Score:  VCU 59, St. Bonaventure 50
Location: Richmond, Va. (Richmond Coliseum)
Records: VCU 23-8, St. Bonaventure 23-7

The Short Story: The number five-seeded VCU Rams faced off against the fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure Bonnies in the second quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon. Thanks to a hounding defense, the Rams held the Bonnies to 30 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers in a 59-50 win. The victory marks the first appearance in a conference tournament semi-final since 2011 as a member of the CAA.

OPENING TIP

• Junior Ashley Pegram sent home a game-high 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the floor.
• Senior Adaeze Alaeze collected six points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Along with her performance, she was able to surpass the 1,000-career points mark on her first basket of the game.
• Both Isis Thorpe and Keira Robinson finished with nine points. Robinson also passed around three assists, along with Ashlee Mitchell.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• VCU grabbed the first points of the game from Robinson with two free throws.
• After three straight buckets by the Bonnies, Pegram hit back-to-back shots to tie things up at 6-6.
• The Rams finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run, giving them a 13-6 advantage at the end of the first.
• Just 45 seconds into the second quarter, Jessica Ogunnorin hit a jumper to open up the Rams biggest lead to that point, 17-7.
• With 6:19 to go in the second quarter, Alaeze eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for her career with an and-one jumper off the glass, and finishing off the play by making the layup, putting the score at 22-13.
• Both teams went on scoring droughts through the back half of the second quarter, with each team getting just one basket apiece over a six-minute span.
• With the clock winding down less than 10 seconds, Thorpe hit a jumper to extend the Rams lead back to 11 points.
• After the score, Thorpe grabbed a steal right off the inbound pass, launched up a three at the buzzer. The ball cleared through the cylinder, and sent VCU into the locker room with a 14 point lead, 29-15.
• The Bonnies made it a point to come out hard in the second half, coming out to an 8-2 run, coming within eight points, 31-23 with 7:57 to play in the third.
• Something else about the third
• The Bonnies closed the lead early in the fourth, cutting it to five points with 7:50 to play after back-to-back three point plays.
• St. Bonaventure cut the lead to three points with 4:58 to play, after VCU fell into an 0-for-7 slump over a four minute span.
• The Rams brought the lead back to nine points on a 6-0 run with buckets from Pegram and Breelove with 1:43 to go while the Bonnies fell scoreless over a three-minute span.
• The Black & Gold sealed the deal late as the Bonnies began to foul with 1:27 to play. Despite a mediocre showing from the charity stripe, the Rams shut the door with their defense, only allowing two baskets over that final span.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• As a team, the Rams controlled the boards, snagging 48 rebounds while St. Bonaventure only had 38.
• Both teams committed 19 turnovers and put in 17 points off of those turnovers.
• VCU used their depth, scoring 22 bench points to the Bonnies two points in the same category.
• The Bonnies fell ice cold from behind the arc, only shooting 17 percent from distance, shooting at a 5-for-29 mark.

WHAT'S NEXT

• VCU tips-off tomorrow, March 5, for their Atlantic 10 Conference Championships Semi-Final matchup. They sqaure off against George Washington at 11 a.m.