Four Griffins Reach Double-Figures In Road Win At Westminster

FULTON, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team earned a key road win against Westminster on Wednesday as they came away with the 76-68 win. It's the first win for Fontbonne at Westminster since 2010.

Final: Fontbonne 76, Westminster 68

Location: Fulton, Mo.

Records: Fontbonne (6-8; 5-2 SLIAC), Westminster (5-9; 4-3 SLIAC)

How It Happened

In the first quarter, Rylee Stafford went 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 6-6 with 4:46 remaining. However, the Blue Jays closed out the quarter on an 11-1 run to lead 17-7 after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, the Blue Jays led 21-12 at 6:54 on Abbie Reece going 1-of-2 from the line. The Griffins, though continued to chip away at the lead with Riley Guffey hitting her layup to make it a 27-23 contest with 1:21 remaining.

After Kallee Dowler went 1-of-2 from the line, the Griffins closed out the quarter on a 4-0 run getting buckets from Raven Venegas and Guffey to trim the deficit down to 28-27 at the break.  

The Griffins went 2-of-14 from the floor in the first but bounce back in the second going 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) and outrebounded the Blue Jays, 11-10.

In the third, the Griffins grabbed a 29-28 advantage right out of the gate on Raven Venegas' layup. Later, at 6:01, Raven Venegas made another layup to give Fontbonne the lead back, 35-33. However, the Blue Jays came down the court and got a 3-pointer from Kallee Dowler to give them the 36-35 lead.

From there, the Blue Jays never relinquished the advantage as they got a basket from Mikalyn Callahan with 11.0 seconds left to give them a 44-42 lead going into the fourth.

It was a busy fourth quarter with the two teams trading lead changes eight times through seven minutes but for the fourth time in the quarter they met-up, 62-62, on Raven Venegas' made jumper with 2:36 remaining in regulation.

After the Blue Jays regained the lead, the Griffins responded with Raven Venegas again coming through with her made jumper. On the ensuing possession, however, Mallory Proffer came away with a steal and found Stafford who drained her 3-pointer at 1:34 to give Fontbonne a 67-64 lead.

In the final minutes, the Griffins got it done from the charity-stripe going 9-of-10 to secure the eight-point victory.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne shot 43.9 percent from the floor and tied its season-high with 22 made free throws.
• Westminster ended with a 37.7 field goal percentage but struggled from downtown going 5-of-22 (22.7 percent).
• The Blue Jays outrebounded Fontbonne, 40-36.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Raven Venegas just missed out on a double-double finishing with a team-high 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting and added nine rebounds.
• Stafford ended with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Riley Guffey came up clutch off the bench with a season-high 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
• Kourtney White was the final player in double-figures with 13.

Westminster Leaders

• Mikalyn Callahan registered a double-double with a game-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting and pulled down 11 boards.
• Abbie Reece and Reese Arnold tied with 11 points each, while Kallee Dowler added 10 points.

Up Next

The Griffins are back in action this Saturday when they'll head up north to take on Iowa Wesleyan. Tip-off at 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.

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