Knox Pulls Away From Griffins In Second Half; Schraut Nets Career-High 16

GALESBURG, Ill.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball were unable to halt its two game skid on Sunday afternoon as they fell 66-55 against Knox College.

The Griffins (3-3), shot 31.0 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from beyond-the-arc. Sarah Schraut led all scorers with her career-high 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

FBU outscored Knox 24-10 off the bench and that can be attributed to Rylee Stafford's 15 points. Paige Black, meanwhile, was the final player in double-figures as she netted 11.

The Prairie Fire (3-0), overcame its 24 turnovers by shooting 48.1 percent from the field and out-rebounding the Griffins, 45-35.

Four of the five starters reached double-digits and pacing the way was Kyra Huffman's double-double of 14 points and a game-high 14 boards. Karlie Thorn netted 13, while Morgan Potter and Hailey Leinart added 12 and 11 points respectively.

In the first quarter, a bucket from Riley Guffey cut the teams' deficit down to 10-7 (5:31). However, a 6-3 run by Knox gave them the lead at 16-10 with 18.0 seconds to go after Jarrelyn McCall's made free throw.

Prior to the quarter ending though, Schraut made her jumper, narrowing it down to 16-12 after one quarter of play.

In the second, Knox went on a 9-2 run over a two minute and 23 second span to take a 25-14 lead and that forced FBU's coaching staff to take a timeout. Later, at 5:38, Black sank her 3-pointer to put the scoreboard at 26-20.

Knox, however, closed out the final five minutes of play on an 8-2 run and headed into the locker room ahead by 12.

In the third, Fontbonne got the deficit down to single-digits (36-28) on Schraut's made jumper at 7:38. Out of Knox's timeout, the team once again separated themselves from Fontbonne as they went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes.

The Griffins responded on a 9-0 run of its own, capped off by Stafford's made jumper to make it a 49-39 game with 38.0 seconds on the clock. The Prairie Fire added a late free throw before the quarter ended but FBU was back in it down by 11 (50-39).

Fontbonne had hoped to use the momentum they gained at the end of the third and carry it over into the fourth.

However, Knox had other plans outscoring the Griffins 8-2 in the first two minutes and 27 seconds to expand its lead back out to 58-41. With 3:31 left in regulation, McCall hit her jumper to give them its largest lead of the game (66-45).

Fontbonne kept battling and despite outscoring Knox 7-0, the comeback was not to be with the Griffins falling by 11.

The team returns to action at home on Wednesday night when they'll host Spalding in its first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) game. Tip-off goes up at 6 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the women's basketball team.