Women's Basketball leaves sunny weather with a win

Babson Park, Fla. - Fontbonne University women's basketball left sunny Florida 1-1 after falling in a tight matchup to Warner University 54-47 and winning their final contest of 2016 with a 70-60 victory at Webber International University. The Griffins enter 2017 with a 5-7 overall record.

A slow start hindered the Griffins at Warner who saw themselves down 22-11 after the first quarter. At halftime Fontbonne trailed by 13 points but scored seven more points than the hosts in the second half. Senior Emmie Haring dished out 10 assists, six points and three steals while sophomore Kaitlynn Walker recorded the Griffins' game-high 12 points. Freshman Raven Venegas scored 10 points and six rebounds while five-foot-two senior Lauren Willis also grabbed six rebounds.

Fontbonne led 25-17 after the first quarter and took a 16-point lead against Webber with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter, but held off the Warriors who cut that lead to seven with 2:16 to play.

The Griffins struggled to shoot from three-point range, connecting on just two of their 14 attempts, however they out-rebounded their opponents 51-40 and turned the ball over a season-low seven times.

Walker once again scored the highest number of points for Fontbonne with 14 while freshman Katie Sportsman and junior Sarah Schraut each narrowly missed double-doubles. Sportsman notched 11 points and nine rebounds while Schraut brought down a career-high 10 boards and scored nine points. Haring was everywhere on the court with 12 assists, eight rebounds, seven points and five steals.

Fontbonne returns to conference action when they travel to Eureka College on Wednesday, January 4th. That game will start at 6 p.m. before the Griffins return home for their final non-conference game with a 1 p.m. matchup against Robert Morris University of Peoria.