ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Spalding University women's basketball season saw their postseason hopes dashed falling at Fontbonne, 76-71, Saturday in St. Louis, Mo. With the loss the Golden Eagles record drops to 11-11 on the season and 6-8 in SLIAC play.

Senior guard Dee Dee Sliter had an outstanding performance leading the Golden Eagles with a team-high 16 points while shooting 80% (8-10) from the field. Alex Martin also finished in double-figures scoring 15 points, while passing out six assists and collecting four rebounds.

The Golden Eagles and Griffins were tied at 18 after one quarter. Sliter scored the game's first four points to give SU an early lead. Spalding stayed in front of the Griffins until a Katie Sportsman layup with 56 seconds remaining tied the game at 18. Megan Goeing and Maya Hardin both had looks at a three-pointer, but neither found the bottom of the net and first quarter ended tied at 18.

Similar to the first quarter, the Golden Eagles and Griffins went shot for shot in the second to go into the halftime break tied at 33 apiece. Spalding opened the quarter hot, hitting three of their first four shots taking a 25-18 lead after an Alex Martin three-pointer capped off a 7-0 run. An Allison Just layup would extend Spalding's lead to nine points, 31-22, with 3:47 to play in the quarter, but Fontbonne would close on an 11-2 run to tie it, 33-33, at the midway point.

Spalding won the third quarter, 23-16, to take a 56-49 lead into the final period. Over the first seven minutes the Golden Eagles outscored Fontbonne, 20-10, to extend their lead to double digits, 53-43, with 3:07 to go. Fontbonne closed the quarter with a Sarah Schraut jumper at the buzzer to cut the margin to seven heading into the final 10 minutes.

After holding the lead for much of the first 30 minutes, the Golden Eagles could not overcome a big fourth quarter push by the Griffins falling, 76-71. A Micaiah Bowden jumper to open the quarter extended SU's lead to nine points, 58-49. However, it was all Fontbonne the remainder of the game. First, the Griffins went on a 13-3 to take their first lead since the 31 second mark in the second quarter. Maya Hardin knocked down a jumper from beyond the arc to push SU back in front, 67-66, with 2:50 to play, but Fontbonne's Raven Venegas connected on back-to-back jumpers to put the Griffins in front for good.

Up next, the Golden Eagles will travel to Blackburn College to take on Beavers in Carlinville, Ill., Wednesday, February 15 at 7:00 pm EST.