Women's Basketball Knocks Off Spalding For Its Ninth Straight Win

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team continued its winning ways on Saturday picking up its ninth straight win and knocking off Spalding at home for the first time since 2017, 65-55.

Final: Fontbonne 65, Spalding 55

Location: DSAC

Records: Fontbonne (13-8; 12-2 SLIAC), Spalding (11-10; 9-5 SLIAC)

How It Happened

In the first quarter, the Griffins opened with a 10-2 lead on Raven Venegas' made jumper at the 6:57 mark. The Golden Eagles trimmed the deficit down to 10-7 two minutes and 40 seconds later, however, the Griffins finished out the final minutes on a 10-1 run to lead 20-8 after one.

Fontbonne shot 50.0 percent from the field in the first and outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 8-6. Defensively, they never let Spalding get into a rhythm with its 25.0 field goal percentage.

In the second, a layup from Madison Boaz gave Fontbonne a 24-14 lead with 5:50 remaining. Spalding continued to stay within striking distance as Meagan Hayden made her 3-pointer to put them down 27-21 with 2:18 on the clock.

A quick 4-0 run by Fontbonne had them back out ahead by 10 with 46.0 seconds left. After Maleah Hirn made her 3-pointer, the Griffins answered right back just before the horn sounding with Riley Guffey connecting on her 3-point attempt to give them the 34-24 advantage at the break.

In the third, a 3-pointer from Rylee Stafford had the Griffins ahead 39-27 at 7:23. The Golden Eagles continued to chip away at the lead by going on a 13-3 run in less than five minutes as Hirn's free throws made it a 42-40 contest.

Fontbonne responded with another 4-0 run to lead by six, however, the Golden Eagles stayed in it with Amber Higdon hitting her layup with 39.0 seconds left to put the Griffins lead at 46-43 going into the fourth.

In the fourth, the Golden Eagles grabbed its first lead of the game since it was 2-0 in the first quarter after Hirn made her jumper with 8:47 to go.

The Griffins regained the lead on the next possession and the two teams went basket-for-basket as the clock continued to tick away. At the 2:09 mark, the Golden Eagles were down 56-54 on Hirn going 1-of-2 from the line.

Fontbonne, though sealed the win at the line going 6-of-8 and closing out the final two minutes on a 9-1 run en route to the 65-55 win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne shot 39.6 percent from the floor and owned a 34-30 rebounding advantage.
• Spalding shot 40.0 percent from the field and had its struggles from the free throw line going 11-of-20 (55.0 percent).

Spalding Leaders

• Hirn led with a game-high 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
• Allison Just added 13 points, while Hunter Wright was limited to 10 points and eight rebounds.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Rylee Stafford led with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
• Jillian Venegas and Raven Venegas each nearly had a double-double with 10 points apiece and eight boards.
• Riley Guffey came off the bench to add 10 points.

Up Next

The Griffins look for its 10^th straight win next Wednesday when they'll visit Eureka. 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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