ELSAH, ILL. -- Tonight the Principia College women's basketball team faced the last undefeated team in SLIAC, the Blue Jays of Westminster College.  The Lady Panthers got off to a really strong start, matching the Blue Jays basket for basket, stop for stop.  Great defensive play from sophomore forward Karina Olsen in particular aided the Panthers in keeping Westminster at bay, and a collective effort from the team as a whole on the offensive end showed that Principia was up to the challenge of competing with a top conference team.  Principia also showed renewed efforts on the boards, owning the weakside rebounds (Olsen and sophomore forward Jessica Bushong had a combined 13 boards for the game).  Showing more flashes of brilliance on the offensive end was sophomore captain Becca DeNicholas, who really helped to spark the Panthers offense (she finished with 8 points on the game), and Principia was down just two points when some untimely foul calls dictated a quick shift in the game.  The Blue Jays went on a brief run, and suddenly Principia was down 14 points going into the locker room at half time.

Back at it again with intensity and heart, Principia quickly cut back into the lead at the start of the 2nd half, led in large part by the stellar play of senior captain Sarah Corbitt.  In fact, Corbitt led the Panthers in points, rebounds and assists with 17 points, 12 boards (a game high) and 6 assists on the game.  Also with some crucial 2nd half contributions were sophomore forward Tory Silver who had 4 points on 50% shooting and sophomore guard McKinzie Wilgus who shot with confidence in the 2nd half and snagged 5 rebounds on the game.  It required a team effort as a whole however for the Panthers to play as well as they did.  Unable to overcome the point deficit, Principia still fought to the end (once again with 4 players logging 40 minutes) and showed that this Panther squad is headed in the right direction.  

Look for Principia to step up their game another notch in their next game on Tuesday, January 15th at MacMurray College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.