OLEAN -- Doris Ortega has shown flashes of strength in the low post all year. The sophomore forward has always been solid, particularly with her control of the basketball and ability to pass and make good decisions.

On Wednesday, she kicked it up a notch, netting a career-high 20 points to steady the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team in a 68-61 win over Saint Joseph's in front of 1,012 at the Reilly Center.

Ortega was aggressive but measured in the low post and along the baseline, creating her own shot as seniors Jessica Jenkins and Megan Van Tatenhove struggled to find any offensive rhythm.

"She's our best passer and very good with the basketball," Bona coach Jim Crowley said. "She's been able all season to get into the paint but hasn't always finished. She's worked hard to get better at finishing those shots and she did that [Wednesday]."

The Bonnies are no secret in the Atlantic 10. The team is now 19-2 overall and at 6-0 it sits in first place in the conference. In the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll Bona notched 42 points, just five behind No. 25 North Carolina. It's the most national recognition the Bonnies have received and the success caused a bit of tightness in the players at the beginning of the game.

Bona was a bit flat and tentative on both ends of the floor to start the game. Its defense was lacking while Saint Joseph's utilized some good offensive weapons to shoot 48.3 percent (14 of 29) in the opening half. Bona held a 32-31 lead at the break but the Hawks (13-6, 3-2) played steady in the second half and led by seven, 45-38, with about seven minutes left.

That's when the Bonnies began to combine stops with aggressive scores on the opposite end.

"At times we lost our focus and got tight with things but the last 10 minutes or so I was really pleased with our defense," Crowley said. "We stopped letting them get easy scores and did a great job on the boards, which allowed us to play with more tempo and put pressure on them."

And nobody put more pressure on the Hawks' defense than Ortega. She went 6 of 9 from the floor and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line, not only leading her team in scoring but energizing her teammates.

"Through practices all season [the coaching staff] has reminded me that I'm very good off the bounce and I'm a player that causes mismatches with other positions," Ortega said. "That was important seeing Jess and Meg not into and struggling a bit on offense. I've been working on finishing in the paint and got confidence when I hit that first one. I got it again and hit the second one and it got me going.

"A lot of teams aren't going to leave Jess and Meg whether they're having a great game or a bad game. It helps me out and gives some one-on-one coverage. I've been working on finding different ways to go up strong and it was working."

Jenkins finished with just six points and Van Tatenhove with 10.

That pleased Saint Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin, but shutting down two of the Bonnies just isn't enough to beat them these days.

"The difference was Ortega," Griffin said. "She was taking advantage of some of our mismatches and coming up big. That's why this Bonnies team is so successful. They had different kids come up big on different nights. We were ready for her but I didn't think we were smart in guarding her."

The Bonnies travel to Philadelphia to play at La Salle on Saturday.