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ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure women's basketball team made a late push by scoring 11 of the game's final 13 points, but it wasn't enough as the Bonnies (9-17, 2-9 Atlantic 10) fell, 67-63, to No. 14/14 Dayton (23-1, 11-0) on Thursday night at the Reilly Center.
Both teams started the game cold offensively but the intensity was evident on both ends. The first field goal wasn't scored until the 17:40 mark of the first half when Doris Ortega collected an offensive rebound and finished the put-back. Dayton, however, answered right back with a triple.
The trading of baskets carried on until the 12:30 mark when Alaina Walker made a pair of free throws bringing the score to 11-10 in favor of Dayton. From there, the Flyers commenced on a 10-0 run that would provide the margin for most of the game.
Freshman Nyla Rueter came off the bench and hit a jumper to stop the run. Doris Ortega followed that up with a lay-in, forcing Dayton to call timeout. The Bonnies were able to keep the Dayton lead at our around eight to ten points until Dayton took an 11-point advantage, 32-21, thanks to a jumper from Andrea Hoover with just 33 seconds left.
The Bonnies held for the final shot of the half and it was Doris Ortega finding Emily Michael on the left wing who buried a triple to give the Bonnies a 32-24 deficit to work with at halftime.
Despite shooting just 8-29 from the floor (27.6%), the Brown and White only trailed by eight points to the No. 14 team in the nation. The much larger Dayton only out-rebounded the Bonnies by five (27-22) in the first half. Just 6-11 shooting from the charity stripe in the first half would prove troublesome for the Bonnies in the second half as well.
The two squads traded baskets early in the second half but Dayton ballooned their lead to a game-high 15, 44-29 with 14:03 to play. From this point on, the Bonnies commenced on their best shooting half of the season.
Katie Healy canned a triple, followed by a Walker jumper in the lane to cut the lead to 12. Emily then hit one of her career-high tying four threes on the night. Nyla Rueter then went on a personal 7-4 run with two pull-up jumpers and a long three ball.
The St. Bonaventure offense was flowing but their defense was faltering. The teams traded baskets yet again over the next seven minutes. With 37 seconds remaining and the Bonnies trailing by 13, this team showed just how hot they can get.
Alaina Walker drove the length of the floor after a made free throw and finished a lay-in. Katie Healy then stole the inbounds pass and drove in for contested lay-up that she converted and drew a foul for. She missed the free throw but Ortega corralled the offensive rebound and found Emily Michael wide open for another three. The Bonnies press then forced Dayton into yet another turnover.
Coach Crowley called a timeout with the Bonnies now trailing 65-58 with just 18 seconds left. Out of timeout, a perfectly executed play found Katie Healy open in the left corner for three. The Lancaster, N.Y. native buried it, cutting the lead to just four with 9 seconds left.
With the game no longer in doubt however following a pair of Dayton free throws, Alaina Walker still drove hard to the other end and drilled a running long two as time expired. Dayton had held on to win 67-63.
A legitimate rivalry in the Atlantic 10 has formed between these two programs. The last four matchups between these teams have been decided by a combined total of 15 points. The last three have only been decided by an average of 2.7 points.
The Bonnies put four players in double-figures for the first time this season. Alaina Walker tossed in a game-high 17 in her return to the lineup after missing the Butler game. Doris Ortega scored 12 points, putting her in double-figures for the seventh straight game, the longest such streak of any St. Bona player this season. Emily Michael dropped an A-10 career-high tying 12 points. Katie Healy scored 11 points, giving her a double-digit number for the seventh time in the last eight games. Nyla Rueter added nine points off the bench. The three freshmen accounted for 50.7 percent of the Bonnies scoring tonight.
St. Bonaventure, now at 2-9 in Atlantic 10 play must win their remaining three regular season games to have their best chance of advancing to the Atlantic 10 Championship in Philadelphia. They will travel to George Washington on Sunday (Feb. 24) to face the Colonials in a nationally televised tilt. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. on CBS College Sports. From there the Bonnies will visit Fordham in Rose Hill Gymnasium The Rams picked up their 19th win tonight. The regular season finale and senior night will take place Mar. 3 at 1:00 p.m. when the Bonnies welcome La Salle to the Reilly Center.
GAME NOTES: The Brown and White shot a season high tying 53.8 percent from the floor in the second half. At No. 14 in the nation, Dayton was the highest ranked opponent to come to the Reilly Center since No. 6/7 West Virginia visited in 2010. It was the fourth time this season that Bonnies have out-shot their opponent and lost. The 50 rebounds by Dayton are tied for the most the Bonnies have allowed to an opponent this season. The Bonnies blocked a season-high nine shots.
