Women's Basketball Hangs On For The One-Point Win Against UW-Plattesville

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team snapped its three-game skid on Friday night with an 82-81 victory over Wisconsin-Platteville.

Fontbonne (6-6), was on top 80-74 with 2:47 left in regulation but the Pioneers (4-6) rattled off a 5-0 run in a minute and 15 seconds to make it a one point game (80-79).

After an FBU timeout, Kaitlynn Walker went 1-of-2 from the line to give them a two point lead. The Pioneers had a chance to tie or take the lead but Maia Domask missed her jumped with 8.0 seconds remaining.

Rylee Stafford then went to the line and sank the first, however she missed the second which opened up the door for UW-Platteville. Kassie Bucholz raced down the court with 6.0 seconds on the clock. She couldn't get a 3-pointer up in time though as she settled for the lay-up to make it an 82-81 final.

The Griffins (6-6), shot 45.1 percent from the floor and a blazing 40.6 percent from downtown. The defense was just as impressive with its 31 turnovers.

Paige Black went 8-of-20 to finish with a team-high 21 points. Rylee Stafford went 5-of-8 from downtown and 6-of-11 overall to finish with 18 points off the bench, while Katie Sportsman contributed 10.

UW-Plattesville, meanwhile, shot 49.2 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Griffins 42-28. Buchholz led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. Lexis Macomber netted 13 off the bench.

Just two minutes into the first, the Griffins opened with a 10-4 lead on Raven Venegas' made jumper. At the 2:28 mark, Black netted one of her 3-pointers to expand the lead out to 22-14. One final bucket from Walker gave FBU a 24-17 advantage after one.

UW-Plattesville made its adjustments and came out charging in the second going on an 11-0 run to take a 28-24 (7:44) lead on Bucholz's 3-pointer.

Less than two minutes later, the Griffins got back on top at 31-30 on Mallory Proffer's made jump shot. Later, Sarah Schraut's 3-pointer with 2:36 to go gave Fontbonne some breathing room at 44-36. They never relinquished its lead the rest of the way, heading into the locker room on top by five (41-46).

UW-Platteville shot 61.5 percent from the floor in the second quarter but committed nine turnovers and 17 overall through the first 20:00 minutes of play.

In the third, after Jalen Knowlton sank her 3-pointer at 7:32 (51-48), the Griffins responded with consecutive 3-pointers from Schraut and Colleen Ahearn to take a 57-48 advantage.

FBU still lead 63-56 with 1:54 on the clock but a 4-0 run the final minute of play put the Pioneers down just three (63-60) going into the fourth.

In the finale, both teams exchanged lead changes but FBU led early 68-66 on Schraut's basket. They expanded that out to a 73-66 advantage on Walker's bucket and were in control with 6:30 left in regulation.

Despite the late rally from UW-Plattesville, the Griffins sank the necessary free throws to hang on for the one point win.

FBU returns to action tomorrow afternoon when they'll host Hendrix. Tip-off is set for 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.