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HAMILTON – It wasn't a career high for Mariah Jones, but it was close.

Jones banked 23 points in 23 minutes and Missy Repoli added 16 points but they couldn't prevent a 77-72 defeat to St. Bonaventure here Sunday afternoon.

The Raiders dropped their second in a row to start the season but showed definite signs of improvement over Friday's 14-point loss at Cornell.

"Mariah did a great job of taking her shots and not forcing things," Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. "She was able to knock down some threes and shoot from behind some screens a little bit. Mariah just had a solid effort for us."

Colgate was whistled for 30 personal fouls in Sunday's game, perhaps the first signs of emphasis by the officials this year to limit aggressive play on defense. The foul total was the highest by a Hays Fort-coached squad since she arrived in Hamilton to begin the 2011-12 campaign.

The previous high was 28 that first season at Cal State Northridge. Last year's high was 21 on two occasions.

St. Bonaventure (1-1) took advantage of those fouls by making 28-of-37 at the free-throw line to Colgate's 15-of-17. The 13-point spread in free throws more than offset Colgate's slight advantage in field goals and 3-pointers.

Aggressive Defense
The Raiders drew some of those fouls using a 1-3-1 zone trap, which forced 10 steals and led to 18 turnovers by the Bonnies. Colgate scored eight points off turnovers.

"St. Bonaventure runs a great offense in the half court, and we were just trying to take time off the clock so we wouldn't have to defend them in the half court so much," Hays Fort said. "We thought we had a little bit of an advantage if we could pressure their guards – and we were able to get some steals.

"Not quite enough, but we were able to turn them over a little bit."

There were two ties and three lead changes in the early going. Colgate held St. Bonaventure scoreless for more than three minutes to start the game but led just 2-0.

The Bonnies worked their way to their largest lead of the first half, 19-11, when Katie Healy made one of two free throws with 9:16 showing. Healy was St. Bonaventure's leading scorer with 21 points, thanks largely to her 11-of-13 success at the charity stripe.

Catherine Lewis and Jones hit consecutive threes and Colgate kept it close the remainder of the half. The Raiders drew within 29-28 when Lauryn Kobiela (pictured right) nailed a three with 2:42 showing, but St. Bonaventure held firm and led 34-30 at intermission.

The teams were an identical 12-of-28 from the field in the first half and Colgate had two more 3-pointers, but the Raiders were just 1-of-1 from the line to the Bonnies' 7-of-11.

Rally from 10 Down
The teams traded hoops for the first six minutes of the second half before St. Bonaventure hit six straight free throws for a 51-41 cushion with 12:14 left.

Jones answered with a pair of free throws and then Carole Harris and Kelly Reid connected on baskets to draw the Raiders within 51-47 with 9:35 showing. The Bonnies pushed it back to seven on a couple of occasions before first Reid and then Paige Kriftcher made two free throws apiece to tie things at 58-all with 7:13 to play.

That's when Nyla Rueter nailed the first of two 3-pointers over the next 2½ minutes to help the Bonnies regain a 70-63 edge with 4:34 to play.

Colgate kept coming, however. Repoli made a free throw and then a jumper, followed by a Kobiela jumper that drew the Raiders within 73-70 with 1:38 left.

It was still three points with under a minute as Colgate played for one last defensive stop. The Raiders got the field goal miss but couldn't secure the rebound and St. Bonaventure was able to close out the game at the free-throw line.

Jones registered her second career 20-point game, trailing only the 25 she scored last season against New Hampshire. Her eight field goals made matched the total from that UNH game, and she added 4-of-8 on 3-pointers to Repoli's 3-of-5.

Harris finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 33 minutes to tie for overall game honors on the boards. Kobiela added six assists to just miss her career high of seven, and Jones had four.

For St. Bonaventure, in addition to Healy, Chelsea Bowker scored 18, Gabrielle Richmond 16 and Rueter 12.

Colgate finished with 14 assists to 16 turnovers, while St. Bonaventure was 9 to 18. The Bonnies claimed a 40-30 edge in rebounds and blocked three shots. The Raiders finished 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) from the field and 9-of-19 (47.4) from three, while the visitors shot 21-of-52 (40.4) and 7-of-18 (38.9).

Points in the paint went to St. Bonaventure by a 26-14 count, while Colgate held a 24-22 edge in bench points.

The Raiders play Saturday at Saint Francis of Pennsylvania in a 5 p.m. start.