GREENVILLE, S.C. - It was a slow start for the Panthers Saturday morning in their game against Bloomsburg University, but it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
 
The Panthers got off to a slow start with nerves getting the best of them, and allowed  26 first half points from a feisty Bloomsburg side. Nikki Snyder put up a hat trick in the first half for Bloomsburg, with almost all of the conversions falling in their favor. Danielle Ordway was the only one to cross the try line in the first half as Davenport went down 26-5 at the half.
 
But, the second half was a completely different story. Davenport came out with their foot on the gas pedal, ready to go. It started with a couple of long runs from the backs and the forwards and finished with Hunter Moreland getting across the try line off of a powerful Davenport scrum. From there on out, it was all Davenport until the final seconds ran out. Ordway scored off of balls from the forwards and from the backs and the forwards as she recorded five trys on the day. Caren Meerman provided a spark off of the bench, diving on loose balls, smashing through the defense and eventually smashing through for a try delivered by Maddy Teliczan. "The first score of the second half was a real game changer, because we really needed to score" stated Caren Meerman. "After that, the momentum shifted into our favor, especially because of the positivity everyone still had, knowing that we could still win this game."
 
Halfway through the second half, Davenport overcame the deficit and gained the lead as they never looked back. The Panthers put on a dominating performance in the second half, allowing zero points and overcoming a 21 point deficit to power through to a victory.

Volunteer Assistant Coach Brittany O'Dell stated that "in the first half, [Bloomsburg] did a great job of marking up with us on defense because of how flat we came out. But in the second half, they didn't know who to mark up on because everyone was firing on all cylinders, playing complete team rugby."
 
Persistence, determination and mental toughness won out in the end for the Panthers, who hung on to win 43-26 over Bloomsburg University (Pennsylvania) in the Final Four game.
 
Looking Ahead:
They look forward to playing a tough Winona State University team, who just beat out Vassar College to advance to the Championship game. Winona, who was an ACRA Fall 2013 National Champion as well as a USA Rugby Runner-Up in both spring 2012 and 2013, blew through the Northern Lights conference in the state of Minnesota convincingly and is the number two ranked team in DII women's rugby by Goff Rugby Report. Winona is a young team, with only four seniors, but the Black Katts are a title contending squad.
 
Davenport and Winona will face off at 11 a.m. at Furman University for the Fall Championship game. The winner of this game automatically qualifies to play in the DII National Championship in the Spring of 2016. The game will be live streamed at USARugbyTV.com.