MT. PLEASANT, IA. -- For the first game of the 2014 year, the Principia Panthers Women's Basketball team traveled all the way to Iowa Wesleyan to take on the 1st place team in the SLIAC. After having their game against Webster University postponed, the Panthers were eager to stop practicing against themselves and finally play a game.

The Panthers played some strong aggressive defense in the beginning of the game, holding Iowa Wesleyan to a scoreless draw 3 minutes into the contest. Despite not shooting the ball particularly well, the Panthers stayed in the game with their hard nosed defense. Rachel Perea played a solid first half, and was able to get the Panthers on the board with a free throw line jumper. 

Despite having 13 turnovers in the first half, the Panthers kept it close until the closing minutes. As fouls started to mount, Iowa Wesleyan was able to extend their lead to 15 at the end of the first half, 34-19.

In the second half, the Panthers came out determined to play better basketball. After falling behind by 18, they were finally able to get going on the offensive end. After a strong post move by Karina Olsen, a free throw by Spencer Randolph, and a 3 pointer by Rachel Perea, the Panthers cut the lead to 9.

Unfortunately, foul trouble put the Panthers in a bind on defense, and they were unable to make up any more ground on Iowa Wesleyan. They lost by a final score of 69-50.

The final score was not indicative of how the Panthers played, as this was their best game of the season thus far. Solid efforts came from point guard Spencer Randolph who finished with 4 assists and only 1 turnover. Rachel Perea had 14 points and 4 steals. Hayley Cooke played very well as she knocked down 2 jumpers in her time on the floor and finished with 4 points. 

This was a great game for the Panthers to build on moving forward. They next play at Blackburn College this Saturday, in another SLIAC matchup. This will be a crucial test for the Panthers as they look to get back on the winning track, and move up in the conference standings.