Black's 20-Point Performance Leads Griffins Past Tigers

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team overcame its slow start in the first quarter on Monday to come away with the 73-58 win over Iowa Wesleyan.

The Griffins (7-10; 4-5 SLIAC), shot 38.2 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Tigers 38-31, including a 17-6 advantage offensively, and forced 25 turnovers which led to 28 points for Fontbonne.

Individually, Paige Black played well on both ends of the floor with the St. Louis, Mo., native, tying her season-high with 20 points, to go along with her seven rebounds, and five steals.

Raven Venegas just missed out on a double-double with 14 points and nine boards, while Rylee Stafford registered 13 on 5-of-15 shooting.

The Tigers (3-12; 2-7 SLIAC), never overcame its eight-point second quarter as they finished with a 42.2 field goal percentage. Allie Massner led all scorers with a game-high 22 points.

Deerick Martin went 4-of-7 from downtown to finish with 14 points, while Darby Massner registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In the first quarter, the Griffins opened with a 12-8 lead on Riley Guffey's 3-pointer. However, the Tigers closed out the final six points on an 13-4 run to take the 26-16 advantage.

Iowa Wesleyan shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the first, while the Griffins had its struggles early going 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from the floor.

In the second quarter, the script flipped in favor of Fontbonne. The team shot 44.4 percent from the field and defensively totaled 10 Tigers turnovers.

After Martin hit her 3-pointer at 8:42, the Tigers were well out in front with a 26-16 lead. The Griffins, though got things rolling offensively and defensively.

With 3:25 left, the team trailed 29-26 after Black made both of her free throws. Then, the senior guard came up with the steal and scored to put Fontbonne down 29-28.

Two possessions, later the Griffins grabbed the lead at 30-29 after Stafford made her layup. They finished out the half after trailing by three on an 11-0 run to lead by eight (37-29).

In the third, they stretched its advantage out to 47-33 after Raven Venegas got the bucket and the foul. She went on to make the free to make it a 14-point lead. They maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way and headed into the fourth quarter on top, 54-44.

In the fourth, the Tigers trimmed the deficit down to 10 a couple of times, but with Fontbonne shooting 53.3 percent from the floor, having a 9-3 rebounding advantage, and totaling seven more IWU turnovers, that was enough for them to go on for the 15-point win.

The team looks to sweep the regular season series against MacMurray at home on Wednesday night. Tip-off at 5:30 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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