Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season With Win Over Tigers, Stafford Scores Career-High 32

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Behind Rylee Stafford's career-high 32-point performance, the Fontbonne University women's basketball team closed out the regular season on a high note with a 78-67 win over Iowa Wesleyan.

How It Happened

Prior to the game, the Griffins honored Madison Boaz, Riley Guffey, Chloe Loehr, Rylee Stafford, and Jillian Venegas on Senior Day.

In the first quarter, the Griffins grabbed an 11-10 lead on Rylee Stafford's 3-pointer with 2:12 remaining. The Tigers, though closed out the quarter on an 8-2 run to lead by five after Sydney Farrar made her bucket just before the horn sounded.

In the second, the Tigers continued to hold its lead with Anija Simmons connecting on her layup giving them a 22-18 lead with 6:50 left. Fontbonne got the deficit down to one (24-23) on Stafford's layup three minutes later but that'd be as close as get with Iowa Wesleyan heading into the locker room on top, 32-27.

In the third, the Griffins offense started to get going opening with a 17-2 run in five minutes and 45 seconds time to own a 41-34 advantage on Jillian Venegas' layup.

The Tigers, however, clawed back into the game and evened up the scoreboard at 45-45 on Morgan McCrea's 3-pointer. Prior to the quarter ending, though Jillian Venegas made her jumper with seconds left to give them a two-point lead going into the fourth.

In the fourth, the Griffins led 51-45 with 8:58 remaining. The Tigers kept battling and took a 59-54 lead with 6:22 left in regulation on Hannah Sykora's made jumper. Over the next five minutes, the Griffins rattled off a 16-2 run to lead 70-61. From there, the Griffins went 7-of-9 from the free throw line securing the win over Iowa Wesleyan.

Head-to-Head

• The Griffins shot 40.3 percent from the floor and got to the charity-stripe a season-high 30 times, connecting on 24 attempts.
• The team also dished out a season-high 15 assists.
• The Tigers shot 37.2 percent from the floor and went just 3-of-25 from downtown (12.0 percent).

Fontbonne Leaders

• Stafford went off for a career-high 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting, going 8-of-8 from the line, and pulled down nine boards.
• Jillian Venegas got it done on both ends of the floor totaling a season-high 15 points and 14 rebounds for her second double-double on the year.
• Riley Guffey added 13 points and seven boards.

Up Next

The Griffins will now get ready for the SLIAC Tournament which is set to begin on April 7^th. An opponent is set to be announced with game time starting 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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