ELSAH, IL – Wednesday night was a historic night in Hay Field House as the Principia Women's Basketball team hosted their first SLIAC Tournament game in almost three decades. The #4 seeded Panthers hosted the #5 seeded Spalding Golden Eagles, with whom Principia had split the regular season series. The Panthers came in ready to prove themselves and end their 17 year drought of tournament wins as they put on a show in front of a packed gym. Principia dominated from start to finish for a 97-65 victory to move on to the SLIAC Semifinals on Friday night.
With a recent loss to Spalding fresh in their memories, the Panthers set the tone right away that they were going back to their roots of outworking their opponents which has made them so successful over the last two years. Principia scored the first 9 points of the game until Spalding finally got on the board almost three minutes in. The Panthers then scored the next 7 points as the Golden Eagles were already down 16-2 before they could catch their breath. Principia never looked back from there as their stifling defense and hot scoring touch torched the Golden Eagles for a 50-24 lead at halftime.
Principia didn't lose their momentum at the break as they started the second half by again holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for almost three minutes while extending their lead to 35 points at 59-24. The big lead allowed Coach Ro to get some subs in early and let some freshmen gain some valuable tournament experience. The rest of the half was a combination of veterans and freshmen as the Panthers never let Spalding back into the game. By game's end, all 12 active Principia women had scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound. This total team effort gave the Panthers their highest point total of the season at 97 points – which is also good for third most points all-time in a SLIAC Women's Basketball Tournament game.
The Panthers were led by sophomore
Trinniti Matthews, who played one of her best games of the season by converting 12-16 FG for 24 points. Matthews also stuffed the stat sheet with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Senior
Alana Hinson had a great final home game of her career as she finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. Principia hit a barrage of threes in the game, including two from Hinson and freshman
Lydia Stalnaker, as well as one each from seniors
Deija Carter and
Paige Fowler, junior
Carolina Rojas, sophomore
Genesis Santiago, and freshman
Miyala Gallegos. The bench went especially wild for Carter's three as this was the first of her career coming in the final moments of her last home game.
Up Next: With Fontbonne's upset of Greenville in the other quarterfinal of the night, Principia will now face #2 seed, Westminster College, in the first semifinal game of Friday night's doubleheader hosted by Webster University. The Panthers and Blue Jays split their regular season series with two very close games, so this is sure to be a great semifinal matchup. The game will be at 5:30 pm, and Principia College students, faculty, and staff can get in for free with a Principia ID. Otherwise, tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for ages 5-16. Come support your Panthers in their quest for a conference championship!
