ELSAH, IL - The Principia Women's Basketball team couldn't shake off the freezing weather outside soon enough to get things going at home against the Fontbonne Griffins on Tuesday night. The Panthers started off cold on offense, missing their first 8 shots and going down 2-10. Fontbonne came out on fire from three point range and the Panthers just could not find the defensive pressure that they had on Saturday to stop much in the first half.
Down 46-21 at half, it looked like the fight might be out of the shorthanded Principia team whose bench was short tonight as they were missing starters Alana Hinson and Lydia Klutho, plus key reserve Georgia Rather. However, with about 5 minutes left in the third, the Panthers started to come alive after a defensive scheme shift to full court. Despite being down 32 at that point, the Panthers battled back to a 21-21 draw by the end of the quarter. Then, they stepped their game up even higher in the fourth as they won the fourth quarter with a resounding 23-14 advantage. Despite, the 81-65 final score, Principia left the court with their heads held high.
Principia was sparked by the return of junior Madi Leslie from Covid-19 protocols, as she gave the Panthers solid minutes on the defensive end with 3 blocks and 2 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Aaliyah Scott earned her first double double of her career with a 16 point and 10 rebound effort. Freshman Carolina Rojas was the Panthers leading scorer on the night with 17 points and 9 rebounds, plus 3 steals. Freshman Paige Fowler was right behind Rojas with 16 points and 6 rebounds, plus an impressive 5 assists. Freshman Raina Bryant ended the night with 11 points and another 5 assist game.
"We were looking for answers in the second half," Coach Ro commented afterwards. "As a coaching staff, we knew we needed more energy despite being undermanned, so we picked up full court, and we came alive. It was defintiely a gamble with having such a short bench plus our foul trouble, but it woke us up and really got us the opportunities to use our speed at both ends."
Up Next: The Panthers will be at home for the next four games, beginning this Saturday hosting Greenville University at 1 pm!
