ELSAH, IL – The Principia Women's Basketball team came back from the Thanksgiving break and played a tough Central College (Iowa) team at home. The Panthers came in to the game having beaten Rockford University last Tuesday night in another close match up. Today, the Panthers gave that same great effort but sadly the game ended with a different result, falling 78-70.
The Central College Dutch came into the game having just played Wednesday in a losing effort to Knox College, which will be the Panthers next opponent at home on Friday. Central plays a very physical style of basketball, and the Panthers knew what to expect with such a huge opponent coming in. Principia began the game with a mindset ready to battle in the paint, and they went toe to toe with the Dutch until the final whistle. After winning the first quarter 13-12, the Panthers were sadly not as fortunate the other three quarters. However, their fight and determination never waived throughout the entire game.
Coach Ro said afterwards: "Central is a very good team, and they have some great players that just hit big shots when they needed to. The women on our team played so hard today. We needed to get on one more run in the last two minutes, and it just wasn't meant to be, but I could not be more proud of the effort that they played with today."
The Panthers had balanced scoring all night from their five starters. They were lead by freshman
Taylor Brown and sophomore
Paige Fowler, each finishing with 15 points. Freshman
Ariana Williams added 14 points while sophomore
Carolina Rojas chipped in 13. Junior
Alana Hinson had 9 points in a valiant effort playing on a bad ankle suffered in Tuesday's night game.
Deija Carter also played a nice game off the bench, contributing in some key moments in the paint.
Up Next: The Panthers play back-to-back games starting next Friday with a home game against Knox College, followed by away at Mount Mary on Saturday. Come support the team on Friday in their last home game of the semester!
