CARLINVILLE, ILL. -- The Principia College Women's Basketball team traveled to Carlinville, Illinois to take on Blackburn College. The Panthers had high expectations for themselves after playing a solid game at Iowa Wesleyan. However, Blackburn came out ready to play, and put the Panthers on their heels early in the game. Blackburn cruised to a 71-49 victory.

Principia turned the ball over on their first two possessions, and was quickly down 4-0. Spencer Randolph, who played an excellent game, opened up the scoring for the Panthers with a 3 pointer to cut the lead to 4-3. Unfortunately for the Panthers, turnovers seemed to be the theme for the day, as they continued to put themselves in a hole with turnover after turnover. By halftime, they were already down, 35-17, and had just as many turnovers as points.

The beginning of the second half proved to be no different, as the Blackburn lead grew to 29 at the sixteen minute mark of the second half. With the game out of hand, the Panthers were finally able to relax and play some solid basketball. The Panthers got as close as 18 at 53-35 on another three pointer by Spencer Randolph. 

Blackburn proved to be too much in the final ten minutes of the second half, as they stymied the Panthers run and kept them at bay. The Panthers lost 71-49.

Some notable performances include that of Spencer Randolph, Karina Olsen, and Isabella Perea. Randolph finished with 21 points and 5 rebounds in an outstanding effort from the point guard. Olsen finished with 15 rebounds, as she did some great work battling against the Blackburn posts. Perea did a great job of running the offense with precision and doing all the little things.

The Panthers next play on Tuesday, January 14th at MacMurray College. Principia defeated MacMurray early this season, and will look to get back on the right track with a win in Jacksonville.