CLAYTON, MO – The Principia women's basketball team played their final game ever at Fontbonne University on Tuesday evening. Fontbonne will be closing its doors at the end of the school year, and the Panthers said farewell by soundly defeating the Griffins, 77-47.
The Panthers started the night strong by scoring the first 6 points of the game and finishing the first quarter up 25-12. The Panthers hit a lull in the second quarter and actually got outscored by Fontbonne 14-13 in the period as Principia took a 12-point lead into halftime. In the third quarter, the Panthers got back to their game as they dominated the frame 24-9. Principia would build their lead as high as 38 midway through the fourth quarter. With the Panthers starters out of the game from then on, the Griffins would close the game on an 8-0 run to cut the final deficit to 30.
Principia's upperclassmen leaders led the way as
Taylor Brown,
Ariana Williams, and
Carolina Rojas all had big games. Brown stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 18 points plus 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, and 1 block. Williams had with her first double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Rojas matched Williams with 13 points as she hit 3 three-pointers and grabbed 6 rebounds.
Genesis Santiago also had a great performance from beyond the arc, making 4 threes for a season-best 12 points. The team's top distributor was
Lamiya Terrell, who finished with 5 assists while adding 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Former Fontbonne student
Hannah Myers also had a strong defensive game against her former team as she grabbed 8 defensive boards and blocked a shot.
The Panthers 30-point win gets the team started off on the right foot in SLIAC play, and they will look to move to 2-0 in conference when they host Spalding University on Thursday, December 5th at 5:30 pm.
