CARLINVILLE, IL - After an 11 day break from game action, the Principia Women's Basketball team finally got to suit up for just their second conference game of the season. So far this season, lapses in games have been abnormally long due to contract tracing for Covid-19. The Panthers have had a 20 day, 14 day and now an 11 day break from game action. Principia traveled to Blackburn on a snowy Saturday hoping to have a strong start to a string of upcoming conference games.
The Panthers started the game at a slow pace and fell behind early to end the first down 21-9. The second quarter was a completely different story as Principia's offense and defense heated up to win the quarter 22-7 for the Panthers' first halftime lead this season.
Coach Ro commented, "It was great to go into the half ahead after the way that we started the game. We have had so many starts and stops to game play this season that the ladies are always having to get adjusted to the speed of the game. With our short roster, it is difficult to simulate game speed and conditioning in practice. So I was very happy that we came out and responded in the second quarter with more of the type of basketball that we expect from our team."
The halftime break was a bit of a reset as the third quarter was much more even with the slight edge to Blackburn 16-14. However, the fourth quarter - especially the last 5 minutes - was all Blackburn as foul trouble from the first quarter came back to haunt the Panthers and made the defensive intensity taper down. The Beavers ended the game on a 13-0 run to defeat the Panthers 61-54. Alana Hinson recorded her first double double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Aaliyah Scott followed her closely, barely missing a double double of her own with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Paige Fowler was perfect from the foul line (3-3) where she has struggled so far this year, totaling 9 points and 7 rebounds.
"It was great to see some of the things that we are spending recent practices on beginning to pay off", Coach Ro said after the game. "We shot better from the foul line as a team, which was good to see. These young ladies have been working hard everyday and continue getting better. Now we just need to string some games together and get that consistent competition to help us mature along the way. There are 6 weeks left with a ton of games. If we start to have strong defensive quarters more consistently, then we will see some great results."
Up Next: The Panthers travel to Fulton, MO on Tuesday to face Westminster College at 5:30 PM in a rescheduled game from January 8th. Fans will be allowed at this game with masks required. Live stream info can be found on the women's schedule.
