1/3/2024 Fulton, Mo- The Westminster College women's basketball team was back in action after their holiday trip to Las Vegas and hosted the Fontbonne University Griffins to start the SLIAC portion of their schedule. It was a contested game with 10 ties and 9 lead changes. After entering the 4th quarter with a two-point lead, the Griffins outscored the Blue Jays 23-17 and lost 81-77. The Griffins improved to 1-11 on the season and 1-4 in the SLIAC. The Blue Jays fell to 4-8 on the season and 2-3 in the SLIAC.
Fontbonne would set the tone on the opening possession, hitting the first of twelve three-pointers they would make in the game to take an early 3-0 lead. The Blue Jays would score six in a row to take a 6-3 lead. The Griffins hit their second three to tie the game at 6-6 and it would be a battle for the next 35 minutes of game time. Fontbonne ended the first quarter with a 20-18 lead.
Westminster would tie at 20-20 to start the 2nd quarter. The Griffins would go on a run, hitting a barrage of three-pointers and jumping out to a 40-33 lead. Chole Akerson stopped the run, hitting a three of her own with 2:38 left in the first half to make it 40-36. Tristan Porter would get an offensive rebound put back at the buzzer to put the Blue Jays down two points, 42-40 heading into halftime.
After halftime, senior Caragan Lockard went on a scoring spree, scoring 6 straight points, which put the Jays up 46-44. Westminster would continue to grow their lead, going up 54-49 with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The Griffins would battle back and regain the lead at 56-54 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. Annette Ramirez would put the Blue Jays up 2 heading to the fourth quarter with a 60-58 lead.
Fontbonne hit back-to-back threes to start the 4th quarter taking the lead back at 64-60. The Blue Jays would tie the game for the last time at 64-64 with 6:22 remaining. The Griffins would rattle off a 10-0 run and had a 74-64 lead with 3:42 remaining. Westminster would have a late rally to cut the lead to four points, 79-75 with 49 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, it would be too little too late as Fontbonne held on to win the game 81-77.
Annette Ramirez led the Blue Jays with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Caragan Lockard had 12 points and 5 rebounds, she would go 5-6 from the field and 2-3 from the free throw line. Olivia Hixson was the third Blue Jays to score in double-figures, scoring 11 points, she would also have 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and a team-high 4 steals.
The Blue Jays will look to break their three-game losing streak on Saturday, January 6th when they host Spalding University at 1:00 pm inside the Historic Gym.
