St. Bonaventure’s Asianae Johnson goes up for a lay-in during Friday’s Atlantic 10 game against La Salle at the Reilly Center. Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Athletics

ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure University women’s basketball led for 36 minutes en route to a 65-60 victory over La Salle Friday afternoon at the Reilly Center.

Junior Asianae Johnson led the way for the Bonnies with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Olivia Brown added 14 points and was 4 for 7 from 3-point range. Also scoring in double figures for the Brown and White was Deja Francis with 11 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds.

The Bonnies (2-6, 1-4) seized control early by starting the game on a 22-4 run over the first 9:10.

Bona led the Explorers, 47-35, with 3:57 to play in the third after a Johnson free throw.

The Explorers, however, would not go away that easily, going on a 7-0 run to end the third quarter and cutting their deficit to three, 47-44.

In the fourth quarter, the Bonnies pushed their lead back to nine, 58-49, after Francis found I’yanna Lops open under the basket.

A Deja King layup and an Ashley Jacobs 3-pointer for La Salle quickly cut the Bona back to four, 58-54, with 1:17 remaining in the contest.

With the score reading 60-56 in favor of the Bonnies, Johnson made 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to give the Brown and White a five-point edge with under a minute to play.

St. Bonaventure used two free throws from Lops and Johnson to ice the game and go home with the 65-60 victory.

After Bona’s hot start, La Salle clawed itself back into the contest, pulling back within seven midway through the second, 26-19.

The Brown and White regrouped, taking 36-27 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Kayla Spruill led all scorers with 16 points and Claire Jacobs chipped in 11 points while grabbing nine rebounds.

The Bonnies are back in action Sunday at the Reilly Center when they host Saint Joseph’s. Tip is scheduled for noon.

NOTES: The Bonnies finished the afternoon shooting 44.2 percent (23 for 52) from the floor and held La Salle to 36.0 percent (18 for 50). … The Brown and White were plus-12 on the boards, outrebounding the Explorers 37-25. … St. Bonaventure’s 19 assists were a team-high for the season. The Bonnies previous high was 14 against Richmond and St. John’s. … Francis was 5 of 9 from the floor in 29 minutes off the bench. … Kaitlyn Parker played a career-high 13 minutes, scoring 2 points and grabbing a career-high four rebounds.

LA SALLE (60)

Kozicki 1-2 0-0 3, KHill 2-8 0-0 5, CJacobs 3-11 4-6 11, King 3-9 2-2 9, AJacobs 2-4 2-2 7, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Masciantonio 2-5 3-3 7, Adams 1-2 0-0 2, HHill 0-2 0-0 0, Spruill 4-5 6-6 16, Haynes 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 17-19 60.

ST. BONAVENTURE (65)

Lops 3-4 1-2 7, Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Johnson 4-7 7-9 15, Brown 5-9 0-0 14, Dziezgowski 2-8 0-0 6, Francis 5-9 0-0 11, Calabrese 1-5 2-2 4, Parker 1-2 0-0 2, President 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 23-52 10-13 65.

La Salle 8 19 17 16 — 60

St. Bonaventure 22 14 11 18 — 65

3-point goals–La Salle 7-27 (Kozicki 1-2, KHill 1-6, CJacobs 1-6, King 1-5, AJacobs 1-2, Masciantonio 0-1, HHill 0-2, Spruill 2-2, Haynes 0-1), St. Bonaventure 9-24 (Harris 0-1, Brown 4-7, Dziezgowski 2-7, Francis 1-3, President 2-6). Rebounds–La Salle 25 (CJacobs 9), St. Bonaventure 37 (Brown 5, Calabrese 5). Assists–La Salle 14 (KHill 5), St. Bonaventure 19 (Francis 6). Total Fouls–La Salle 14, St. Bonaventure 14.