ELSAH, IL – For the second straight year, the Principia women's basketball team earned a home conference tournament game after finishing as the #4 seed with a 11-7 record in SLIAC play. After defeating Spalding in the quarterfinals last season, Principia was matched up against #5 seed Greenville University this season, and the two Panther squads battled it out in Hay Field House on Tuesday evening in front of a raucous crowd.
Greenville would take an early 10-5 lead after the first six minutes.
Genesis Santiago then took over and scored Principia's next seven points, capped off by a three-pointer to tie the game 12 all. A buzzer-beating three to end the first quarter by
Lamiya Terrell gave Principia a 17-13 advantage heading into the second. The home Panthers outscored Greenville 12-8 in the second quarter to take an eight point lead at halftime.
In a back-and-forth third quarter, the Principia women would ultimately extend their lead to 49-39 with the crucial final frame to play. Greenville's full court press gave Principia problems to begin the fourth as multiple Prin turnovers resulted in a 7-0 run for GU. After Greenville eventually cut the lead to one with seven minutes to go,
Taylor Brown drained a big three to help quell the momentum. Greenville still managed to tie the game at 56 with just under four minutes remaining, but back-to-back buckets by
Hannah Myers and
Trinniti Matthews put Principia back up by four.
With under two minutes left and Principia still up four,
Ariana Williams made one of the plays of the game as she drove to the hoop and made a sprawling lay up as she was fouled to send the home crowd into a frenzy. Greenville would hit multiple threes to keep things close, but clutch free throws by Williams and Brown iced the game for Principia as they won by a final score of 71-67.
Ariana Williams was the Panthers MVP of the game as she finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds on top of 3 blocks and 2 steals. Speaking of blocks,
Trinniti Matthews had a career-high 7 blocks on the night to go along with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Taylor Brown and
Genesis Santiago each joined Williams in double-figures with 14 points for Brown and 11 for Santiago.
Principia's victory means they now advance to face Westminster College in the conference semifinals for the second straight year. This time around, the game will be held on Westminster's home court in Fulton, MO, but getting revenge for last year's loss by beating the top seeded Blue Jays in their own gym is a challenge the Panthers gladly accept. The game will take place this Thursday evening at 7:30 pm following the conclusion of the other semifinal between Webster and Eureka.
