JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The Principia women's basketball team traveled to the capital of Missouri on Saturday for the opportunity to play an exhibition against a Division II school, Lincoln University. The Panthers program had never beaten a DII team before, but an incredible second half performance allowed Principia to come away with a historic 58-46 victory (even though it won't count on the team's record).
Lincoln came out firing and took a 23-9 lead early in the second quarter. Still trailing by 13 with 5:30 left in the half, the Panthers went on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to six with 90 seconds to go. By the halftime buzzer, Lincoln had gotten the lead back to 10 at 34-24.
The Panthers came out of the halftime break a different team as they flipped the script and dominated the second half. The first six minutes of the third quarter was back-and-forth with Lincoln still holding a 41-33 advantage with 3:45 left in the third. From that moment on, it was all Principia as the Panthers outscored the Blue Tigers 25-5 over the final 14 minutes with outstanding play on both offense and defense.
Taylor Brown led Principia with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Strong contributions also came from
Ariana Williams (14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals),
Hannah Myers (9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block), and
Lamiya Terrell (7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals). The Panthers return to Elsah for their final non-conference home game this Tuesday at 6:00 pm vs Harris-Stowe.
