Fontbonne holds on for the win

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne University women's basketball held onto the win tonight over Greenville College. The Griffins held a 16-point lead in the second half that was almost eradicated by the Panthers' will to win. The 59-52 win pulls the Griffins back to .500 and sends Greenville's overall record to 5-7.

The Griffins led 11-5 and after a five-minute stalemate scored six straight points to lead 17-5 with 7:50 left in the first half. Fontbonne ended the half ahead 27-12.Greenville was just 4-for-24 in the field at the break.

Fontbonne increased their lead to 16 points leading 33-17 almost four minutes after halftime. Greenville drove into a full-court press pulling within one point of the Griffins on a Laura Goodnight three pointer with just over 11 minutes left to play. Fontbonne extended their lead to seven points, the Greenville crawled back, tieing the game with 3:52 remaining. Nicole Joerger gave the Griffins a five-point lead on her make beyond the arc but was immediately answered by Taylor Paulin on the following drive. Forced to foul, Greenville wouldn't get any closer as Fontbonne closed out the nightcap scoring seven points to the Panthers' one.

Goodnight scored 21 points and seven rebounds in the game for Greenville. Paulin was hot from long range draining four treys on eight attempts.

Fontbonne's Emmie Haring scored 16 points, eight assists, six rebounds, two steals and one block en route to the win. Joerger finished with 13 points, one steal and one assist. Forward Olivia Hollander rounded out the Griffins in double-digit scoring with 10 points, four rebounds, two blocks, one assist and a steal.

The Griffins travel down Big Bend to Webster University this Saturday for a 1pm tipoff in the Battle of Big Bend.