Tigresses survive a cat fight with Panthers

PRINCETON -- The Princeton Tigresses didn't play their best basketball on Saturday morning, but they played well enough to knock off a young Putnam County team, 50-39. With only one senior on the roster, the Lady Panthers overcame a slow start to hang with Princeton for much of the game, but the team couldn't muster enough offensive punch to prevent the Tigresses from improving to 7-2 (2-1) on the season. "(We wanted to) come out and say 'Hey, we're not just a small school; we're improving,'" said Lady Panthers' coach Gary Barrera. "In each game, we're improving." Princeton made life miserable for Putnam County (1-8) in the first quarter, holding the Lady Panthers to just six points, while Ashley Lowdermilk led her team to a 16-6 lead with six points of her own. The Tigresses slowed down in the second quarter, however, allowing the 10-point margin to dwindle down to five at the half. Junior Kara Decker led the Lady Panthers with eight of her 16 points in the first half, while Lowdermilk's eight points led the Tigresses. "Decker's going to always be our scorer, and that's one area that we're lacking ... other people stepping up," said Barrera. "(Decker) is a nice player, so we tried to be a little more conscious of where she was," said Princeton coach John Garvin. "I thought our defense in the second half was better than in the first half." That defense did the trick for the Tigresses. The Lady Panthers became almost one-dimensional in the third quarter. With Decker the only player able to get her shot off, the Lady Panthers managed only eight points in the third period. The Tigresses, meanwhile, struggled to control the ball, and sloppy passing prevented them from pulling away even more than the 37-29 lead they enjoyed entering the fourth quarter. Garvin used 5-8 Austyn Miller as the primary ball-handler in an effort to have a taller player passing into the post, a role in which the sophomore is still adjusting. "I think Austyn has to get comfortable there because of her height," Garvin said. "She can do it; I have confidence that she can do it." The Tigresses made up for their ball-handling struggles with solid play in other areas. Their tough defense shut down the Putnam County attack without fouling; the Lady Panthers did not shoot any second-half free throws until late in the fourth quarter. Putnam County also struggled to get any second shots. The Tigresses won the battle of the boards -- 30-16 on the day, led by Sarah Evenson's seven rebounds. Brooke Jensen had a big second-half for Princeton, scoring seven points in the third quarter. Lowdermilk continued her strong scoring into the fourth. The two combined for the first seven points of the fourth quarter, as the Tigresses pulled away with a 44-29 lead. Angela Baumgartner scored two late hoops for Princeton, while the Lady Panthers sank all six of their free throws to keep the score from getting out of hand. Nicole Hrasch nailed a long jumper at the buzzer to bring the Lady Panthers to within 11 as the game concluded. Princeton ran away with the preliminary contest, winning by a score of 44-10 in a game that featured a running second-half clock.