Mitchell leads with 19
points
BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (PDF) | POSTGAME QUOTES | SEASON STATS (PDF)
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y.
– Senior Dana Mitchell led the St.
Bonaventure women's basketball team with 19 points in a Big 4
matchup, defeating Buffalo 78-57 on Wednesday night at the Reilly
Center.
St. Bonaventure improves to 9-0 the season, extending its longest
winning streak in program history. With the win against Buffalo,
the Bonnies swept the Big 4 for the second consecutive year. St.
Bonaventure is now the only team in the A-10 without a loss.
Once again Mitchell led the Bonnies
with 19 points going 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the
line. With her 98th double figure scoring game, Mitchell now shares
the top spot on the double figure scoring list with Hilary Waltman.
The record has stood since 1999.
Aiding the Bonnies' highest point
total since 2007 was sophomore Jessica Jenkins who
sank 5-of-9 from the field overall and 
4-of-6 from beyond the arc for 14 points. Redshirt sophomore
Armelia Horton added 11 points and pulled down a
team-high eight rebounds.
St. Bonaventure set season-highs for
both field goal percentage (52 percent) and three-point percentage
(69 percent) as eight of the nine players who registered a bucket
shot at least 50 percent from the floor.
“We shot the three really well
and we played aggressive and unselfish. I thought our defense was
somewhat better in the second half,” said head coach
Jim Crowley. “I give Buffalo credit, their
zone slowed us down and we were really passive against it in the
first half. They attacked our weaknesses and really took advantage
of some things. Overall we did what we needed to come up on the
positive side.”
The Bonnies continued to hold their
opponents to under 45 percent shooting as the Bulls shot 43 percent
(21-of-49) from the floor and only 23 percent from beyond the
arc.
The Brown and White had a hard time
finding their rhythm as the first half saw the lead change 10
times. At the 9:46 mark, a three-pointer by freshman
Chelsea Bowker sparked a 13-5 run. A traditional
three-point play and another bucket from Mitchell highlighted the
stretch to push the Bonnies lead to seven, the biggest lead of the
half, 27-20, with 2:51 left in the first.
After Buffalo climbed to within four,
a successful Jenkins' three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining
closed out the half at 34-29.
After allowing Buffalo to open on a
10-5 run to even the game at 39-all, St. Bonaventure rallied back
with a 20-6 tear giving the Bonnies a 17-point advantage, 62-45
with 6:52 remaining. In all seven Bonnies added points highlighted
by threes from Jenkins, Bowker and junior Cara
Gustafson.
St. Bonaventure led in double-digits
for the remainder of the half and took its largest lead of the game
(23) on a pair of free throws from freshman Alaina Walker with 1:27
remaining.
For the game, Buffalo outrebounded St.
Bonaventure 29-28, but the Bonnies led in all other categories.
Gustafson scored a season-high eight points with two coming from
the long range and passed out a season-high three assists.
Buffalo's Kourtney Brown led the
Bulls with 18 points, 16 of those came in the second half while
teammate Jessica Fortman added 16.
St. Bonaventure stays in the friendly
confines of the Reilly Center when it hosts perennial powerhouse
Bowling Green State University on Saturday. The Bonnies look to
avenge their 77-59 loss last season at the hands of the Falcons.
Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
