Feb. 27, 2008

Final Stats

AMHERST, Mass. - Massachusetts broke open a tie game at the half with a dominating second half performance to snap the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team's three-game winning streak and pick up a 70-50 victory for the Minutewomen on Wednesday evening at the Mullins Center.

With their first loss in more than two weeks, the Bonnies drop to 18-10 (6-7) with one regular season game remaining at home against Xavier on Saturday afternoon. Massachusetts improved to 13-15 (5-8) with its second straight win.

Sophomore Andrea Doneth paced the Brown and White in scoring with a career-high 21 points thanks to an 8-for-12 effort from the field for her fourth straight double figure performance off the bench. Junior Erica Schiefen was the only other Bonnie in double digits with 13 tallies.

The Massachusetts defense caused problems for sophomore Dana Mitchell again as they limited the Atlantic 10's leading scorer to a season-low six points and 2-for-13 shooting from the floor. It was Mitchell's first contest below 10 points to break a 28-game double digit scoring streak since last season's eight-point effort against the Minutewomen in the Atlantic 10 Championship.

The Brown and White's 50 points on the offensive end were the club's fewest since a 48-point effort in a 62-48 loss to Richmond on February 6 and their fifth lowest offensive output this season. With 70 points, Massachusetts became just the fourth team in 2007-08 and second in Atlantic 10 action to reach or surpass the 70-point mark against St. Bonaventure.

Massachusetts converted a blistering 59.1 percent (26-44) from the field for the game, while Bona connected on just 19-of-59 shots for a 32.2 percent clip.

The Minutewomen doubled up the Bonnies in the second stanza by the count of 40-20 to take control of an even game at the half. The Brown and White managed just eight field goals in the final 20 minutes and converted just over 25 percent of their second half shots.

Senior Pam Rosanio tallied 16 of her game-high 22 points in the second session, including nine straight points during a 24-2 Massachusetts run to take a 56-36 lead midway through the second half. The Bonnies never came closer than 16 points down the stretch, but suffered through a seven-plus minute offensive dry spell during the game-changing Minutewomen offensive explosion.

Senior Kate Mills nearly put together a quadruple-double against the Bonnies with 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and eight blocks. Fellow classmate Alisha Tatham also reached double figures with 15 points to go along with 14 rebounds.

St. Bonaventure knocked down six first half three-pointers to withstand a sizzling shooting effort from the Minutewomen and enter intermission tied at 30 following the first 20 minutes of play.

Schiefen connected on a perfect 3-for-3 shots from behind the arc, while Doneth added a pair from downtown to help the Bonnies race back into the game after trailing by double digits early on.

Despite opening the contest with a wide open three-pointer from Schiefen 19 seconds into the game, the Bonnies failed to score for the next 4:59 span as the Minutewomen constructed a 17-5 advantage at the 13:27 mark.

Massachusetts converted 7-of-9 shots to start the game en route to tallying 11 straight points following the Bona triple and 17 of 19 to break open a double digit lead early in the contest. Tatham paced the Minutewomen with six early points thanks to a pair of mid-range jumpers and an offensive rebound that led to an easy lay up.

The Bonnies shot their way back into the game on the next three possessions with three straight trifectas from junior Katelyn Murray and Schiefen to slice the UMass lead to six points at 20-14 with 8:39 remaining in the half.

Led by the hot-shooting from Doneth over the next four-plus minute stretch, the Brown and White continued to trim away at the Massachusetts advantage and knotted the game for the first time at 26-26.

Doneth registered eight points during a 10-2 Bona run to turn around an early 12-point deficit. The second-year guard maintained her solid play off the bench with a pair of three pointers and two connections from the free throw line. Junior Ashley Edwards tied the contest with 3:17 before the halftime horn after draining a jumper for her first points of the evening.

St. Bonaventure returns to Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center for its regular season finale on Saturday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m. Seniors Megan Ellis, Maripier Malo and Iben Soltau will be honored before their final home contest.