DECATUR, ILL. - Tonight the women's basketball team traveled to Decatur, IL to play the Big Blue of Millikin University.  Off to a decent start, the Panthers traded baskets with Millikin for the first five minutes, running their offense and working hard on the defensive end.  However, early foul trouble to senior captain Karina Olsen put the Panthers in a tough spot as they were unable to match the big physical play of the Big Blue forwards inside.  Millikin continued to increase their lead, in large part due to their lop-sided rebounding efforts (Principia had single digit boards in the first half), and the Panthers ended the half down by a sizable margin.

The Panthers' defensive woes continued in the 2nd half, as Millikin repeatedly scored easy inside buckets.  On the offensive end, Principia showed some sparks of what is to come, every once in a while converting on a solid offensive play.  The Panthers were led on the offensive end once again by sophomore forward Rachel Perea, whose tenacious play was the lone bright spot for the Panther offense.  Perea ended with a team high 14 points, to which she added 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.  Freshman guard Alex Weitman came off the bench to give the Panthers some offensive energy, scoring her 8 points in just 13 minutes of play.

In the end the Panthers were heavily out-matched, but showed some signs of improvement before the final buzzer sounded.  Principia plays next this coming Saturday in Chicago, IL versus the Illinois Institute of Technology.  Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.