ELSAH, ILL.  -- Tonight the Principia College women's basketball team tip-offed against the Panthers of Greenville College in their first conference match-up of the season.  Off to a bit of a slow start, the Lady Panthers found themselves in an early hole, down 12-0 to Greenville before a nice three from senior captain Sarah Corbitt put them on the board.  Greenville's full court press gave Principia trouble from the onset, keeping them from finding an offensive rhythm, but two threes and a pair from the charity stripe by senior forward Jocelyn Shoemake kept Principia competitive. 

A strong defensive effort from sophomore forward Karina Olsen also kept Principia in the game, as well as some aggressive rebounding by the 6 footer from Connecticut.  With bits and pieces slowly coming together, the Lady Panthers started to make a game of it, but went into the locker room at halftime time down by 16.

The 2nd half showed much improvement, with other Lady Panthers stepping up to share the scoring load.  In particular, sophomore captain Becca DeNicholas started making moves, taking it strong to the basket and pulling the open jumper.  Her efforts earned her several trips to the line, where she was perfect on the evening.  The gap slowly widened however as Principia got into some foul trouble, allowing Greenville to earn free points from the free throw line.  A couple late buckets and some surges in transition from Corbitt helped Principia stay positive, as well as some crucial blocks from Olsen.  But the turnovers proved too much to surmount.  Principia logs their first conference loss, but has recorded vast improvement in many areas of the game.  

The Lady Panthers get another chance to show what they are made of home tomorrow night versus the Pomeroys of St. Mary of the Woods.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm EST.