Dec. 20, 2008

Final Stats

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Despite a game-high 19 points from junior Dana Mitchell, the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team dropped a tough 48-45 decision to Marist at the McCann Field House on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Foxes used a strong defensive effort to limit the Bonnies to just 45 points on 32 percent shooting from the field, both season-lows.

Marist improves to 9-1 with the win, its sixth in a row, while the Bonnies fall to 7-3.

Mitchell led the Bonnies with her 19 points, on the strength of 9-for-12 shooting from the field. Erica Schiefen had her second straight solid game chipping in nine points, all on three-point field goals. Andrea Doneth had a solid effort for the Bonnies as well, tallying seven points while collecting a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.

A fast break lay-up by Julianne Viani put Marist up 6-5 with 14:22 remaining in the first half, as both teams were having trouble settling in and establishing any rhythm on the offensive end in the first few minutes of the game.

An old-fashion three-point play by Megan Van Tatenhove gave the Bonnies the lead, at 9-6, with 11:06 left in the first half.

A jumper by Andrea Doneth would extend the Bona lead up to 11-6. That would be the last St. Bonaventure field goal for the next eight-plus minutes, however, as the Bonnies could not find the range missing their next eight shots. Marist took full advantage of the Bona dry spell by going on a 13-1 run, capped off by a Erica Allenspach jumper to put the Red Foxes up 19-12 with 3:18 left in the first half.

Mitchell would finally end the St. Bonaventure field goal drought with a jumper at the 2:22 mark to pull the Bonnies within five.

Marist would then go on a quick 5-0 run and looked poised to take a double digit lead into half, but a fast break lay-up off a steal by Mitchell would bring the Brown and White within eight going into half.

A jumper by Mitchell and a three-pointer by Schiefen on back-to-back possessions would cut the Marist lead down to five in the opening minutes of the second half.

The Red Foxes would answer with back-to-back buckets of their own from Rachele Fitz to push the lead back up to seven, at 32-25.

The Brown and White would not go away, however, as a Doneth three-pointer would pull the Bonnies with four. After a Marist turnover, Mitchell would hit another jumper to bring St. Bonaventure within two, at 34-32, with 10:04 left in the game.

A pair of free-throws by Katelyn Murray, who was held to just four points for the game, and a lay-up by Mitchell tied the game up at 38-all with 6:36 to go.

Another Bona three-pointer by Schiefen would give St. Bonaventure its first lead since the 6:26 mark of the first half, at 41-40.

The Bonnies lead would get up to three points after a Cara Gustafson lay-up, but a Marist three-pointer by Viani would tie the game right back up at 43-43 with 2:38 remaining.

After a Fitz lay-in, Mitchell answered with a jumper for the Bonnies to tie the game up again, at 45-45.

Marist, however, would take the lead right back on a lay-in by Erica Allenspach, St. Bonaventure's next possession to try to tie the game back up for the third time in the last three minutes was a wild one. A three-point try by Murray was no good, but Doneth was in the right spot and collected the offensive board right on the baseline underneath the basket. As she twirled around to kick the ball back out to reset the offense, she was whistled for a traveling violation giving the ball back to Marist.

After an intentional foul by St. Bonaventure, Viani made the second of two free-throws to put Marist up three, 48-45, with eight seconds left in the game. St. Bonaventure's last gasp effort was no good as Doneth missed a jumper and Marist collected the rebound as time expired.

The Red Foxes were led by Viani, who scored 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field. The Bonnies defense did a great job of holding down Fitz, the fourth leading scorer in the country coming into today's game at 24.0 points per game, to just 12 points on the day.

The Brown and White return to action on Monday as they welcome Ivy League member Cornell to the Reilly Center for a 4 p.m. tip-off.