The Lady Golden Eagles fell to Fontbonne 70-57 Tuesday night at Derek Smith Gymnasium. Melinda Leavell led Spalding with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Fontbonne jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but a Jessica Guy jumper tied the game at 2 all. Spalding then took the lead 3-2 on a Guy free throw, but the Griffins responded with a jumper to regain a 4-3 lead. On the next possession Melinda Leavell nailed a deep three pointer to regain a 6-4 lead for the Lady Golden Eagles. Fontbonne responded with a 10-0 run to take a 14-6 lead with 13:34 remaining in the first half. A Kerstin Hayes steal resulting in a free throw ended the Fontbonne run, and cut the Griffin lead to 7. Fontbonne pushed their lead back to 9, but two free throws by Kristen Davis and a jumper by Lindsey Roarx made it 16-11 at the 9:52 mark in the first half. Kerstin Hayes hit a runner putting Spalding within 3 at 16-13 with 8:56 left in the first half. Fontebonne extended their lead to five, but a Leavell three and Hannah Washle steal for a layup tied the game at 18. Fontbonne went up 22-18 on consecutive baskets by Chelsey Fremuth forcing coach Just to call a timeout with 4:59 left in the first. Fontbonne extended their lead to 8 until another deep Leavell three cut it to 5 at the 1:20 mark in the first. A Spalding shot clock violation led to a Griffins runner at the buzzer putting Fontbonne up 28-21 at the half. Melinda Leavell led Spalding in the first half with 9 points while going 3 of 5 from behind the arc.

Megan Davis hit a jumper to start the second half, cutting Fontbonne’s lead to 5. Fontbonne responded with a 5-0 run extending their lead to 33-23. Megan Davis hit a three pointer to get Spalding within 7 at 33-26. Fontbonne responded with a 6-0 run extending their lead to 39-26 with 14:24 to play. Melinda Leavell stopped the run with two free throws, but a Fontbonne three on their next possession extended the Griffins lead to 14 at 42-28. Two more Griffin free throws extended their lead to 16 before a Washle three cut it back to 13. A missed layup by LaQuisha Boyd led to a layup by Fontbonne putting the Griffins up 15 with 11:58 to play. Jessica Guy went 1 of 2 from the free throw line to cut Fontbonne’s lead to 14 at 46-32 with 11:11 to play. Washle added another free throw to get Spalding within 13 at 46-33. Fontebonne hit two free throws, but a Leavell jumper kept the Griffins lead at 13. Both teams exchanged free throws until a 5-0 Fontbonne run put the Griffins up 57-39. The Lady Golden Eagles fought back going on a 4-0 run cutting the deficit to 14 at 57-43 with 4:56 to play. Fontbonne would extend their lead to 16 before a Melinda Leavell three pointer cut the Griffins lead to 13, but that’s as close as the Lady Golden Eagles would get falling 70-57. You can catch the Lady Golden Eagles in action at home on Thursday at 6:00pm when they take on the Blackburn College Beavers.

Tags: Women's Basketball //