Women's Basketball Hangs On For Win At Eureka, Stafford Scores 18 Of Game-High 27 In Fourth

EUREKA, Ill.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team used a 26-16 fourth quarter outburst to earn a nine-point win over Eureka on Tuesday.

Final: Fontbonne 68, Eureka 59

How It Happened

Fontbonne opened with a 7-2 lead on Rylee Stafford's 3-pointer at 6:42. Neither team shot the ball particularly well the rest of the way with Eureka leading 13-11 after one.

The Red Devils held its marginal lead in the second until Jillian Venegas' bucket and a 3-pointer from Riley Guffey just under the four-minute mark gave Fontbonne the 23-18 advantage. The Griffins never relinquished its lead the final minutes and headed into the locker room on top, 27-24.

In the third, with 5:58 remaining, the Griffins led 37-29 on Jillian Venegas' 3-pointer. Over the next two minutes and 25 seconds the Red Devils went on a 9-0 run to grab the one-point lead.

Fontbonne took the lead back but prior to the quarter ending Marissa Murphy hit her layup and got fouled on the play. She went on to make her free throw for the 3-point play giving Eureka the 43-42 advantage into the fourth.

The fourth belonged to Fontbonne and Stafford. At 6:15, Stafford made her layup to give Fontbonne a 49-48 lead. From there, she went on to score 14 of the teams 19 points as the Griffins were able to hang on for the nine-point win.

Head-to-Head

• The Griffins shot 39.7 percent from the floor and drained a season-high 13 3-pointers.
• They also set a new season-high with 44 rebounds.
• Eureka shot 34.8 percent from the field.
• The Red Devils scored 26 points of 24 Fontbonne turnovers.
• The Red Devils outscored Fontbonne 36-22 in the paint.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Stafford scored 18 of her game-high 27 points in the fourth. The Jackson, Mo., native, went 10-of-22 from the floor and 6-of-14 from downtown.
• Jillian Venegas went off for a season-high 13 points and pulled down a career-best 15 boards. It was her first career double-double.
• Kourtney White ended with nine points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

Up Next

The Griffins are back in action at home on Friday night when they'll host Westminster. 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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