BY WILL POLADIAN, SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
St. Bonaventure dropped to .500 as they fell to VCU 57-49 on Wednesday night.
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies (12-12, 4-9 A-10) and VCU Rams (13-8, 8-3 A-10) had a hard-fought battle up until the fourth where the Rams took the lead and never looked back.
The Bonnies defense was tenacious as they held the Rams to only 18.8% from the field in the first quarter. They held the Rams to only eight points in the opening quarter as the Bonnies led 13-8.
Defense continued its attack as the Bonnies were able to jump out double digits on the Rams as they took the lead into the break. St. Bonaventure was able to hold VCU scoreless for the final 7:06 of the second quarter as the Bonnies led 24-13.
Senior guards Asianae Johnson and Tori Harris combined for 18 of the Bonnies 24 first half points.
The momentum would drastically shift in the way of the Rams to start the third as they came out shooting over 50% from the field as the Bonnies fell cold with only 30% shooting.
The Rams inched to within one at the end of the third quarter on a sophomore guard Sarah Te-Biasu buzzer-beating three as the quarter closed 37-36.
On the first possession of the fourth quarter, junior forward Chloe Bloom hit a layup to give the Rams their first lead of the game.
She would end up with five points on the night.
Thirty seconds into the quarter, Johnson would end up with her fifth and disqualifying foul, leaving the Bonnies without their leading scorer for the remaining 9:30 of the game. This would end up being a deciding factor.
The Rams would increase their lead to 11 with just under four minutes left to go on a senior guard Janika Griffith-Wallace three.
She ended the contest with 10 points and three assists.
With 2:44 left, Harris drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Bonnies deficit to eight.
That would be the closest the Bonnies would get as the Rams would push back into a double-digit lead on a Te-Biasu jumper.
She led the Rams in scoring on the night with 15 points.
Harris grabbed her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards, which is a season high. Johnson would put up 12 points on the night. Sophomore guard Tianna Johnson would end the night with nine points and seven boards.
The Bonnies shot 34.5% from the floor while the Rams shot 33.3%. On the glass, St. Bonaventure outrebounded VCU 40-37.
Next up, the Rams will travel to Fairfax, VA to take on the George Mason Patriots on Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN+. The Bonnies will come back home to take on rival Duquesne on Sunday at 12 p.m. on ESPN+.
poladiwj20@bonaventure.edu
