ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Aaliyah Parker registered her first double-double as a Bonnie to help the St. Bonaventure University women's basketball team to a 66-61 win over Little Three rival Canisius Friday night at the Reilly Center.
Parker finished the contest with 20 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor. Laycee Drake chipped in 13 points for the Brown and White along with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Off the bench, Kylie Buckley scored a season-high 10 points and pulled in four rebounds in 25 minutes.
The Bonnies (4-0) led the Golden Griffins (0-4) 29-23 at the break Friday evening.
Canisius came out firing to begin the second half, making seven of its first eight shots to take a 40-38 lead at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter.
The Griffs held a 44-42 advantage with under two minutes to play in the third before Parker tied the game with a finish in the lane.
That would mark the last time the Bonnies trailed, as they closed the quarter on a 9-1 run to take a 51-45 lead into the final period.
Drake's jump shot to open the scoring in the fourth pushed the Bonaventure lead to eight, 53-45.
Canisius, however, battled back to tie the game at 58-58 following a Shariah Gailes layup with 2:08 remaining.
A few possessions later, Drake got into the lane and connected on a pull-up jumper to put the Bonnies back ahead by two.
After Canisius made one of two at the line, Parker was fouled and sent to the stripe for two with 45 seconds remaining. She converted both, giving the Bonnies a 62-59 edge.
Gailes cut the Bonnies' lead back to one with 19 seconds to play before Parker, Buckley, and Ivona Djikanovic each converted free throws for the Brown and White to ice the game.
Canisius grabbed the early lead Friday, jumping out to an 11-2 advantage midway through the first.
The Bonnies, however, used an 8-0 run over the final 2:12 of the quarter to take a 14-13 lead after one.
The two teams traded scores in the second quarter as the Bonnies were only able to pull ahead by as many as six.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies finished the night shooting 27-for-59 (45.8 percent) from the floor while Canisius shot 22-for-49 (44.9 percent) from the field.
- Ivona Djikanovic did a little bit of everything for the Brown and White Friday, tallying nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
- Kylie Buckley finished a team-best +20 in 25 minutes off the bench.
- Bona's won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Golden Griffins, 32-24.
- With the win, the Bonnies move to 4-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season. That team finished the year 31-4 overall, including a perfect 14-0 record in Atlantic 10 play before advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JIM CROWLEY
"We had resiliency and our plays down the stretch were big and got good contributions from Kylie and Elyse that helped us both in the second quarter and in the second half. Credit to Canisius. I thought they ran their stuff very well. They shot the ball really well. We got exposed on some things defensively that we have to clean up, but thankfully we were able to make some plays down the stretch when we needed them. They came at us for 40 minutes and I think that's a game that will help us in the long run."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies remain at home to host Buffalo Wednesday, Nov. 19. Tipoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. at the Reilly Center.
------
For the latest news on St. Bonaventure athletics, stay connected on social media. Follow the Bonnies on X @GoBonnies and get women's basketball updates @BonniesWBB. Keep up with the Bonnies on Facebook /GoBonnies and on Instagram @GoBonnies. Bonnies Women's Basketball can be found on Instagram @bonnies_wbb.
