ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The Explorers are leaving New York with their second straight win after a tough back-and-forth game against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. La Salle goes to 5-10 overall this season and 2-2 in conference play.
 
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Right out of the gate both teams attempted to knock shots down from three-point range, and both succeeded. For La Salle, Jolene Armendariz and Molly Masciantonio connected from deep to keep things close early.
• Throughout the opening frame the offensives went back and forth on scoring drives, but Tiara Bolden made the impact shot at the end. The junior connected from three with 25 seconds remaining to give La Salle the 22-21 lead.
• More of the same for the Explorers to begin the second. On back-to-back possessions Makayla Miller hit from deep to put La Salle on top 28-21, forcing the Bonnies to call a timeout.
• Gabby Turco added one more three out of the timeout to put the lead up to ten, but then the Bonnies started to inch closer.
• Payton Fields and Tianna Johnson combined for nine points to get the La Salle lead down to six. From there free throws helped the Bonnies to a one-point deficit going into halftime.
•  Out of the break, the Bonnies got a quick lead at 35-34, but it did not last long thanks to a Tiara Bolden layup to get the Explorers back on top.
• A Turco steal led to points for La Salle when Miller took the ball up the court for the fast-break bucket.
• Hailey Chiles and Jolene Armendariz continued the Explorer offense for the remainder of the third combining for eight points. The Explorers led 50-43 by the end of the third.
• The fourth quarter started as fast as it finished, and the Bonnies made it clear they were not going away. With 7:39 remaining Isabellah Middleton's driving layup got St. Bonaventure in front 54-53 and it was followed by a Nadechka Laccen layup to bring the Bonnie lead to four.
• Laccen sunk another shot and kept the lead at four, the score was 61-57 with just under five to play.
• Back-to-back scoring possessions by the Explorers capped off by an Armendariz three-pointer brought La Salle back in front 62-61. Another Laccen layup put the Bonnies up again, but a Masciantonio three-pointer quieted the Bonnies crowd.
• Tianna Johnson got to the free throw line and sunk both shots to tie the game up again, but Masciantonio found Bolden who sunk the game-breaking three and the Explorers now were up 68-65.
• A handful of free throws later, La Salle finished on top 75-71.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The scoring charge for La Salle was aided by Makayla Miller's 19 points. Jolene Armendariz scored a season-high 15 points tonight and pulled in seven rebounds.
• Molly Masciantonio led the Explorers in assists with four and added to the team's 16 total.
• La Salle's win was helped tremendously from the team's effort on the offensive glass. The Explorers pulled in 16 total offensive rebounds, doubling the amount of the Bonnies.
• Tonight marked a season-high in points scored for La Salle at 75, three players on the night had double-digit points.
• With the win over the Bonnies, the Explorers secured their first winning streak of the season after losing eight straight games.

 
UP NEXT:

• La Salle will return to Philadelphia for a Saturday afternoon bout with the Massachusetts Minutewomen.
• The game will be the second leg of a double header with the La Salle men's basketball team and will tip off no earlier than 3:00 p.m.
• The game will be streamed on ESPN+.