Spalding overtakes Griffins in second half

St. Louis, Mo. - A back and fourth first half had fans ready for what lay ahead after halftime, but the Griffins got into foul trouble early, totaling 10 second-half fouls with nine minutes left to play. Spalding University took advantage as the Fontbonne fell 63-48. Today's game was the fourth for the Golden Eagles in eight days. Spalding came off their first conference loss of the season Thursday night at Iowa Wesleyan.

Fontbonne held a brief lead early in the game (8-5) before Spalding gained control and never looked back. The Golden Eagles led for a total of 36 minutes minutes. At halftime the Griffins were trailing by a small margin of seven points. Spalding was ahead by ten points with 16:44 to go when Fontbonne cut the lead to three with 10:49 to go. The Golden Eagles scored seven straight points to lead by 10 once again. Fontbonne tried to make a comeback but their fouls took its toll, allowing Spalding to get ahead by as many as 18 points.

Kayla Styles and Jessica Guy each recorded 19 points and 11 and 17 rebounds respectively. Styles also recorded three assists, three steals and a block while Guy contributed with four steals and three assists. The Golden Eagles blanked from long range in the second half and were just 15.8% from behind the arc all game.

Fontbonne yielded the higher field goal percentage, however the Griffins scored zero three-pointers on ten tries and shot a season-low 44.4% from the free-throw line. Olivia Hollander scored the team-high 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double. She also tallied two blocks on the afternoon. Erika Kuhn totaled 11 points with seven rebounds. The junior was 5-for-6 from the free throw line.

Fontbonne will travel to Greenville College to take on the Panthers on Wednesday, February 4th at 6pm.