Box Score CHICAGO, ILL. - This weekend the Principia College women's basketball team traveled to Chicago, IL to play the Scarlet Hawks of the Illinois Institute of Technology. The game was chaotic from the opening tip-off, with the Panthers struggling to find an offensive rhythm. Despite going up early, the Panthers eventually conceded the lead to the Hawks who were led by shooting guard Kaylee Wicka (she had 21 points in the 1st half). Principia would not take back the lead until around the 5 minute mark of the 2nd half. Missed free throws and foul trouble to forwards
Karina Olsen and
Rachel Perea kept Principia on their back heels, and at half time the Scarlet Hawks had a one point advantage, 29-30.
In the 2nd half, Principia re-committed themselves to crashing the boards, led by Olsen and Perea who had game high 12 and 10 boards respectively (Olsen snagged 8 of her 12 in the 2nd half). Although the Panthers continued to turn the ball over, they began to convert on the offensive end, with Olsen going 6-7 from the field, and junior forward
Kara Johnson hitting 10 of her 15 free throw attempts to earn the Panthers some critical points from the charity stripe. However, it was freshman shooting guard
Alexandra Weitman who proved the difference for the Panthers. Weitman showed remarkable composure on offense, scoring all of her collegiate-high 10 points in the 2nd half, including hitting the 3-point field goal that gave the Panthers the lead in the final minutes of the game. Weitman's shooting, and Perea's conversion from the free throw line (she went 8-8 from the line, with all 4 trips coming in the final minutes) allowed the Panthers to ice the game, and Principia came away with a solid, if sloppy, 71-59 victory. Principia saw four players in double figures, Weitman with the aforementioned 10, Perea and Olsen both with 14, and Johnson with a game-high 18.
The Panthers will open their conference season this coming Tuesday at home vs. Fontbonne University. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
