ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure University women's basketball team capped off the regular season in exciting fashion with a 77-69 win over Fordham Saturday afternoon on Senior Day.
Laycee Drake scored a game-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field to go along with eight rebound and three assists. Aaliyah Parker poured in 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Brown and White. Also finishing in double figures was Mackenzie Pettinelli who registered a new career-high with 18 points on an efficient 6-for-8 shooting night.
The Rams were able to grab an early first quarter lead, 16-14, over the Bonnies.
The two sides traded scores through the first part of the second period before the Bonnies (16-14, 7-11 A-10) closed the first half on a 14-0 run to take a 10-point, 33-23, edge at the break.
The Bonnies kept the pressure on, scoring the first eight points of the second half to push their lead to 41-23 with 7:11 showing on the clock.
The Rams, however, were able to battle all the way back, cutting the deficit to four with 10 unanswered points to end the third quarter.
Drake and Pettinelli pushed the Bonnies lead back to double digits to kick off the fourth with an 8-0 spurt between the two players.
Tia Morgan pulled the Rams back within seven with just over three minutes to play on a four-point play after being fouled on a 3-pointer.
That would be as close at the Rams would get as Aaliyah Parker answered with four quick tallies to push the Bonnies back ahead by 11.
Drake was clutch at the line late for the Brown and White, making all eight of her attempts down the stretch to ice the game.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies finished the game shooting 54.5 percent (24-for-44) from the field and 50.0 percent (4-for-8) from beyond the arc.
- Bona's made use out of their attempts at the free throw line, making 25 out of 26 attempts.
- Laycee Drake and Aaliyah Parker each scored 20 or more points in the same game for the second time this season (Le Moyne, Dec. 6).
- The Brown and White dominated the glass, outrebounding the Rams, 35-23.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JIM CROWLEY
"We've responded all year and Wednesday was disappointing, but we responded today. I thought we had really good pace and tempo offensively and defensively we wanted to take away the basket. We wanted to keep them away from layups and keeping them off the free throw line. I think we executed our game plan really well today."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies are back in action at the Atlantic 10 Tournament March 4-8 at the Henrico Sports & Events Center in Henrico, Va. The Bonnies first opponent and game time will be announced Saturday evening.
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