Women's Basketball Tied For Fifth In SLIAC Preseason Poll

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) released the 2019-20 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll and the Griffins are picked to finish tied for fifth.

Spalding, who made the SLIAC Championship last season, are picked to finish first with 70 points and two first-place votes. The reigning SLIAC Champion, Grenville University, slides in second with 64 points and three first-place votes.

Webster comes in third with 63 points and the most first-place votes with four, while Westminster rounds out the top four at 52 points.

Last season, the Griffins finished 11-14 overall and 7-9 in conference play. The team averaged 69.6 points and shot 39.7 percent from the floor.

This year, the team looks to replace departed senior Paige Black, who was named to the SLIAC All-Conference Third Team a season ago.

The team does bring back Rylee Stafford after she was named to the SLIAC All-Conference Second Team where she averaged a team-high 15.4 points, shot 39.5 percent from the floor, 78.6 percent from the line, totaled 115 boards, 51 assists, and 51 steals, all of which are career-highs.

The Griffins will also look to Raven Venegas to have another standout season. In 2018-19, the Racine, Wis., native, averaged a career-high 12.2 points, shot a career-high 54.7 percent from the floor, and pulled down 146 rebounds. She also set new career-highs in assists (39) and steals (34).

Fontbonne will look to newcomers Katie Grimes, Madison Lynch, Amaya Earls, Hannah Scharenberg, Taylor Sloan, Kourtney White, and Haley Buscher to make an impact in 2019-20.

To view the entire Preseason SLIAC Poll visit HERE.

The Griffins season gets underway next Tuesday when they'll visit the University of Missouri Tigers for an exhibition. Tip-off at 7 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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