The EP Lady Panthers hosted the Monmouth United Red Storm Tuesday night and came away with a thrilling 34-31 win to move to 3-2 on the young season. Both teams used a ball hawking man to man defense throughout the contest causing numerous turnovers in the early season matchup.
The Panthers Gabi Abell helped EP get off to a decent start as she scored the host teams first 6 points. A 3-pointer from Hannah Huisman at the buzzer made it 11-5 EP after one.
The Panther defense continued to play well during the second quarter as the Red Storm went 10 minutes without scoring as 2 free throws at the 3:55 mark of the first half cut the lead to 15-7. The first of Sydney Schwartz’s three 3-pointers ended the first half scoring with EP leading 18-12.
A Schwartz layup off a Kennedy Buck outlet pass was the first bucket for EP in the third period. Unfortunately, EP missed many in close shots during the third frame allowing Monmouth to hang within striking distance as the score read 25-16 entering the final 8 minutes.
A quick old fashion 3-point play by Schwartz made it 28-16 on the first possession of the 4th quarter but that turned out to be the last points from EP as the Storm reeled off 12 in a row to tie the game at 28-28 with 2:25 left. A Schwartz 3-pointer halted the Storm run and put EP back up with 2:03 remaining. A 3- pointer by the Red Storm after Schwartz had made a free throw closed the gap to 1 again with 20 seconds remaining. A nice inbounds play set up during coach Chris Brown’s timeout led to Buck getting fouled with 16 seconds left. She made 2 free throws to make the final 34-31 as Monmouth United missed a 3-pointer for the tie.
Schwartz had 7 of the Panthers 9 points in the fourth period and was the only Panther in double figures with 15. The 3-2 Panthers return to action November 30 at Orion.
