Griffins Struggle From Downtown Against Hendrix

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's basketball team had hopes of closing out the 2017 year with a win, however, Hendrix pulled away in the second half for the 64-52 win.

The Griffins (6-7), defense for the second straight game was impressive forcing 19 turnovers, giving them 50 in the last two games.

The offense, though was a different story today. Fontbonne shot 33.8 percent from the floor and a season-low 10.0 percent (3-of-30) from downtown.

Sarah Schraut had herself a game with a team-high 14 points and six boards. Mallory Proffer added nine off the bench, while Riley Guffey went 3-of-8 to finish with seven points.

Hendrix (8-3), shot just 39.6 percent from the floor themselves. They got to the line 11 more times than Fontbonne as they went 19-of-23. The Warriors also controlled the glass with a 44-34 advantage.

Individually, Madison Martin was dominant down low as she led all scorers with her 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting. Vinessa Daniel knocked in 9-of-12 from the free throw line to finish with 16 points. Leah Smith, meanwhile, contributed 10 off the bench.

In the first quarter, Fontbonne opened up with a 9-4 lead at the 5:35 mark on Paige Black's 3-pointer. Hendrix went on to tie it at 11-11 with 1:18 to go but Katie Sportsman's bucket just 12.0 seconds later gave FBU a 13-11 lead after one.

In the second, the back-and-forth play continued with Hendrix offense never getting into a rhythm against the Griffins press defense.

With 6:07 on the clock, Sportsman's basket extended the advantage out to 20-16. That score remained the same for the next five minutes until Martin made both of her free throw attempts.

Later, Schraut added a lay-up to give FBU a 24-20 lead and despite a late basket from Hendrix, the Griffins headed into the locker room ahead by two (24-22). The Griffins defense was stout forcing 14 turnovers in the first half alone. That changed in the second half with Hendrix making the necessary adjustments to finish with just five turnovers.

In the third, multiple lead changes were made early but Maddie Anderson earned the old-fashioned three-point play to give Hendrix a 33-30 lead four minutes in.

At 2:42, the Warriors led 39-32 but the Griffins got right back in it with a 5-0 run over the next 58.0 seconds to make it 39-37 on Black's 3-pointer. Hendrix never relinquished its lead and went into the fourth leading 45-39.

In the fourth, Scharut's lay-up at 8:48 narrowed the deficit down to 45-41. Over the next two minutes, the Warriors expanded its lead out to 53-41 on Martin's bucket in the paint. They maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way as Hendrix fended off Fontbonne, 64-52.

FBU returns to SLIAC action to start the New Year next Wednesday night as they'll square off on the road against Westminster. Tip-off at 6 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.