FULTON, MO. -- Tonight the Principia College Women's basketball team traveled to Fulton, MO to face the Lady Blue Jays of Westminster College.  Currently undefeated in conference this season, Westminster promised to be a tough match-up, and Principia came into the game ready to give 100% to the competition.  And defensively, Principia did just that.  For 15 solid minutes, Principia halted Westminster's half court offense, forcing them to shoot deep into the shot clock and almost completely shutting down their interior players.  Prin held Westminster to 35% shooting, as well as 11% from beyond the arc which is well below their season average.  Prin struggled offensively as well however, and despite their intense defense couldn't seem to find a rhythm at the other end.  Even despite their offensive woes, Prin competed well throughout the first half with the exception of one key element: they were once again dogged by an excess of turnovers.  With 28 turnovers in the first half alone, Principia gave up several buckets to the Westminster guards, who transitioned nicely off of the Principia turnovers.  This combined with the lack of quality shots caused Prin to enter the locker room at half time down 12-29.

The 2nd half was consistent with the first, with continued energy on defense and continued turnovers on offense.  Prin ended with 39 TOs on the game (30 of which were credited as steals for the Westminster squad) a significant increase from their last game where they turned the ball over just 15 times.  There was still much to be celebrated however, despite the discrepancy of the final score.  The defensive efforts of the Prin team were consistently solid across the board, with notable contribution from freshmen Becca DeNicholas (she also completed an And One in the 2nd half) and Karina Olsen (Olsen led the Panthers in steals with 3 in her 20 minutes).  Junior captain Sarah Corbitt played a solid game from the point position, and freshman forward Torie DeNicholas put up 14 points and a game high 7 boards.  Leading the charge on both fronts was senior captain Lindsay Sydness who played the entire 40 minutes with-out a single let-up, leading the Panthers with 18 points, 6 boards and 5 blocks.  Sydness showed limitless energy from tip-off to the final buzzer and was an invaluable part of the Panther's performance this evening.