ELSAH, IL - The Principia Women's Basketball team hosted Division II powerhouse University of Missouri St. Louis for their home opener on Saturday. The Panthers were overwhelmed the entire game by the Tritons' offensive prowess, losing 88-29.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Panthers actually came out strong and were only down 5 at the end of the first quarter. After slow starts in every game this season for Principia, this was a nice reversing of that trend. The rest of the game, however, was dominated by the Tritons as they went on a barrage of scoring inside the paint with their superior size and strength. UMSL showed why they are 7-1 on the season and ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region, using a deep bench and plenty of experience to keep the Panthers at bay. The Tritons' tough defense forced 21 Principia turnovers as the Panthers struggled to hit their shots and get anything going offensively in the final 3 frames.
"We learned a lot from this game, and we will continue to gain confidence in ourselves and where we are headed," commented Coach Ro after the game. "Playing two tough opponents on back to back days after an unexpected 20 days of no competition was no easy task. We are improving each time and preparing steadily for conference play."
Up Next: After a short Christmas break, the Panthers will be back in action for back to back home games on December 31 and January 1. These two games against Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College and Cornell College will be Principia's final tune ups before conference games begin on January 4.
