ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Defensive breakdowns left the Bonnies on the wrong side of a 40-7 first half run on Saturday, and they couldn’t do enough to recover in an 83–74 loss to La Salle (11-9, 4-5).

St. Bonaventure came into the game with energy, getting off to a strong start. Senior Laycee Drake had six early points, and senior Aaliyah Parker, sophomore Mackenzie Pettinelli, and senior Gabby Robinson all connected on jump shots to take an early 15-7 lead.

But, things quickly unraveled.

They were careless with the ball, turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, and struggled to get stops. La Salle hit 20 of their first 33 shots. Despite typically not being a strong outside shooting team, they connected on seven of their first 12 threes.

Bonnies coach Jim Crowley felt the first half was a step back defensively.

“There were some loose balls and some offensive rebounds that allowed them to get some clean looks, and you could just see their confidence go up,” Crowley said. “It’s one thing if you’re struggling offensively, which we have at times, but your defense is there. This was a disappointing defensive performance.”

While the Bonnies’ offense stagnated, La Salle’s starting guard trio of junior Aryss Macktoon, sophomore Joan Quinn and junior Ashleigh Connor got hot from the outside and scored in transition.

By halftime, the Bonnies trailed 47-26. They put up a stronger effort offensively in the third, but continued to struggle to stop La Salle’s guards from getting open looks from three, falling behind 72-47.

In the fourth quarter, with the game seemingly decided, the Bonnies’ bench unit showed life. They went on an 11-0 run during the first four minutes of the quarter, reducing the lead to 15.

They played aggressively at the point of attack, forcing turnovers and missed shots. A jump shot from freshman Mallory Heise decreased the deficit to 11 points with two and a half minutes remaining, and a three from sophomore Olivia DiFranco reduced the lead to single digits with 43 seconds left.

Crowley suggested that his bench’s fourth quarter effort might lead to changes in lineups and minutes moving forward.

“They played with really good pace, they shared the basketball, they defended together,” Crowley said. “We kept them in because they earned it. Hopefully that sets up more depth and competition for us.”

In all, the Bonnies outscored La Salle 27-11 in the fourth quarter, but were in too big a hole to erase the deficit entirely.

Despite not playing the fourth quarter, Drake led the Bonnies with 16 points. Heise had 11, while DiFranco and junior Brillana Boyd added 10. All three came off the bench, and contributed most of their production in the fourth quarter.

For La Salle, Macktoon had 23 points and eight rebounds, Connor had 21 and Quinn had 16.

The Bonnies will play next at Dayton on Wednesday at 7 p.m.