ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Strong defense and a balanced scoring attack lifted the St. Bonaventure University women's basketball team to a 55-47 victory over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
Claire Cody led the Bonnies with 11 points while Payton Fields and Dani Haskell tallied 10 points each. Isabellah Middleton and Nadechka Laccen each added nine points while Kirah Dandridge chipped in six tallies.
Coming out of the break, Youngstown State was able to take a 31-29 lead following a basket from Lindsey Linard.
The Bonnies (3-7), however, used a 11-0 run capped off by a buzzer beater from Fields as the third quarter clock sounded, giving the Bonnies a 40-31 advantage. Cody made a pair of threes during the SBU run while Fields added another.
Laccen pushed the Bonnies lead to 11, 42-31, at the beginning of the fourth with a pull up jumper and the Bonnies never looked back from there.
A layup from YSU's Haley Thierry with 3:29 remaining cut the Penguins deficit to five, but that is all the closer they would get as Dani Haskell made a 3-pointer from the corner on the next possession to push the Bonnies lead back to eight, 51-43.
Middleton made a pair of free throws while Dandridge added a layup down the stretch to seal the home victory.
The Bonnies and Penguins (4-7) battled in a defensive first quarter that saw the teams tied 11-11 at the quarter horn.
Cody sparked a 7-0 Bonnies run to open the second quarter, giving the Bonnies a 20-13 lead.
The Penguins were quick to answer, halting the Bonnies run with a 3-pointer from Shay-Lee Kirby with 6:25 left in the first half.
YSU outscored the Bonnies, 8-3, over the final six minutes to pull within two at halftime, 23-21.
The Bonnies wrap up non-conference action Thursday, Dec. 21 on the road at Colgate. Tip is slated for 1:00 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies finished the contest shooting 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the field and held Youngstown State to 35.2 percent (19-for-54) from the floor.
- Bona's held 6-5 forward Emily Saunders scoreless Saturday afternoon. Entering the contest Saunders was averaging 12.8 points while shooting 66.3 percent from the floor.
- The Brown and White finished plus-eight in rebounding, grabbing 37 boards to YSU's 29.
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