Dan Eyrich, AP Sports
Patience was the focus for the Lady Panthers on Monday night as they hosted Princeton in their final regular season game of the season. EP kept the ball on their end of the floor the majority of the first half as they looked for opportunities against the Tigers 1-3-1 zone.
The result was a very low scoring game with the visitors leading 10-6 after eight minutes. The Panthers found themselves down 5-0 early but cut it to 8-6 with one minute remaining on a putback by Aubrey Huisman.
The Lady Panthers struggled against the Tigers full-court press as they committed 6 turnovers in the quarter. The Panther defense, however was up to the task as they did a nice job of keeping the Tigers on the perimeter but lost the battle on the offensive glass giving Princeton several second chances.
The second quarter proved to be tough offensively for EP as they finally changed the scoreboard with a Huisman free throw with three minutes left. The Tigers slowly grew their lead to double digits leading 18-7 with ninety seconds remaining. A three-ball by Ashlyn Johnson was answered by a bucket and a free throw to keep the Tiger lead at 10 at the half.
The Panthers had the opportunity to keep the game closer but went just 1 for 9 from the free throw line in the half.
Princeton got their offense rolling in the third quarter outscoring EP 9-1 in the first three minutes. A three-ball from Brynn Brown made it a 30-14 game but the Tigers responded and pushed their lead to 20 with just under three minutes to go in the quarter. The visitors led 36-16 after three.
The Tiger’s Camryn Driscoll hit back-to-back three-pointers to push Princeton to a 42-20 advantage in the early part of the final period and they held that margin most of the rest of the contest. EP went on a 9-2 run against the Tiger’s bench to end the game 46-33.
Camryn Driscoll led all scorers with 22 including three 3-pointers and 5 of 6 from the line. Ashlyn Johnson and Lauren Abbott each had 6 for EP.
Lady Panther coach Chris Brown saw several positives from the contest after the Panthers lost by 34 to the Tigers four weeks ago. “We had a good game plan and executed it pretty well early. As the game went on we had a few lapses that cost us. They (Princeton) were very disciplined and made the most of their chances. I thought we did a nice job of beating their press most of the game which was a significant improvement from the last time we played them.”
Brown added the the team is battling illness and hoping to be fully healthy by Saturday when the Lady Panthers will shift into postseason play as they will host the Morrison Fillies in Prophetstown at 1:00PM in a first round IHSA Regional game.
The F/S lost 34-22 to end their season with a 6-14 record.
