ELSAH, IL – The Principia Women's Basketball team knew they needed to bring their top game against the SLIAC leading Webster University on Saturday. The Gorloks bring a high-pressure, full court style to go along with a fast attack offense. The Panthers struggled with the physical play in their first meeting of the year back in January and gave up 43 turnovers in a 17-point losing effort. However, Principia was determined to have a better showing and try their best to knock off the top team in the conference.
The first quarter was a tremendous start for the Panthers as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead and forced Webster to take a quick timeout to get reestablished. The rest of the quarter was mostly an offensive display as both teams hit shots from a variety of areas. The Panthers showed they have have grown from the first meeting as their game experience has given them the confidence to handle the Gorloks' physical play and full court pressure much better. The first ended with the Panthers only down by 3 at 25-22.
Things began to unravel a bit in second quarter as the Panthers started to lose their offense flow by settling for quick threes rather than their normal attacking style. The veteran Gorloks built up their defensive pressure while their attacking offense continued scoring mostly by layups or at the foul line. After losing the quarter 20-6, the Panthers found themselves down at the halftime, 45-28.
At the break, the Panthers decided they were going to show they were not the inexperienced team from the first game anymore. Coming out on a quick 8-2 run in the first three minutes of the quarter, the Panthers cut the Gorloks' lead to just 11 points. Principia got into more of a defensive and offensive flow and won the quarter 20-17 down by 15 going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was another tough fight as Principia continued to show that they were not going to be put away easily. The play went back-and-forth, and though the Panthers battled to cut the deficit to 11 a couple of times, they never got Webster's lead back to single digits. Principia did win the quarter 18-16, but came up short overall as the game ended at 79-66.
The Panthers showed great improvement by cutting their turnovers from the first game by 25 against the Webster's tough, full court pressure.
Ariana Williams led Principia on the score sheet with 19 points while adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.
Alana Hinson and
Taylor Brown also finished in double digits with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Coach Ro said afterwards: "This was tough to play the Saturday after a Thursday night game, especially against someone like Webster who is so physical and well-coached. The women on this team never cease to amaze me with their compete level trading punches with the top team in the conference. I am proud of their effort, and if we continue to work like we did today, then I am confident we will continue to improve."
Up Next: The Panthers finish the regular season with two road games this week at Eureka on Tuesday and at Blackburn on Saturday. Tune in to the live streams as they prepare to play in the SLIAC Tournament!
