ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure University women's basketball team battled to the final buzzer but fell to UAlbany, 62-53, Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
Aaliyah Parker scored a game-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds. Ivona Djikanovic chipped in a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting for the Brown and White.
The Great Danes (4-2) grabbed an early six-point lead in the first quarter, but Parkers jumper cut the lead to four, 11-7, after the first period.
UAlbany's lead grew to as many as 16 in the second quarter, taking a 29-13 advantage with 2:01 left in the half.
The Bonnies (5-1) looked to take momentum into halftime with a quick 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 12, but UAlbany's Anais Levasseuer banked home a 3-pointer as the first half clock expired, pushing the visitor's lead to 32-17 at the break.
Bona's tried chipping away at the deficit, but UAlbany responded time and time again to maintain its double-digit lead through the third.
Down 47-34 entering the final quarter, Djikanovic gave the Bonnies a spark with four straight points to open the fourth, cutting the deficit to single digits, 47-38.
Djikanovic cut the deficit to eight once again with 4:58 remaining in the contest, but that is as close as the Bonnies would get as UAlbany held on for the win.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies finished the game shooting 19-for-48 (39.6 percent) from the field while UAlbany shot 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) from the floor.
- Bona's committed just four turnovers in the second half, following 13 in the first half.
- The Brown and White were efficient at the free throw line, making 13 out of 14 attempts.
- Laycee Drake tallied nine points, two steals and a block in 27 minutes against her former team.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JIM CROWLEY
"Disappointed in the result. We knew UAlbany was a very good basketball team and was going to put pressure on us to perform at a consistent, high level. We started slowly on offense. The first half was just poor. Thirteen turnovers and we shot 23 percent and still we had a chance. I saw a lot of things in the second half that show what we are capable of."
COACH CROWLEY ON THE 1986-87 & 2015-16 TEAMS
"At one point there was 60 years of women's basketball around this weekend. For our current players and for the alumni to know how much they matter to us, how important women's basketball is, I think it's a microcosm of what our university is and the community that surrounds it."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies begin a stretch of seven straight games away from home, traveling to the CSU Invitational hosted by Cleveland State which begins when the Bonnies take on the Vikings Wednesday, Nov. 26. Tipoff is slated for 6:00 p.m.
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