ELSAH, IL – The Principia Women's Basketball team welcomed Eureka College to Elsah on Tuesday to finish out the first half of conference play. Despite Eureka's losing record, they have a high-scoring offense, so the Panthers came out with the singular goal to get stops. Principia succeeded in their defensive-minded game plan and cruised to a comfortable, bounce-back win after a tough game at Webster on Saturday.
After winning the jump ball, the Panthers went to their offense and got a couple of great looks but didn't convert. However, the defense kicked in and the stops started to pile up, which heated up the offense. The Panthers ended the first quarter with a six point cushion at 19-13. The second quarter was some back-and-forth action as Eureka started to find their offensive rhythm and the Panthers kept answering right back. Principia closed the half up 37-29 thanks to some timely threes by
Carolina Rojas and
Brin Hultz, as well as a couple of great drives to the hoop by
Taylor Brown and
Ariana Williams.
The third quarter was the Panthers best of the night on both ends of the floor as their defense held the Red Devils to just eight points. The tightened defense led to a lot of offensive opportunities, and Principia took advantage. Brown and Williams continued with tough drives and finishes inside, which then led to some drop passes to
Alana Hinson and a kick out three for
Hannah Wymer. Principia closed out the third on an 8-0 run to lead 58-37. In the fourth, the Panthers extended their lead to a game-high 23 at one point, but the Red Devils fought back to bring the final total to 75-57.
Taylor Brown led all scorers with 18 points, while
Ariana Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Three other Panthers –
Alana Hinson,
Paige Fowler, and
Brin Hultz – joined the freshman duo in double figures with all three getting 11 points each.
Up Next: The 5-2 Panthers host a rematch with Fontbonne University on Saturday, January 28 at 1:00 pm. This game will begin the second round of SLIAC play in the final push to the conference tournament!
