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Video Action From the 2nd Half

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – VCU (9-15, 2-7) used a big second half run to pull away for a 64-51 victory over St. Bonaventure (9-15, 2-7) in Atlantic 10 women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon at the Reilly Center.

As the regular season begins to wind down, wins become increasingly important in order to secure a spot in the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia come March. Entering today's matchup, the Bonnies were 2-6 in A-10 play and resting in the 12th and final spot of the qualifiers for the A-10 Tournament.

The Bonnies jumped ahead early thanks to some hot shooting by Katie Healy. The freshman scored eight of the first 10 points for the Brown and White. By the under-12 media timeout, the Bonnies held a 10-5 advantage.

VCU did not allow the lead to last very long however. The Rams commenced on a 6-0 run after the timeout to take an 11-point lead with 6:32 left in the first half.

Emily Michael took the lead back for the Bonnies with a triple leading to St. Bonaventure jumping out to a 20-16 advantage. VCU would tie the score at 21 with 52 seconds left in the half, but with time expiring, Ashley Zahn launched a deep triple from the left wing that splashed home as the buzzer sounded, giving the Brown and White a 24-21 halftime lead.

At the break, Katie Healy led all scorers with nine points. She also grabbed seven rebounds.

The second half early on was a story of lead changes. VCU jumped ahead 27-24 immediately but a free throw from Ortega and a triple from Zahn gave advantage back to the Bonnies. The Rams re-claimed the lead on their very next possession. This trend carried on until the 6:10 mark when VCU turned their four-point lead into a then game-high seven-point lead on a Jessica Pellechio three-ball.

St. Bonaventure struggled to mount any consistent offense and as a result were never able to make a comeback once VCU seized control of the scoreboard. Every time the Bonnies made shots, VCU answered right back. The Rams coasted to the 64-51 victory, claiming their second A-10 win and first every victory over the Bonnies.

Overall the lead would change 13 times in the game, with nine of those coming in the second half. Freshman Katie Healy was held to just 11 points after scoring eight of the first 10. She did however record her first career double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds, which by association are a career-high.

Doris Ortega scored 12 points on 3-8 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, narrowly avoiding her sixth career double-double.

GAME NOTES: The Bonnies made an Atlantic 10 season high seven threes in the matchup. As a team they shot 36.0 percent while holding VCU to 36.4 percent. This marks just second time this season the Bonnies have lost to a team that shot less than 40 percent in that game. With the loss the Bonnies fall into a tie for 12th with VCU.