Griffins Post Season-High 93 Points In Home Opening Win Against St. Mary-of-the-Woods

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team treated its home fans to a wild 93-86 win over St. Mary-of-the-Woods College on Monday, improving to 3-0 on the season.

Fontbonne (3-0), was able to overcome its 32 turnovers with its ability to get out on the break on the costly SMWC turnovers and play strong defense when it counted.

The team shot an impressive 46.4 percent from the floor and followed up its program-record 15 3-pointers with 11 more tonight.

Individually, freshman Rylee Stafford came up big off the bench registering her first collegiate double-double of 23 points and 13 boards. Paige Black, meanwhile, filled up the stat sheet with her career-high 22 points, nine assists, six rebounds and six steals.

Katie Sportsman went 6-of-11 off the bench to conclude with 13 points, while Sarah Schraut added 10 of her own.

Despite its turnovers, the Griffins made up for it on defense holding the Pomeroys to a 34.4 field goal percentage and forcing 30 steals of its own.

SMWC was led by Maggie Reimer's 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Tara Parmer netted 17, while Regan Hubbard finished with 13 points.

In the first quarter, Black got thing started with a 3-pointer to put the Griffins on the board first at 9:24. However, the Pomeroys eventually got going at 6:40 on Parmer's 3-pointer to give them the 7-6 lead.

The two teams in this fast paced game tonight went bucket-for-bucket as the clock continued to tick away, but SMWC was still clinging to its lead.

Then, with 1:09 on the clock, Stafford made two free throws to tie the game at 21-all. SMWC eventually got the lead back and were on top 24-21 with 15.0 seconds left.

After a missed free throw, Black got the defensive board and the ball eventually worked its way back to her as she drained the 3-pointer to tie the game at 24-24 after one.

In the second quarter, a lay-up from Delaney Jarrett gave the Pomeroys a 31-26 (7:47) advantage. FBU continued to chip away at the deficit and its hard fought effort paid off.

With five minutes left, Stafford sank the 3-pointer to give FBU a 35-33 lead. Later, at 2:14, Stafford connected on both of her free throw attempts to give the Griffins its largest lead of the game thus far at 45-35.

They went on to close out the quarter on a 7-4 run, capped off by Sportsman's lay-up to put the Griffins on top 52-39 at the break.

After shooting 50.0 percent in the 2^nd quarter, the offense continued its hot-shooting in the third. With 8:45 to go, Black made a 3-pointer to extend the lead out to 60-41.

Less than a minute later, Schraut made her jumper to put the Griffins well out in front at 65-45. The game looked to be in the Griffins hands with them up 71-47 (5:41) on another Schraut jumper.

The Pomeroys didn't give in despite the deficit and prior to the horn sounding, Regan Hubbard made her lay-up to make it 78-63.

Fontbonne missed just seven shots (10-of-17) in the third, however, what kept SMWC in it was its pressure that forced nine FBU turnovers.

In the fourth, Black went on a 5-0 run by herself in 24.0 seconds to keep the Pomeroys at distance with an 86-68 lead.

Over the next four minutes, though the Pomeroys rattled off an 11-3 run as Hubbard's two made free throws made the game a bit more interesting at 89-79.

Then, after a couple made free throws by Fontbonne, Reimer's lay-up put SMWC down by just nine at 91-82 with 1:55 to go.

However, the Griffins defense stepped up when they needed to over the final minute and they made the necessary free throws to hang on for the seven point win.

The team will now get ready for another non-conference outing against Harris-Stowe State tomorrow night on the road. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score.