Women's Basketball Drops Its Home Opener Against Rhodes

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team saw its home opener get spoiled against Rhodes on Saturday afternoon with the Lynx coming away with the 77-71 win.

Final: Rhodes 77, Fontbonne 71

Location: DSAC

Records: Rhodes 2-3, Fontbonne 1-3

How It Happened

After trailing early 4-2 in the first quarter, the Griffins went on a 7-0 run to gain the 9-4 advantage on Raven Venegas' layup at 6:22. The Griffins maintained its lead the rest of the way as they were on top 14-8 after a quarter of play.

In the second, a 3-pointer from Mallory Proffer gave Fontbonne a 19-10 lead at 7:37. Two minutes and change later, the team kept its nine-point (24-15) lead intact with Stafford draining her 3-pointer and that forced the Lynx coaching staff to take a timeout.

However, the Lynx went on a 13-4 run to gain the 28-27 lead with 45.0 seconds remaining. Prior to the break, Stafford made her jumper to give Fontbonne the one-point advantage at halftime.

In the third, Kiera Downey hit her jumper at the 7:19 mark to give Rhodes a 32-31 lead. The Lynx held onto its marginal lead up until 2:20 when Kourtney White drained her jumper to tie the contest up, 41-41.

The Lynx, though regained the lead on the next possession and fended off Fontbonne the rest of the way to own the 47-45 lead going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was an offensive surge for both teams as they combined for 56 points. Rhodes went 9-of-12 (75.0 percent) from the field and hit all three of its 3-pointers. Fontbonne, meanwhile, connected on 52.6 percent of its shots and went 6-of-8 from the line.

At the 8:21 mark, the Griffins grabbed the lead back on Madison Boaz hitting a 3-pointer. Three minutes later, a bucket from White put Fontbonne down 60-59. However, the Lynx rattled off an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take the nine-point lead.

The Griffins got the lead down to 71-67 with 2:05 left but that'd be as close as they'd get with Rhodes hanging on for the six-point win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne shot a season-high 47.3 percent from the floor and tied its season-high with 37 rebounds.
• The Griffins also dished out a season-high 17 assists.
• Rhodes ended with a 46.0 field goal percentage and pulled down 38 boards.

Rhodes Leaders

• Kiera Downey led the floor with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting.
• Alyssa Owens added a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards, while Alli Mayeux contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Kourtney White led with a team and career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. She handed out five assists and collected four rebounds.
• Rylee Stafford just missed out on a double-double with a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds.
• Raven Venegas tied Stafford with 13 points.

Up Next

The team returns to action on Monday at home when they'll take on No. 3-ranked Wartburg. Tip-off at 4 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates on the women's basketball team.

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