ELSAH, IL – After dropping five of their previous six games coming into the week, the Principia women's basketball team got their season back on track this weekend with two dominant wins in three days over Lyon and MUW.
On Thursday, the Panthers hosted Lyon College and came out firing as they took a 14-3 lead in the first five minutes. Principia kept the pressure on and ten minutes later had increased their lead to 40-24. Coming out of halftime with a 13-point advantage, the Panthers continued to execute on both ends of the court and built their lead as high as 23 points late in the third quarter. By the end of the game, Principia had scored over 90 points for the first time this season as they defeated Lyon 93-77.
Trinniti Matthews led the team with a season-high 20 points while adding 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.
Lamiya Terrell (16 points + 5 assists),
Hannah Myers (15 points + 9 rebounds), and
Taylor Brown (14 points + 5 steals) also had big games for the Panthers.
On Saturday, Principia welcomed MUW to Hay Field House and took their game to another level in arguably their strongest performance of the season. After a close first quarter that ended with MUW leading 13-12, the Panthers completely dominated play and outscored the Owls by 50 points from then on, including a crushing 28-4 third quarter. By the final buzzer, Principia had surpassed their season-high in points from Thursday by one with a 94-45 victory.
Six Panthers finished the game in double digits led by
Taylor Brown who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals.
Ariana Williams reached a milestone of 500 career rebounds in the third quarter as she finished with 8 in the game to go along with her 15 points.
Lamiya Terrell and
Genesis Santiago each scored 12 points while
Hannah Myers and
Carolina Rojas each finished with 10.
With these two important conference wins, the Principia women regained their footing in the SLIAC standings and currently sit alone in third place at 9-5. The Panthers have three huge games coming up against Greenville, Webster, and Westminster as they hope to earn a statement win and secure a home tournament game in two weeks.
Come cheer on the Panthers at home on Tuesday afternoon as they try to beat Greenville for the first time since 2009.
Taylor Brown is also close to history as she is just 22 points away from 1000 in her career!
