BUFFALO, N.Y – The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team (5-5) defeated the Buffalo Bulls (1-8) in Buffalo Wednesday evening by a score of 64-55 behind 19 second half points from Ashley Zahn to pick up their fifth win this season.
The Bonnies came out of the game a bit slow, allowing the Bulls to jump out to a 5-0 advantage that would build to a 17-9 lead by the 11:39 mark. Buffalo took the largest lead they would hold all night, 20-11, with 9:03 remaining in the half. To that point, all 11 St. Bonaventure points had been scored by freshmen. Emily Michael, who made her second consecutive start, had three, Nyla Rueterand Hannah Little each had four.
St. Bonaventure began to make its run to get back in the game at this point. The Bonnies used a 10-3 run to close the half trailing by just one, 22-21.
At the break, the St. Bonaventure freshmen had accounted for 17 of the 21 points. Nyla Rueter led the way with six while Katie Healy and Hannah Little added four. Little also grabbed five boards. Emily Michael went 1-2 from three point range for her three while also grabbing four rebounds. Doris Ortega was the only upperclassmen to score. She contributed four.
UB freshman and leading scorer Rachael Gregory scored eight points to lead the game and grabbed five rebounds.
In the second half the Bonnies offense came out firing. They used an 8-2 run to jump ahead 29-24 with 17:48 to play following an Ortega jumper. Katie Healy extended that run to 10-2 with a jumper of her own.
The Bulls however would not sit idly by and watch the Bonnies run away with this one. With the Brown and White leading 35-30 with 12:56 to go, Buffalo commenced an 11-1 run to build a 41-36 lead 7:30 left in the regulation.
Ashley Zahn, who had been held scoreless to this point in the game, finished a jumper for her first points to tie the score at 43 with 6:19 left. She would get hot and score all of her game-high 19 over the final six minutes of the game. She hit three triples and went 8-8 from the line down the stretch to help the Bonnies seal the 64-55 victory.
Doris Ortega, who missed last game due to illness, returned to the starting lineup and scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds. Katie Healy and Nyla Rueter each added eight while Emily Michael added six in her second career start.
Ashley Zahn’s 19 were the second highest total in her career behind her 21-point performance against North Texas. Her eight made free throws on eight attempts were each career bests.
The Bonnies will be back on the road this weekend as they will head to Morgantown, W.V. to meet the West Virginia Mountaineers for the third time in as many years. Last season the Bonnies got the best of the Mountaineers down there.
GAME NOTES: The win marks the 17th consecutive win for the Bonnies against a Big Four opponent, the longest such streak of any team in Big Four history. It was also the ninth time in ten games that the Bonnies have had multiple players in double figures.
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