DeVaughn Rucker drives to the net against Fontbonne in 2018. The WashU basketball team has a storied history with Fontbonne. (Grace Bruton | Student Life)

The WashU women’s basketball team put together a dominant performance at Fontbonne University on Dec. 10. Yet after the game, the win was the last thing on head coach Lisa Stone’s mind.

In the postgame handshake line, Stone entered an extended embrace with Fontbonne senior guard Ja’mise Bailey, one of six seniors on the Griffins’ roster. 

“I gave her a lot of credit for staying for four years,” Stone said. “I said, ‘What a great reward for you. I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for staying committed to Fontbonne.’”

With the No. 15 women’s team’s 93-35 win, and the No. 2 men’s team’s 107-57 victory later that night, WashU played its final basketball games against its neighbor Fontbonne, which will close after the 2024-25 academic year. Fontbonne’s gym and facilities will soon adorn WashU red and green, when WashU absorbs Fontbonne’s land into its campus over the summer. 

After both WashU wins, the Dunham Center — Fontbonne’s home gym — was eerily quiet.

“We respect this rivalry,” WashU head men’s basketball coach Pat Juckem said after the game. “I have a lot of appreciation for their guys. This isn’t an easy situation.” 

The WashU women have played Fontbonne 47 times in program history, dating back to a 51-44 win over the Griffins in 1979-80, the WashU women’s basketball program’s inaugural season. According to the WashU Athletic Department, women’s basketball has won the last 23 matchups in the rivalry. The last time Fontbonne women’s basketball won the Wydown Showdown was in 2000-01. Later that season, the Bears would go on to win their fourth consecutive national championship. 

Stone’s first WashU-Fontbonne game as head coach was also her last. Still, she recognized the importance of the game to WashU’s women’s basketball history.

“It’s sad to see [Fontbonne] closing,” Stone said. “It’s been a local, easy game for us to travel to, and at the end of the day, I wish them well.” 

Graduate student Jessica Brooks (#30) goes for a rebound against Fontbonne’s Ja’mise Bailey (#3) and Maura Oge (#5) during a free throw by senior forward Brenna Loftus (#42) in the Bears’ win on Dec. 10. (Courtesy of Thurman Brooks)

Stone rotated through her entire roster in the win, with graduate student guard Jessica Brooks and junior forward Nailah McBeth leading the team in points. After losses to No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan University and the unranked University of Wisconsin–Platteville, the win was a step in the right direction for the Bears. 

“We’ve got to keep getting 1% better every single day,” Stone said. “We’ve got to grow our defense and get a better pace on offense.” 

The two men’s teams have a shorter history than their respective women’s teams, having only played 25 times; WashU finished 24-1 against Fontbonne, the lone loss coming in the 1996-97 season. The Bears beat Fontbonne in the only NCAA tournament matchup between the two teams, a first round matchup in the 2006-07 season where WashU advanced to the Final Four. Juckem noted that while WashU has been successful against the Griffins historically, the Fontbonne program has been successful, both recently and historically.

“This is a team that has been in the last two NCAA tournaments,” Juckem said. “We played them last year at our place, and they kept it very competitive.” 

Unfortunately for the Griffins, many players graduated or transferred away from Fontbonne this season, ahead of the school’s closure. Fontbonne’s top three scorers in last year’s 96-75 defeat are no longer on their roster. Both Fontbonne teams played with thin benches, and the men’s team lacked the starpower that brought them to the tournament in the last two seasons. 

The men’s team used the game as an opportunity to play some of their younger, less experienced players. First-year guard Lleyton Thomas-Johnson led the Bears in minutes played, slammed home three dunks against the Fontbonne defense, and tied with sophomore guard Ryan Cohen — who shot 5-7 from 3-point range — for the lead with 17 points. Sophomore guards Emmett Lawton and Lucas Vogel also shined for the Bears in the decisive win, with each adding three 3-pointers. 

“The young guys have some real gifts, and so we’re going to need those guys now and in the future,” Juckem said. “Today was a good opportunity for them to go and play in a meaningful game.” 

For the Bears, the wins were just another step in the right direction for two of the nation’s top Division III basketball programs. The men will travel to play No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan on Dec. 19 in one of the highest leverage games of the young Division III basketball season, and the first test against a ranked opponent for the undefeated No. 2 Bears. The women will next face Greenville University on Dec. 17. 

Fontbonne’s closure is a sad ending for the Griffins’ basketball program. For WashU, the school that will unofficially keep Fontbonne’s memory alive, the Wydown Showdown is vital to the history of the program. 

“There’s a lot of pride on Big Bend,” Stone said. “I hope that their last year will be the most memorable.”