Stafford Sets Career-High In Points And Black Ties Program Record In Steals Against Tigers

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa.— Behind Rylee Stafford's career-high 31 points, the Fontbonne University women's basketball team cruised past Iowa Wesleyan for the 81-55 win.

Score: Fontbonne 81, Iowa Wesleyan 55

Where: Mount Pleasant, Iowa

Records: Fontbonne (11-13; 7-8 SLIAC), Iowa Wesleyan (5-17; 3-12 SLIAC)

How It Happened

In the first quarter, the Griffins jumped out to a 14-4 lead at the 6:50 mark on Stafford's layup. With the team shooting 53.3 percent from the floor, while forcing eight Tigers turnovers and holding them to a 17.6 field goal percentage, the Griffins led 20-8 after 10:00 minutes of play.

In the second, the Tigers got a 3-pointer from Darby Massner to make it a 20-11 game, but over the next two minutes and 24 seconds, the Griffins went on a 12-0 run to lead by 21 (32-11) at the 7:34 mark. The Griffins continued its hot-shooting the rest of the way and led 40-25 at the break. Stafford led with 16 points.

In the third, a 3-pointer from Stafford extended the Griffins advantage out to 50-32 with 5:06 on the clock. Despite the team shooting 28.0 percent from the floor in the third, the Griffins made up for that defensively with eight forced turnovers and they led 60-40 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, the Griffins shot a game-high 56.3 percent from the field and that proved to be more than enough with Fontbonne going on for the 26-point win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne shot 44.4 percent from the floor and drained 12 3-pointers.
• The team came away with 22 steals which tied its season-high they posted back on Jan. 5^th against Blackburn.
• The Griffins also tied its season-high with 26 assists and that tied its season-high they posted in its season opener against Robert Morris-Springfield.
• The Griffins scored 32 points off Iowa Wesleyan's turnovers.  
• The Tigers outrebounded Fontbonne 46-32, but never got its offense going with a 28.4 field goal percentage.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Stafford went 12-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-9 from downtown to set a new career-high with 31 points.
• Raven Venegas registered 16 points and six boards.
• Paige Black was the final player in double-figures with 13 points and tied the program record with nine steals in a single game. She's now up to 96 steals on the year which is tied for second all-time.

Iowa Wesleyan Leaders

• Darby Massner posted a double-double with 26 points and 14 rebounds.
• Allie Massner added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Up Next

• The Griffins close out its 2018-19 season in front of the home crowd on Saturday as they'll take on Spalding on Senior Day. 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.

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