WEBSTER GROVES – Webster University outscored Fontbonne 48-21 in the second half here Saturday afternoon en route to posting a 72-42 women's basketball victory over the Griffins in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium.
 
With the victory, Webster improves to 12-4 overall and 7-2 in the SLIAC, while Fontbonne falls to 6-10 overall and 3-5 in the league. The victory also extended Webster's home court win streak to six straight games and its home SLIAC streak to eight straight games dating to last season.
 
After a sloppily played first half that featured a combined 28 turnovers and 23 missed shots, including 15 turnovers and 13 missed shots by the Gorloks, who led 24-21 at the half, Webster would find its groove in the third quarter as they used a 15-2 over a span of three-plus minutes to turn a 28-25 lead into a 43-27 advantage. The run began with a basket from freshman forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran) and was capped by a lay-up from junior guard Jaysea Morgan (Fisk, Mo./Twin Rivers). During the run, Beussink scored six of her game-high 20 points. In fact, Beussink and Morgan combined to score 10 of WU's 15 points. 
 
The Griffins, who have now lost five consecutive games to the Gorloks in the 'Battle of Big Bend', hit two free throws in a span of 20 seconds to stop WU's run and pull within 43-29 with 3:01 left in the quarter. That would be as close Fontbonne in the quarter as the Gorloks outscored the Griffins, 9-4 to take a 52-33 lead into the fourth quarter. 
 
Along with the 20 points, Beussink also pulled down 11 rebounds for her team-best sixth double-double of the season. The only other double digit scorer in the for the Gorloks was sophomore guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) as she tallied 12 points and added five boards and four assists. Johnson scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half. 
 
Along with Beussink and Johnson, Morgan and freshman guard Hannah Cottrell (Steelville, Mo./Steelville) each had nine points and combined for 11 boards and six steals as Cottrell had six boards and three streals and Morgan pulled down five boards and three steals. 
 
Holding a 19 point lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Gorloks opened the final 10 minutes of the contest by scoring 11 of the first 14 points in the quarter to push its lead to 63-36 following a lay-up by Beussink with 6:37 left in the game. During that 11-3 run to open the fourth quarter, Beussink and Johnson scored all 11 of WU's points. 
 
The Gorloks lead eventually reached 30 points after 69-39 following a lay-up from sophomore forward Darieana Hunter (Norman, Okla./Norman) with 2:19 remaining in the game. Fontbonne would score three straight points to cut the deficit to 69-42, before freshman forward Courtney Ragland (New Athens, Ill./New Athens) would score the three straight points to set the final margin.
 
Webster's defense played a strong role in Saturday's win as the Gorloks forced 31 turnovers that led to 38 points, including forcing 18 turnovers and scoring 31 points off those 18 miscues in the second half. It marked the sixth time this season that Webster had forced 30 or more turnovers in a game. 
 
For the game, 10 players recorded at least steal as WU finished with 24 in the game, including freshman forward Brylee Manes (Republic, Mo./Republic) leading the way with a career-high tying four steals in her first game since Dec. 1 against Iowa Wesleyan. Manes had missed the previous 11 games for the Gorloks after injuring her hand against Iowa Wesleyan. 
 
Rylee Stafford led Fontbonne with 10 points, while Riley Guffey and Sarah Schraut each had seven points in the loss. Raven Villegas pulled down a game-high 13 boards, but finished with just six points as she was 2-for-9 shooting from the field for the game. 
 
Webster finished the contest shooting 38 percent from the field, but connected on just two of its 10 3-pointers (20 percent) and shot 74 percent from the free throw line, including a 9-for-11 effort at the line in the first half. 
 
Meanwhile, Fontbonne shot just 25 percent from the field and seven percent (1-for-15) from the 3-point line. In addition, the Griffins were just 15-for-25 (60 percent) from the free throw line. 
 
The Gorloks held a 53-39 edge on the glass, including collecting 23 offensive boards and had 18 assists on 28 made baskets. WU also had 22 turnovers, but committed just seven turnovers in the second half, including just two in the third quarter. 
 
Webster will look to make it seven straight wins as home as they host Principia College for a 5:30 p.m. non-conference game on Monday, Jan. 21 at Grant Gymnasium. The Principia game was originally scheduled for last Saturday, but was postponed to a winter storm that dumped nearly 13 inches of snow in the St. Louis area.