Griffins Season-High Field Goal Percentage Proves Not Enough Against Greenville

GREENVILLE, Ill.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team shot a season-high 56.1 percent from the floor, but the Griffins were unable to slow down Greenville's offense, falling 86-64.

Fontbonne (9-12; 5-7 SLIAC), hit 50.0 percent of its shots or higher in each of the four quarters. The team saw the duo of Raven Venegas and Rylee Stafford lead with 14 points each. Riley Guffey, meanwhile, went 4-of-6 from the field to end with 13 points.

Greenville (16-4; 11-1 SLIAC), shot 56.5 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from downtown, while forcing 17 Griffin turnovers.

Laura Goodnight led all scorers with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Meredith Crosier hit three 3-pointers to conclude with 13 points. Wesley Woodard, Ellaina Davis and Morgan St. James each contributed 12 points apiece.

In the first quarter, Raven Venegas tied the game at 6-6 with 7:40 on the clock. However, the Panthers closed out the final seven minutes outscoring Fontbonne 27-7, giving them a 33-13 lead after one. Fontbonne shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first, though the Panthers fared better at an impressive 85.7 percent.

In the second, both offenses continued to stay hot. The Griffins shot 50.0 percent overall, but the Panthers were right there with them shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and that allowed them to take a 57-29 lead in the locker room.

In the first two minutes and 27 seconds of the third, the Griffins opened with a 9-4 advantage to make it 62-38 on Guffey's 3-pointer. The Griffins connected on 57.1 percent of its shots in the third, while holding Greenville to a 47.1 field goal percentage to make it 74-48 heading into the fourth.

Fontbonne got the deficit down to 78-60 at 7:58 on Sarah Schraut's jumper in the fourth. That'd be as close as they'd get, though with Greenville going on for the 22-point win.

The Griffins look to bounce back at home on Saturday in the SLIAC Game of the Week against Westminster. Tip-off at 1 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.