ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - The Niagara women's basketball team fell at Big Four rival St. Bonaventure, 66-49, on Thursday from the Reilly Center.

“That’s a very good basketball team; defensively, they are so smart with their rotations and they did an unbelievable job,” Niagara head coach Kendra Faustin said.  “We got it to 11 a couple of times and Jess Jenkins and Dana Mitchell hit some big shots for them down the stretch.”

Niagara (0-3) battled back in the second half after putting itself in a deep hole in the first half. The Purple Eagles played tough defense and forced St. Bonaventure (4-0) to use up all of its time of the shot clock, but was consistently bailed out with made baskets on last-second shots.

Bonnies’ forward Megan Van Tatenhove scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the first half to lead both teams.  SBU built a 28-9 lead after 9:30 played and took a 40-23 lead into halftime. The Purple Eagles’ 23 points were the most points allowed by the Bonnies in the first half.

In the second half, NU turned up the defensive pressure, forcing 11 turnovers in the second half, and put together several runs. Liz Flooks (White Plains, N.Y.) nailed a step back 3-pointer to cap an 11-4 run which cut SBU’s lead to 51-40 with 9:54 left in regulation.

Flooks drained another 3-pointer with 4:38 remaining to cut the lead to 57-46, but Dana Mitchell would knock down consecutive jumpers to put the game out of reach.

“We were really tentative in the first half and we let the Bonnies dictate the tempo of the game,” Faustin said.  “In the second half we played even versus a very good team.”

NU’s 49 points and 43.5 field goal percentage were the most the Bonnies have allowed all season. Flooks finished the game with 15 points to lead the Purple Eagles, while Jennifer McNamee (Oxford, Ohio) added 13 from 5-for-8 shooting from the field.

Niagara hosts Eastern Michigan (2-0) on Sunday, Nov.  22 at 2 p.m.