Box Score MOUNT PLEASANT, IA. – This afternoon the Principia College women's basketball team traveled out to Mount Pleasant, Ia. to face the Iowa Wesleyan College Tigers in their first meeting of the season. In the face of the Tiger's 2-3 zone, the Panthers struggled to create any sort of offensive chemistry, scoring just 14 points in the entire first half. Principia played some solid team defense, although as the top three point shooting team in the league, Iowa Wesleyan put up 41 points through the first two quarters. It was really the Panther's inability to hit open shots from outside that gave the Tigers their lead, and Principia headed into the locker room at half time to refocus and try to right the ship in the face of a 27 point deficit.
While they were unable to recover from the hole they had dug themselves in the first half, the Panthers came out in the 3
rd quarter with renewed energy and scored 16 points in the quarter (more than their entire first half offensive production). Principia's scoring came almost exclusively from the inside, with senior captain
Kara Johnson and freshman center
Sophia Hathaway the only Panthers in double digits. The 4
th quarter was a similar story – Principia didn't hit a single three from the field, and the 14 point quarter was the result of further scoring from inside (Johnson and Hathaway ended with 14 and 20 points respectively). With a final score of 71-42, the Panthers certainly had produced an improved 2
nd half, but were unable to put their best foot forward in their first conference match-up of the new year.
Principia will be at home for their next contest, hosting the Blackburn Beavers on Tuesday, January 5
th. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
