The PCCC Lady Panthers basketball team defeated Rowan College of South Jersey, 90-83 Saturday afternoon to advance to the Region XIX Championship. After a slow start, the Lady Panthers lead by seven following the first quarter. Things took a turn in the second quarter and the Lady Panthers found themselves in a hole down 44-45 at the half. Down the stretch, PCCC was able to take command defensively and make their free throws to close out the game.
Sabrina DeFreese scored 30 points to lead the Lady Panthers and Janieris Rodriguez had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Head Coach Teya Eaton spoke about the keys to today's victory. "Staying composed and defense," Eaton said. "Defense always wins basketball games, if you play with defense everything else falls within place." Freshman guard Sabrina DeFreese stated "Our mental approach was definitely the biggest key to this game, as long as we stayed strong mentally we were good throughout the game."
The Lady Panthers played Rowan College of South Jersey three times this season and came out victorious in all three games. Freshman forward Janieris Rodriguez shared what it meant to win today’s game. “It means a lot because we have been working for this our whole season and it is not all the time you see a team beat another team three times. The fact that we did that is something we worked hard for.”
Sophomore forward Jada Camacho who was a part of last year’s Regional Championship team stated, “It feels good to win, it is hard to beat a team three times but we did it.” Camacho also spoke on how meaningful it is to play in another Regional Championship. “It gives us motivation to go to nationals again especially since we have a new group of girls, I want them to experience what I experienced my freshman year.”
Up next for the Lady Panthers they will take on Ocean County Community College in the Region XIX Championship on Sunday March 1st.