ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure women's basketball team could not overcome a slow start as visiting Binghamton led wire-to-wire in 67-56 decision Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
Kyla Hayes posted a team-high 16 points while Ivona Djikanovic and Ella Trinkaus recorded 12 points apiece.
A disastrous first quarter left the Bonnies fighting from behind.
The Bonnies (2-1) started out ice cold, watching over six minutes click away before sinking their first bucket of the game – a trey from Elyse MacDonough to snap an 8-0 run by Binghamton to open the game.
After MacDonough's three, Binghamton responded with the next 11 to extend its lead to 19-3 at the end of the first while the Bonnies opened 1-for-12 from the floor during the quarter.
Bonaventure came alive in the second, responding with a 15-3 run in less than four minutes to immediately claw back into the game. A Binghamton timeout stopped the run after Bona got back within four, and the Bearcats ran to another 8-0 sprint for a double-digit advantage again.
St. Bonaventure followed up a three-point first quarter with 23 in the second, however, to get within 35-26 at the break.
Unfortunately for the Bonnies, that momentum did not extend into the third.
The Bearcats (3-2), this year's preseason favorites in the America East, immediately took the air out of Bona's rally by extending the lead back to 13 right out of intermission.
From there, the Bonnies had trouble putting together a prolonged push as the Bearcats pulled away.
Bella Pucci powered the Bearcats with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Kendall Bennett added 14 points.
GAME NOTES
- Binghamton shot 47 percent from the floor, but just 3-of-15 from distance, while the Bonnies struggled to a 35 percent clip overall. The Bearcats owned a 33-28 advantage on the boards.
- Djikanovic was one point off her career high of 13 set last year vs. Albany.
- Trinkaus recorded a team-high six rebounds for SBU.
- Hayes tied her career-high in scoring first set in Wednesday's win vs. Mercyhurst.
- The Bonnies played without senior forward Brillana Boyd who missed the game due to illness. Boyd scored a career-high 16 points in Wednesday's win over Mercyhurst, eclipsing her previous best of 15 scored last year at Binghamton.
- Saturday marked a family reunion of sorts of Elyse MacDonough – her older sister, Emma, is in her third season on staff at Binghamton as an assistant coach.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JIM CROWLEY
"Credit to Binghamton. They came in here with an experienced and aggressive attitude and came right at us. We just couldn't make enough plays in a row to make a big run. There's a lot we can learn from. I love our passion but we have to control it the right way. This is a game that can really help us down the stretch, we just didn't come out on the right side of it today."
"The difference in experience showed. They have a lot of three, four-year kids. We have a lot of kids who are in their first or second year. When you're older, you recognize no matter what the score is, it's one possession at a time. We got chasing a bit. We'd get enthused, then a little deflated after one bad possession. It's up to us to learn from that."
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure hits the road for the first time during the regular season, playing at Buffalo on Thursday night. Tip off is slated for 6 p.m.
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