Greenville Women’s Basketball Season in Review

Media by Nate Davidson
Media by Nate Davidson

The Greenville Women’s Basketball Team came into the season not having played a game since February 28th, 2020, coming off a third-place conference finish the season before with a record of 16-10 (13-5). The Panthers have last won a conference championship in the 2018-2019 season. The Panthers seem to always be at the top of the conference standings. 

2020-2021 GU Women’s Basketball Squad. Media by GU Athletics.

The Panthers season tipped off back-to-back games against Adrian College. Both games ended up in a loss with the second game only being a two-point loss. The Panthers then picked up a win against Concordia Chicago, 69-43. The leading scorer for the game was Madelyn Stephen with 18 points and a double-double from Ashley Anderson with 10 points and 14 rebounds. The Panthers lost their next four games against DePauw University and Illinois College. The Panthers picked up a win in their conference opener against Eureka College in overtime, 70-68. The top two scorers from the game were Madelyn Stephen with 19 points and Emily Reinneck with 16 points. Greenville won its first three conference games over Eureka, Webster, and Spalding. The Panthers then went on a three-game skid losing to Fontbonne, Westminster, and Webster. The Panthers went on to win their next five games, starting with another win over Eureka with a final score of 87-70. Emily Reinneck scored a game-high 24 points, shooting 7-10 from the field and 6-7 from behind the arc. The next win was a close one with a 72-69 win over Blackburn College. The win gave the Panthers their sixth win of the season. The Panthers then traveled to Iowa to face off against Iowa Wesleyan to pick up win number seven behind 22 points from Stephen and a double-double from Emily Reinneck.

GU Women’s Basketball Seniors. Media by GU Athletics.

Greenville finished the regular season with a win against Blackburn College, 78-67. The Panthers finished regular season play 8-9 (6-3), placing third in the conference. Greenville was riding a four-game winning streak heading into the SLIAC conference tournament. They ended up getting the victory over Fontbonne, 81-54, after losing to them earlier in the season, 76-70. Stephen scored a team-high 14 points while Ashley Anderson added 13 points. The Panthers’ season came to an end in the semifinal matchup against Westminster College in a heartbreaking loss in overtime, 86-82. The Westminster Bluejays went on to defeat Webster, 80-73, in the championship. Sophomore Stephen made the 2021 SLIAC All-Tournament Team. The Panthers finished the season 9-10 in a season that was unlike any other with the circumstances they faced. Senior Lauren Eagleson said, “This season, we would have loved to have ended with a conference win, but I can’t say I was disappointed. Every season, you really just want to see your team make progress, and I think we made leaps from where we were at the beginning of the season.” The season was different from what a typical season looks like, but even with no fans, Eagleson said, “It rarely felt like there wasn’t a crowd because of the energy our team was able to produce.”

Eagleson shooting her shot. Media by GU Athletics.

Greenville will look to continue to bring the energy into next season and help the Panthers finish atop the SLIAC for the first time since the 2018-2019 season with what looks to be a very promising season.

Media by Wyatt Moser.

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