Sias Named Coach Of The Year, Stafford Player Of The Year, Raven Venegas, And Proffer Honored By SLIAC

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) released the 2019-20 Women's Basketball All-Conference Team tonight and the Griffins came away big winners.

Head Coach Maureen Sias was named SLIAC Coach of the Year. Rylee Stafford earned SLIAC Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors, while Raven Venegas joined Stafford on the First Team. Mallory Proffer was named to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

For the first time in her career, head coach Maureen Sias was named SLIAC Coach of the Year. She guided the team to a program record 15 conference wins and to the No. 2 seed in the SLIAC Tournament which is its highest since 2009-10.

She joins Keith Quigley, who won the award six times, as the lone coaches in program history to be named SLIAC Coach of the Year.

Rylee Stafford, a Jackson, Mo., native, wins her first SLIAC Player of the Year award and was named to the All-Conference First Team for the first time in her career. She's the first player since Emmie Haring (2016-17) and sixth player to earn the honor at Fontbonne.

Stafford had a phenomenal regular season for Fontbonne where she averaged a career-high 16.5 points on a 40.5 field goal percentage. She also drained a career-high 80 3-pointers to become the single-season leader at Fontbonne. She broke the previous mark of 76 held by Laurie Kralemann during the 1995-96 season.  In 18 conference games, the junior guard averaged 19.3 points, while shooting 45.0 percent from the floor, 38.4 percent from downtown, and 80.3 percent from the free throw line.

She also joined the 1,000 career point club at Fontbonne and moved up to seventh all-time totaling 1,54.

Raven Venegas is back on the All-Conference Team after being named to the First Team in 2019-20 for the first time in her illustrious career. The Racine, Wis., native, dominated SLIAC foes once again where she averaged 12.0 points on a 54.1 field goal percentage in 17 conference games.

Like Stafford, Raven Venegas became the ninth player all-time at Fontbonne to eclipse 1,000 career points as she sits with 1,011 in her career. She finishes out her career at Fontbonne averaging 10.9 points, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor, totaling 1,027 points, 540 rebounds, 14 assists, and 130 steals.

Mallory Proffer, meanwhile, was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team for the second straight season. The Wildwood, Mo., native, averaged a career-high 6.7 points per game, while shooting 36.0 percent from the floor and 33.0 percent from beyond-the-arc.

Proffer ends her Fontbonne career averaging 6.0 points, shooting 36.3 percent from the floor, 31.0 percent from downtown, 77.1 percent from the free throw line, totaling 457 points, 255 rebounds, 128 assists, and 112 steals.

To view the All-Conference Team visit HERE

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