Griffins Fall Short Against Eureka; Raven Venegas Leads With Season-High 19 Points

Photo taken by Athletic Trainer, Ann Schmerbauch

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team played well against the Eureka Red Devils on Wednesday night, however, Eureka pulled away in the second half and went on for the 77-68 win.

The Griffins (8-9; 4-4 SLIAC), shot 42.4 percent from the floor, but had its struggles from downtown (25.0 percent) and the free throw line (55.0 percent).

Individually, Raven Venegas, who missed the last four games due to a concussion, didn't miss a beat. The sophomore was dominant on the inside finishing with a season-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed down nine boards.

Paige Black dished out four assists, to go along with her 14 points, while Katie Sportsman added 12 off the bench.

Eureka (11-5; 7-1 SLIAC), shot 44.8 percent from the field and 39.3 percent beyond-the-arc. Hayley Reneau came into the game averaging a conference-best 24.0 points per game. The guard surpassed that tonight going 10-of-21 overall and 7-of-14 from 3-point land to conclude with a game-high 30.

Ashley Harfst contributed 18 points of her own, while Kennedy Dura recorded a double-double with 15 points and game-high 10 assists.

After taking a 5-4 lead a little over two minutes in, the Griffins went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes as Kaitlynn Walker's 3-pointer gave them a 14-4 lead.

The Red Devils narrowed the deficit down to 21-17 (58.0 seconds) on Harfst's 3-pointer, but Fontbonne still led 23-17 after one quarter of play.

Momentum swung back towards Eureka in the second quarter, though as the Griffins shot 28.6 percent from the field, compared to the Red Devils 50.0 percent. That, along with Reneau's 13 points in the quarter, allowed Eureka to outscore Fontbonne 22-9 and lead 39-32 after 20:00 minutes of play.

In the third, Fontbonne got the ball down low to Raven Venegas early and she scored the team's first seven points to narrow the lead down to 41-39 at the 7:31 mark.

Eureka tried to put get some distance between themselves and the Griffins, but Black's 3-pointer at 4:25 put them down just one (50-49).

With 1:59 to go, Rylee Stafford went 1-of-2 from the line to make it a 55-52 game. The Red Devils closed out the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 63-54 lead going into the fourth.

In the finale, the Griffins cut the Red Devils lead down to 71-63 on Stafford's bucket at 3:42. That'd be as close as they'd get with Eureka hanging on for the nine-point win.

Fontbonne returns to the court on Saturday when they'll pay a visit to Spalding. Tip-off is slated for 12 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.