ELSAH, IL – The Principia Women's Basketball team came into the 2022-23 season knowing a few things for certain about their team. They would have a short bench and their roster was full of talented, hard-working women. Talent will only take you so far, but hard work will take you places you can only dream about. The Panthers had a lot of goals for this season and they marked off one of them tonight with their 58-57 defeat of Rockford University: win a home game.
Hard work was emphasized by the entire team but the bench were the start of it all. For the first time in Coach Ro's tenure, the Principia bench outscored the opponent's bench 9 to 7 as they were outnumbered on the roster of the Regents 11-2. The Panther bench was led by
Deija Carter with 6 points and 3 rebounds and followed by
Mia Saucedo with a huge 3-pointer and a very timely steal. Coach Ro on Deija and Mia coming up big: "They came into the game seamlessly and were difference makers in this game. They were shots of energy and calmness that we needed."
The Panthers won each of the first two quarters but came out of the half searching a little on defense to get a stop in the third. After surviving a run by Rockford, the Panthers found themselves down two to begin the fourth quarter. As the final frame began,
Ariana Williams got a quick steal and she streaked off to the basket to tie the game at 46. This defensive play was a momentum shift as the Panther defense began to step up. After a Rockford basket,
Taylor Brown got one of her five steals in the game to tie things back up. Seconds later,
Carolina Rojas got her only block of the game on a Regents' fast break which led to the Panthers taking the lead.
One of the most clutch moments of the game came with six seconds left as
Alana Hinson was fouled with the Panthers up by two. She calmly drained both shots to ice the game to a four point cushion, rendering the last second three by Rockford irrelevant.
Williams led all scorers with 21 points while adding 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Brown also had a huge game with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. Rojas also had 5 steals while grabbing 6 rebounds and scoring 4 points. Rounding out the starters are Hinson with 6 points and 6 rebounds and Fowler with 5 points and 5 rebounds.
Good to Know: The win tonight is the Women's Basketball program's first win at home since December 15, 2018. The 2022-23 Panthers' three wins are the most in a season since the 2015-16 campaign, where the team won four games total.
Up Next: The Panthers play another home game on Saturday, November 26th at 2:00 pm against Central College (IA).
