EP held the Lady Red Devils scoreless for the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game while they built a 7-0 lead on baskets from Aubrey Huisman, Ayden Klendworth, and a three-ball from Brynn Brown to take a 7-2 lead after the first quarter.
Hall scored the first three points of the second quarter before the Panthers went on a 11-0 run, once again shutting out the Red Devils for almost 7 minutes. Buckets from Ashlyn Johnson, Klendworth, Ava Grawe and Lauren Abbott pushed the Panther lead to 11 at 18-5. Hall finally broke through with a bucket in the last 30 seconds of the quarter to make it an 18-7 game at the half.
Brown got her second three of the night to start the second half pushing the Panther lead to 21-7. EP’s defense continued to hold strong building their lead to 13 with just over 3 minutes left in the third quarter. The Lady Red Devils scored the final five points of the frame to trail by 8 heading to the final eight minutes.
The Panthers got good looks under the basket early in the fourth but could not get several chances to fall while Hall was able to whittle the lead down to four with just over 5 minutes left in the contest. The Red Devils employed a full court press which slowed the Panther offense but also sent EP to the foul line for the rest of the game with just under 3 minutes remaining. EP went 5 of 6 from the line down the stretch with Eden Jensen getting a bucket at the buzzer for the 9 point EP victory.
“We played a real good 32 minutes, a great conference win on the road,” said coach Chris Brown. “I am super proud of the total team effort. Everyone played and contribute.” Brown had special praise for Aubrey Huisman saying, “She did a great job on their best player tonight, Pellegrini holding her to just 2 points.”
Brynn Brown had 10 for EP with a pair of 3s. Klendworth and Abbott each had 5 and the team went 6 of 9 from the foul line.
Morris had 8 for Hall with Zamora adding 7.
The Lady Panthers (3-3) begin a stretch of four home games starting next Monday with Rockridge.
