ST. LOUIS, MO. - For the Principia College Women's Basketball Team, this win was a long time coming. After putting in countless hours of individual skill work, and many more hours of every day practice, the Panthers have improved dramatically. Tonight, all that hard work finally paid off in the form of a win against the St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectics, 76-58.
Earlier this season, College of Pharmacy defeated the Panthers 70-65 at Principia. Tonight, this road victory at College of Pharmacy showed just how far the Panther squad has come this season.
In the first half, the Panthers got off to a sluggish start. After an early timeout, the energy levels on defense and rebounding increased and the offensive precision was fine tuned. A steal by Rachel Perea turned into a made lay-up while drawing an intentional foul. This four point play really energized the Panthers as they took a seven point lead, and did not look back.
After going into the half with a 37-26 lead, the Panthers just needed to play solid basketball for the second half, and that is exactly what they did. By dominating the boards, 49-27, the Panthers got multiple second chance opportunities against the Eutectics.
Principia led throughout the entire game, showing the ability to both hold, as well as play with a lead. Karina Olsen led the charge in the second half with her dominating interior play and inspirational will. The Panthers won the game 76-58, giving them three wins on the season.
The Panthers had great efforts turned in by everyone on the team. With four players getting double-doubles, this truly was a team effort. Spencer Randolph, the point guard and leader of the attack had 12 points and a career high 10 assists. Summer Switzer had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Perea finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds. And Karina Olsen, the junior captain had the best game of her career with a career high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
The Panthers next play on Thursday, February 13th at home against Spalding University. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm. This is a make up game, and there is no men's game. We hope to see our fans out there supporting this team!
