St. Bonaventure Game Notes | St. John's Game Notes
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Tonight's Matchup
This will be the first ever meeting between St. John's and St. Bonaventure. The Red Storm head into tonight's contest at 5-1 overall and ranked No. 22/24 in the country. The Bonnies are currently riding a mini two-game win streak and sit at 3-2 overall.
Back Above Water
With Wednesday afternoon's win over Niagara, St. Bonaventure got its record back above .500 after being either at, or below, .500 for the majority of the season. That record signified the first time that any member of the current Bonnies' roster had ever been at, or below, .500. Prior to this year, the last time St. Bonaventure was at .500 was during the 2006-07 season when on Feb. 15, 2007 it left Saint Joseph's with a loss to level its record at 13-13.
Last Time Out
For the second time in as many games, St. Bonaventure got three double-figure scorers and used a 15-0 first-half run against Niagara to dispatch of their Little 3 rivals Wednesday afternoon at the Gallagher Center, 68-47.
Last Time Against the Big East
This will be St. Bonaventure's first meeting against a Big East school since its final game of the 2008-09 season. South Florida came to the Reilly Center for a quarterfinal WNIT matchup, and the Bonnies fell to the eventual champs, 80-66.
All-Time Against The Big East
St. Bonaventure hasn't had much success against the Big East, as it enters today's game with a 9-48 all-time record against member institutions. However, 33 of those losses have come to Rutgers and West Virginia when they were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Bonnies are 2-18 against Rutgers and 4-15 against West Virginia.
All-Time Series vs. St. John's
First Meeting
Head Coaching Matchup
Jim Crowley - St. Bonaventure
(175-201 overall, 136-164 @ school)
vs. St. John's: N/A
Kim Barnes Arico - St. John's
(135-114 overall, same @ school)
vs. St. Bonaventure: N/A
Scouting St. John's
- The Red Storm come into tonight's matchup ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll; they began the year ranked at No. 14/16
- St. John's returns four starters from a team that went 25-7 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament; it was selected to finish 5th in the Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll
- Junior Da'Shena Stevens and sophomore Shenneika Smith are both among the top 50 players in the country named to the Naismith Trophy Award's Preseason Watch List
- There have been five double-doubles recorded this year already by St. John's players: three by Stevens, one by Smith and another by Centhya Hart
- St. John's is out-rebounding its opponents by an average of 17 boards a game
Kim Barnes Arico is in her ninth year at the helm of the St. John's University women's basketball program. In what has become one of the remarkable turnarounds in the Big East and the nation, she has catapulted the Red Storm onto the national scene, returning the program to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly two decades and leading the squad to some of its most successful seasons in school history.
Highlighting her illustrious career was the 2009-10 campaign. Barnes Arico led the Red Storm to one of its most successful seasons in history, as St. John's made its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Second Round. St. John's posted 25 wins on the year, the most in 27 years. The Red Storm tripled its league victories from the previous season and tied the program mark with 12 BIG EAST wins.
Finishing tied for fourth in the conference, Barnes Arico guided the Red Storm to its biggest win in program history, a 76-71 victory over then-No. 4/3 Notre Dame, the first-ever program victory over a top five team. The Red Storm also earned rankings in both Top 25 polls for a record-breaking seven-consecutive weeks and tied the program record with a No. 15 ranking in the AP Poll and a No. 16 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
Home Bitter-Sweet Home
Junior Megan Van Tatenhove loves playing on the road … at least that's what her numbers indicate. In three road games, the forward is averaging 20.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. In the Reilly Center, she has yet to crack double figures in points and is averaging just 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in two games so far this year. However, the Bonnies are 2-0 in the RC.
Looking For Another Sub-30
St. Bonaventure held Niagara to just 28.8 percent shooting in its win on Wednesday afternoon, including a 20.8 percent clip in the second half. That is the lowest total shooting percentage from an opponent since Fordham shot 28.6 percent last year. Fordham was the lone opponent the Bonnies held under 30 percent from the field as they finished as the ninth-toughest scoring defense in the country last year at just 52.7 points per game.
Bonnies Against Ranked Foes
St. Bonaventure will be looking for its third ever win over a nationally ranked opponent. The Bonnies first victory came on Feb. 16, 2008 when it jumped out to a 44-24 halftime lead and held on for a 63-60 win over No. 14/13 George Washington. The following season the Bonnies defeated No. 21/24 Michigan State, 63-52, on Dec. 7, 2008.
Trying To Re-Ignite
Senior Cara Gustafson got her final campaign in Brown and White off to a fast start as she scored 11 points off a career-high-tying three 3-points in the season-opening win over Binghamton. However, after taking the final shot of regulation she landed awkwardly and missed the team's next game at Indiana with a sprained ankle. Since then, she has played just 47 minutes in three games and has not scored a point, going a combined 0-8 from the field in those contests.
November To Remember?
With a win today, the Bonnies would finish the month of November with a winning record for the fourth straight year. The last time Bona's failed to achieve that was during the 2006-07 season when it went 3-4 in November.
Picking Up Where They Left Off
It's still early, but after finishing last year in the top 10 in the country in four different statistical categories, St. Bonaventure is on a similar pace this season.
2009-10 Free-Throw %: 80.3
2010-11: 79.4
2009-10 Scoring Defense/Game: 52.7
2010-11: 55.4
2009-10 3-Point %: 38.5
2010-11: 33.3
2009-10 Fewest Turnovers/Game: 13.6
2010-11: 16.0
You Gotta Know When To Hold 'Em, Know When To Fold 'Em
Despite turning the ball over only 16 times a game, only one St. Bonaventure player who has played at least 20 minutes per contest has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Freshman CeCe Dixon has issued 11 assists while coughing up The Rock nine times, for a 1.22 ratio.
Three's Company
Freshmen CeCe Dixon and Doris Ortega join redshirt junior Armelia Horton this year, giving the Bonnies three products of Manhattan's Murry Bergtraum High School. In Ortega's four years at Bergtraum, the team posted a 102-3 record, and in Dixon's three years the team went 74-3 in the highest level of basketball in New York state. Bergtraum has been ranked in the top-20 in the USA Today national rankings each of the last six years years, and in Horton's junior year she led the club to a 28-0 record and No. 4 national ranking.
Movin' On Up
* St. Bonaventure's 10 losses in 2009-10 were the fewest since joining Division I in 1986-87.
* The Bonnies ranked in the top 10 in the nation in four different statistical categories last year:
5th: Free-Throw Percentage (80.3)
7th: 3-Point Percentage (38.5)
7th: Fewest Turnovers Per Game (13.6)
9th: Scoring Defense Per Game (52.7)
* The team has made back-to-back appearances in in the Women's National Invitational Tournament, winning at least one game each year.
Let's Talk Numbers
+ In 2009-10, St. Bonaventure held 14 opponents under 50 points, including five under 40
+ The Bonnies are just one of four A-10 teams to have four consecutive winning seasons
+ All 23 wins in 2009-10 came by double figures, including a program-record 11-0 start
– The Bonnies lost 34.8% of their offense from last year, including 25.6% just from Dana Mitchell
+ 34.5% of 11th-year head coach Jim Crowley's 133 wins have come in the last two years (46)
+ St. Bonaventure has decreased its loss total every year since the 2004-05 campaign:
2004-05: 19 | 2005-06: 18 | 2006-07: 15 | 2007-08: 12 | 2008-09: 11 | 2009-10: 10
^ Dana Mitchell became the first player in St. Bonaventure women's basketball history to have her jersey retired when it was raised to Reilly Center rafters at the end of last season
