said. “We know 32 [Savanna Jones]. She could wreck in the post. She could do so good in the post. She had a couple ones, but we kind of knew that was gonna happen, so we just had to let that go. But we have the mindset where we just gotta play defense, play defense, play defense — then let our offense come.”
Jones led NDSCS with 15 of its points, nine of which came in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, it took the Wildcats more than five minutes to score any non-free throw points. LRSC had a lead as large as 23-16. But the Royals finished the first half weakly, turning the ball over and allowing the Wildcats to go on a 10-0 run.
“We came to the bench. Deep breath,” Clark said. “Recognize that we’ve gotta stay solid on the defensive end and not let that get away.”
Despite a hard-fought first half that shook the Wildcats in their boots a bit, LRSC trailed 26-23.
NDSCS’s run extended all the way to 13-0 in the early minutes of the second half, putting the Royals in a 29-23 deficit. But a three by Kyla Fitzgerald got them back in the points column, and Trottier hit a go-ahead shot as part of a 9-0 run in the Royals’ favor. They maintained their newfound lead and were up 42-36 at the end of the third quarter. The Wildcats were struggling to get clean layups off — a struggle LRSC knows all too well.
Trottier opened the fourth quarter with her third three-pointer, then made another three after a steal by Anisah Wolf. It was a 16-4 run for the Royals going back to the previous quarter, and gave them their largest lead yet at 48-36 with 7:53 to play.
But it wasn’t over yet.
Jones got the scoring going again for the Wildcats, which catapulted into a 9-0 run on their side. Crossan missed a layup by hitting the bottom of the rim, and Trottier turned the ball over with the lead trimmed to 48-45.
“I’m a very nervous player,” Trottier said. “We went to the timeout; I told my team, ‘Hands up. Hands up. Good defense. Good defense.’”
Crossan halted the late comeback attempt with a two-pointer, and Trottier swished the three that all but sealed the deal on the Royals’ refusal to back down. It was her fourth three of the game and third of the quarter, coming up clutch when the team needed her most.
“Tiyahna is incredible. And she’s still a quarter of the player that she’s gonna become,” Clark said. “She is incredible. She works hard. She’s got all the ability and talent, size, length in the world. She’s just a little bit of an advertisement to the player that she can actually be.”
Trottier’s heroics fueled the seven-point victory, eliciting cheers of triumph from the bench as the final seconds ticked down on the clock. After the frustration that defined Sunday’s loss, and the winning streak that came to a sudden end, all the joy of redemption could be seen on the court.
“I found my passion again,” Trottier said. “It feels so good to have fun playing the game.”
Now she’s back, and steadily working towards the improvement Clark envisions for her. The 5-foot-10 freshman, a native from Belcourt, North Dakota, said her goal is to get recruited by a four-year university — hopefully a Division 1 school, but any level would satisfy her.
For now, she’s helping grind the gears of a Lake Region State College team that’s won 10 of its last 11 games.
“We’ve got a big opponent next game, Williston [State College],” Trottier said. “I feel like we could beat them. If we play like we did today, we could beat them. I have so much faith in us. For everything. Every game. I have so much faith in all of us. I don’t care if I don’t score or not; if I go out there and play defense, then that’s all I gotta do.”
The Royals face the Williston State College Tetons (17-2, 10-0) at home on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a previously postponed matchup.
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
