Griffins best MacMurray 80-36 to earn first conference victory

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne University women's basketball secured their first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win this afternoon, upending MacMurray College 80-36. MacMurray is still searching for their first win of the year while the Griffins improve to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference. 

The Highlanders opened in a zone and the Griffins took full advantage. Fontbonne led 14-4 when MacMurray finally put up a field goal with 12 seconds left in the first quarter. Senior Emmie Haring opened scoring immediately in the second quarter as her skip pass from the wing found sophomore Kaitlynn Walker at the opposite edge of the lane all alone for the easy layup. That bucket gave Fontbonne another 10-point advantage and at the half the Griffins would lead 32-10.

Fontbonne outscored MacMurray 30-8 in the second quarter alone. The Griffins opened up on fire with Haring assisting the first four buckets after she scored followed by three from Lauren Willis and one from Sarah Schraut. The Griffins led 62-18 after three frames and allowed the Highlanders to double their score in the fourth quarter alone.

Fontbonne kept MacMurray to 36 points, the third fewest points allowed by an opponent in Fontbonne women's basketball history. 

It was a true team effort today as multiple Griffins garnered double-digits points. Walker finished with her second career double-double as she recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds. Haring finished with nine assists in just 23 minutes of action, sitting out most of the second half. Accuracy was key for two Griffins off the bench. Sophomore Paige Black and Schraut each scored 12 points in the win. Black was five of eight in the field while Schraut connected on six of eight attempts. Two of Black's buckets were treys. Schraut leads the team with a 71.4% field goal average on the season.

Fontbonne shot 66.7% in the third quarter and finished with a 51.6% field goal average, their highest of the season. Remarkably, Fontbonne went two-of-seven at the free throw line, their lowest and shot 70.6% from beyond the arc. Fontbonne's largest lead was 52 points with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter. They outrebounded their visitors 46-32 and recorded 44 points in the paint, 28 off turnovers and 44 from the bench.

On the other side, the Highlanders struggled to connect the ball in the basket, making just 11 of 54 attempts in the game, a 20.4% average. 

The Griffins are in St. Louis until Christmas break, playing at WashU on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and home games on Saturday, Dec. 10th at 1 p.m. and Tuesday Dec. 13th at 6 p.m.