Nya Walker’s key 3-pointer helps Principia finish off victory against Mater Dei

By Warren Mayes, Special to the Post-Dispatch

BELLEVILLE — With Principia’s leading scorer on the bench having fouled out, Nya Walker connected on just one shot but it was a big one at the right time for the Panthers.

The 5-foot-4 Walker drained a 3-pointer with 2 minutes and 1 second remaining Saturday afternoon to help the Panthers earn a 48-41 girls basketball victory over the Mater Dei Knights in the Blue Storm Showdown at Southwestern Illinois College.

“I just knew I had to make that shot,” Walker said. “I was wide open. I didn’t really think about it. I just let it fly. I was so happy when it when in. We needed it right there.

“It was late in the game, and they were coming back. We needed that give us a little breathing room.”

The Panthers were paced by 6-foot-2 sophomore Dasia Scott, who led all scorers with 20 points. However, foul trouble kept her ineligible at crunch time.

Walker, a sophomore, stepped up.

With Principia clinging to a 43-41 lead, Walker hit nothing but net on a deep 3-pointer to give the Panthers some breathing room.

“Nya hit a huge 3, Principia coach Josh Spuhl said. “That was such a huge 3. You have to shoot it. I’m really happy for her that it went in. For her psyche, I think that’s going to help her a lot.”

“You could see the girls kind of relax after that.”

Spuhl liked how his team responded to having Scott sit on the bench.

“Our team rallied with Dasia out of there. We need her to play as much as possible. Having our best player in foul trouble and us winning, I think that’s really big. We’re still learning.”

The Panthers added two free throws by freshman Loganne Love with 18 seconds remaining for their final two points.

“Loganne Love played great today,” Spuhl said. “We got our freshman contributing a lot today.”

Mater Dei coach Bridget Winter gave credit to the Panthers.

“They have a great team,” Winter said about Principia. “They did a good job. They are good rebounding team. They were physical. We tried to match their physicality and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.”

Team on a mission

Last winter, Principia played in the Class 2 girls basketball state championship game at Mizzou Arena and dropped a 61-47 decision to Skyline. It was the Panthers' first appearance in the final four.

“We’ve got a lot to do this year. 100 percent,” Spuhl said. “They’re stepping up to the challenge. We’ve got four girls back from last year. They’re all ready to go. I’ve got an awesome group of kids.”

A win over Mater Dei is a good step forward for the Panthers, Scott said.

“This was a good test for our team,” Scott said. “It was good competition for us. It’s nice to see how we do against other good basketball teams and good players. We played really hard out there today.

“Of course, we’re definitely trying to make it to end this year. We want to finish it off this time.”

Biggest lead

The Panthers held a 13-point advantage at 32-19 at 5:07 of the third quarter.

The Knights went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 32-27 at the 2:07 mark.

Scott hit a 3-point field goal with 3 seconds left, giving Principia a 39-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“That was a big spot for me to hit that 3,” Scott said. “I was really proud of myself there. It gave my team a little bit of momentum.”

Knights hang in there

Senior Maris Zurliene sparked Mater Dei with 14 points.

Zurliene hit nothing but net on a 3-point shot with 5:14 to play cutting the Principia lead to 40-35.

After the Panthers added three points, the Knights hit back-to-back treys by junior Marlee Loepker and senior Dixie Ottenschneider to make it a two-point game at 43-41 with 2:21 to play.

“Dixie did as phenomenal job at center for us,” Winter said. “She got after the ball consistently. I’m really proud of her.”

Seeing her club come back impressed Winter.

“We are resilient,” Winter said. “They understand what needs to be done and they get down and do it. We got close but we couldn’t finish it off.”

The team’s leading scorer Alyssa Koerkenmeier, a 6-foot-6 senior who has signed to play for St. Louis University, was held to two points. Both came on free throws.

Koerkenmeier caught an elbow in the mouth in the first quarter. A tooth was chipped. She came back later in the second quarter but never really got in the flow the game.

“Yeah, she caught an elbow there,” Winter said. “Part of her tooth got knocked out.”

Too much pressure

The Knights made just 11 field goals in 41 shots.

“We didn’t execute our offense because we weren’t used to all that pressure,” Winter said. “They did a great job pressuring us and taking us out of what we’re used to doing.

Early going

The teams were tied twice in the first quarter before Principia went on a 10-0 run to go up 12-4 with 29 seconds left. Freshman Nadia Bateman made a fast-break layup to end the run.

“We had some freshmen today step up and play well for us,” Spuhl said. “To that now is huge. Paige Ivy had huge minutes playing out there with Dasia having foul trouble. That will prep us for later in the season. You couldn’t ask for more from our freshmen.”