Princeton started out the game strong, but La Salle-Peru quickly turned things around quickly and never looked back as the Cavaliers dominated the boards and the scoreboard to come way with the 43-26 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon in La Salle over the visiting Tigresses.

Payton Brandt who had a solid game for the Tigresses hit a 12 foot jumper to start and then Keighley Davis got the shooters role to give Princeton a 4-0 lead out of the gate.

LP got rolling as Bri Ruppert made a nice pass to Alexus Hines for the layup before hitting a layup of their own and picking up another assist to Drew Depenbrock for a 6-4 lead.

The Cavaliers finished the quarter strong as Hines hit a runner in the lane and Depenbrock got another bucket with the put back and a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.

“I think we’re playing good right now,” Depenbrock said. “We are looking for the cutter to the basket  and making the plays. Coach is always talking about being patient on the court and I think we have been doing that a lot better lately.”

LP continued their strong play in the second as April Pescetto came off the bench and drained the shot behind the arc and Emma Jereb got the put back to cap off the 15-0 run.

A Davis put back ended the long scoring drought for the Tigresses, but the Cavaliers Jereb found Hines for the layup and 17-6 advantage.

Brandt hit a long jumper, but the Cavaliers went into the halftime break with a 21-10 lead over Princeton.

“We definitely had a size advantage today,” LP coach Adam Spencer said. “Bri (Ruppert), Drew (Depenbrock) and Maggie (Boudreau) are big down low and in the zone they are in good position for those boards and were aggressive on the offensive end that led to extra possessions. I know with Camryn Driscoll being out is a big loss for them as well.”

LP started out the second half right where they left off. Hines was strong to the hoop and then Depenbrock hit the short jumper to push the lead to 27-10 for a 10-0 run that started in the first half.

Brandt hit a 3-pointer from the corner to end the scoring drought, but LP would finish strong again as Jereb kicked the ball to Depenbrock for the layup.

Another offensive board this time from Boudreau led to a bunny shot from Depenbrock as the Cavaliers led 36-15 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Tigresses started to put more pressure on the Cavs in the fourth and it paid off. Addy Dever hit a turn around shot in the post and then Davis converted the fast break layup to cut the deficit to 38-21. 

“The first few looks of the game I was pretty happy with,” Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said. “We had some decent looks, but really just couldn’t get anything going consistently until we pressured the ball in the fourth. We thought we could put the pressure in the half court set, but we were a step slow and it wasn’t until the final eight minutes where they turned it up.”

A Madie Gibson 3-pointer made it 38-25, but a pair of free throws from Ruppert sealed the game for LP with the 43-26 victory.

For the game Depenbrock led with 15 points and 10 rebounds followed by 12 from Hines and Ruppert with 12 rebounds. Brandt led Princeton with 11.