Bears Pull Away From Griffins In Second Half

ST. LOUIS, Mo.— After leading by two at halftime, the Fontbonne University women's basketball team was unable to fend off the WashU Bears as they went on for the 94-66 win.

The Griffins (3-5), shot 37.7 percent from the floor overall and were paced by Rylee Stafford tying her career-high with 23 points and pulling down a team-high 10 boards. Raven Venegas had another strong game down low with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

The Bears (5-3), meanwhile, shot 57.4 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from downtown. Grace Fortmann led all scorers with a team-high 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including going 5-of-8 from downtown.

Madeline Homoly earned herself a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Stephanie Botkin came off the bench to record 14 as well, while Rachael Sondag netted 5-of-8 from the floor to conclude with 13 points.

In the first quarter, the Griffins jumped out to an 11-9 lead on Stafford's made layup at 6:29. After WashU regained the lead, the Griffins got it back at 4:48 on Raven Venegas' made jumper to make it 15-14.

From there, though the Bears closed out on an 8-4 run to own a 22-18 advantage after one. Fontbonne shot 43.8 percent from the floor in the first frame and was led by Raven Venegas' six points.

In the second quarter, the Griffins shot 41.7 percent and controlled the glass with a 12-6 advantage. Defensively, they held the Bears to just 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) shooting.

At the 7:10 mark, the Griffins expanded its lead out to 25-22 on Jillian Venegas' made bucket. Less than two minutes later, the Bears trimmed it down to 29-27 on Stephanie Botkin's 3-pointer.

However, Fontbonne responded with its 3-pointer of its own on its next possession as Sarah Schraut drained her 3-pointer to give them a 32-27 lead. The Griffins never relinquished its advantage and went into the locker room on top, 36-34.

In the third quarter, the Bears came out on fire and stayed hot the rest of the quarter. WashU went 12-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-9 from downtown.

The Griffins had its struggles shooting 28.6 percent and made just one 3-pointer. With those kinds of numbers WashU put up they outscored Fontbonne 36-11 to take a 70-47 lead into the fourth.

In the finale, the Griffins shot an improved 36.8 percent, but the Bears continued to hit 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the floor en route for the 28-point win.

The team returns to action this Saturday in a key conference game against Westminster on the road. Tip-off goes up 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.

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