Full Game Notes

GAME DAY CENTRAL

Date: Nov. 19, 2009
Tip-off: Noon
Site: St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
Arena: Reilly Center
WEB RADIO: www.GoBonnies.com
Talent: Shannon Shepherd and Kevin Clark
LIVE STATS: www.GoBonnies.com
LAST MEETING: December 17, 2008
St. Bonaventure 64, Niagara 43
SERIES: St. Bonaventure leads 30-22
UP NEXT: at Lafayette
Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Kirby Sports Center

AT A GLANCE
Today is “Youth Day” in the Reilly Center as the Bonnies battle Big 4 rival Niagara. The Bonnies are in the midst of a five-game schedule in 10 days. On Tuesday, the Brown and White cruised past Canisius, 65-47. On the road, St. Bonaventure opened with a victory against Binghamton then shut down Akron 67-37 in the Reilly Center. The team has a short four day break before heading to Lafayette before Thanksgiving.

SERIES HISTORY
The oldest rivalry in St. Bonaventure's history, the two teams will meet for the 61st time on Thursday. St. Bonaventure leads 30-22. The Bonnies put together their first winning streak in the series after beating the Purple Eagles in 2007 and 2008. It is the second winning-streak since the Bonnies won back-to-back games during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. The home team has won the last seven meetings in the series.

Bonnies In NOVEMBER
St. Bonaventure is 24-7 under head coach Jim Crowley in November.With six games in the first month of the season, the Bonnies look to beat the program record of five wins in November. Below is a look at how the current Bonnies have fared in the first month of the season.

In Our DEFENSE
The Bonnies have held their three opponents to under 50 points and to 31 percent shooting. Only two players have scored double-digits against the Brown and White, while Akron did not have any players score more than six points. Akron only scored 37 points marking the second time in as many seasons that an opponent was held under 40. Last season, the Bonnies shut down Yale, allowing only 35 points to be scored. The Brown and White have forced their opponents into 56 turnovers in three games.

No TRAIL Mix
The Bonnies have only trailed for 2 minutes and nine seconds in 120 minutes of play and the trail was only by two points. Canisius was able to score the opening basket to lead, but senior Andrea Doneth opened the scoring and that would be the closest the Griffs came to the lead. Akron was within two points, 3:00 into the Bonnies home opener, but the Bonnies would not let the Zips come within seven points of their lead through the game.

Seeing DOUBLE
Senior Dana Mitchell now has 93 double-figure scoring games through her career, sitting at third on the all-time list. With two more, she would move into second on the all-time list and could surpass the top spot with four more games of double-figures, beating out Hilary Waltman who has 98. The record has stood for almost 10 years.

HELPING OUT where she can
Senior Andrea Doneth is just 38 assists away from breaking into the top 10 of the all-time assists list. She currently has 225, leading the team with six so far this season. Beth Gromlowicz currently holds the 10th spot with 263 from 1989-92.

Give it a SECOND CHANCE
The team has exploded in their second halves, outscoring opponents 109-67. Senior Dana Mitchell put up six field goals and two from the line in the second stanza against Canisius (11/17). Sophomore Jessica Jenkins had a big second half against the Bearcats, knocking in three trifectas and a jumper for 11 points to lead the team in scoring at Binghamton. Freshman Chelsea Bowker putting up two three-pointers and two from the line in the second half against Akron.

G-FORCE
Dana Mitchell scored her 1,500th career point in a 65-47 win at Canisius on November 17. Mitchell became the fifth player in program history to reach the milestone. Mitchell is now only 62 points away from moving into the fourth spot and 95 from third on the all-time scoring list in the program record books. Even with two consecutive seasons of scoring 500+ points, the Fairless Hills, Pa., still trails the top spot held by Hilary Waltman by 643 points.

SUPER Seniors
When seniors Andrea Doneth and Dana Mitchell joined the team in 2006-07, the Bonnies had not had a winning season in eight years. In their rookie season, St. Bonaventure went 16-15 to break the trends of years past. Now, three seasons later, the Bonnies have 57 triumphs, totaling more than the program's combined total from the last six years (2000-06).

Preseason Accolades
Senior Dana Mitchell was tabbed as a Preseason Atlantic 10 All-Conference first team member. Mitchell returns for her final season in the Brown and White following a junior campaign in which she garnered All-Conference second team accolades for the second consecutive year. She averaged 15.5 points to rank second in the conference and pulling down 5.6 rebounds per contest. The Fairless Hills, Pa., native also shot 50.3 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free throw line to rank seventh and fourth, respectively, in the conference.

Can't Wait to get on the Road again...
The Bonnies only travel to six non-conference games this season, but will travel more than 4,000 miles and spend almost six combined days traveling. St. Bonaventure hopes to continue its out-of-conference road success in the 2009-10 season following a 6-3 non-conference road record last season. The Bonnies have already been successful in two road games, winning at in-state rivals Binghamton and Canisius.

Familiar Faces
The Bonnies face 24 of the same opponents as last year including 10 non-conference foes. St. Bonaventure went 18-8 against these opponense, going 8-2 in non-conference play, falling to only Bowling Green and later-ranked Marist. The Brown and White added a victory against Temple for the first time in seven years and beat eventual A-10 tournament Champion Charlotte to close out the regular season schedule. St. Bonaventure also upset ranked-Michigan State at the Reilly Center to earn its first votes in the Associate Press (AP) Top 25 Poll.

Rewriting History
St. Bonaventure made history in several different ways on its way to a record-setting 2008-09 season. First, the Brown and White beat nationally ranked Michigan State 63-52, on Bob Lanier Court. The Bonnies received their first postseason opportunity with a bid to the WNIT. St. Bonaventure then went on to defeat West Virginia in the first round and Wisconsin in the second. The 1997-98 squad is the only other team in program history to beat two BCS schools in the same season, when they beat Syracuse and Northwestern. Also, the win against WVU was the first postseason victory by any of the Big 4 women's basketball teams in the Division I era.