Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | UTSA | Atlantic 10
Tonight's Matchup
St. Bonaventure (7-4) enters tonight's first-ever meeting with UTSA (4-6) coming off last night's first-ever meeting with Middle Tennessee State. The Bonnies entered the MTSU game riding a four-game winning streak, and winners of six of their previous seven, but that was snapped at the hands of the Blue Raiders. UTSA faced Kansas State in the second game last night, looking to snap a four-game slide, and did exactly that as it easily dispatched of previous 8-1 Kansas State, 72-55. Tip is slated for 8 p.m. (Eastern).
Last Time Out
Megan Van Tatenhove scored a game-high 21 points, and Bonnies (7-4) led for most of the game but couldn't overcome a late push by Middle Tennessee State (8-3) Monday evening at the UTSA Holiday Classic in San Antonio, Texas, falling, 58-53.
Difference Makers?
Bonaventure has held six of its 10 opponents this year to 50 points or fewer, including a current streak of three straight. The Bonnies come into tonight's game statistically as the 21st hardest defense in the country, allowing opponents to score just 52.3 points a game. UTSA is 0-5 on the year when it scores fewer than 60 points. The Bonnies also come in holding opponents to 35.5 percent shooting, a total that puts them 54th in the nation. On the other side of the ball, the Roadrunners have shot above 40 percent from the field in each of their three wins. However, when they don't reach the 40-percent mark, they are 0-6 on the year.
Scouting UTSA
-- The Roadrunners sit at 4-6 on the year following a 74-41 loss to LSU last Thursday; however, two of those four wins are over non-Division 1 teams.
-- UTSA returns four starters from a team that went 16-14 last year, including a 10-6 record in Southland Conference action.
-- The Roadrunners were picked to win the West Division of the 12-team league
-- Senior Amber Gregg holds the school's all-time career 3-pointers made record with 170
-- Senior Alysse Davis, who stands just 6-foot-1, is 10th in the nation in blocked shots per game, averaging 3.1
-- Sophomore guard Jermini Malone is sixth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 3.55
A three-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year, Rae Rippetoe-Blair enters her 11th season at UTSA. During her 10 seasons at the helm, Rippetoe-Blair has established herself as one of the brightest minds in the Southland Conference. The Ardmore, Okla., native has guided the Roadrunners to a pair of NCAA appearances (2008 and 2009), back-to-back Southland Conference Tournament Championships (2008 and 2009), two Southland Regular Season Titles (2003 and 2009) and consecutive 20-win seasons (2008 and 2009), including a school-record 24 wins in 2009. She also received the 2009 Texas Association Basketball of Coaches (TABC) Coach of the Year plaque.
Since her hiring in 2000, she has transformed the Roadrunners into one of the top programs in the Southland. Rippetoe-Blair has led UTSA to 10 consecutive Southland Tournament appearances, including four trips to the conference finals (2003, '06, '08 and '09). During the 2004-05 season, she became the winningest basketball coach in UTSA history. She currently owns 176 wins, is the only women's coach with more than 150 career victories at UTSA and her .589 winning percentage is second-best in school annals. The Roadrunners have posted the most Southland wins (121) and the second-best winning percentage (.703) in the league since 2001. Her 121 league victories is tops among active conference coaches and ranks second all-time in the circuit.
All-Time Against The Southland Conference
This will be St. Bonaventure's first-ever meeting against a member of the Southland Conference.
Welcome Home
The Bonnies' participation in the UTSA Holiday Classic will serve as a homecoming for Austin native Jennie Ashton. The junior forward graduated in 2008 from McCallum High School, about an hour-and-15 minute drive northeast from San Antonio. Ashton has already played 52 minutes in nine games this year after logging just 43 combined minutes in her first two seasons. She also established a career high in rebounds against Canisius on Dec. 7 when she pulled down five in a 74-41 win.
Big 4 Dominance
With its win over Buffalo on Dec. 10, St. Bonaventure has now swept each of its Big 4 rivals for the third consecutive year, and in the process claimed their 12th straight win over Big 4 schools. In 2007-08, Bonaventure and Buffalo did not meet, but the Bonnies swept both Niagara and Canisius. The last Big 4 school to defeat the Bonnies was Niagara on Nov. 14, 2006, when the Purple Eagles downed the Bonnies in the Gallagher Center, 71-64.
Triple Threat Triathlete
Head coach Jim Crowley challenged sophomore Chelsea Bowker to get into better playing shape following the end of last year. So, the Salem, Ohio native did just that by training with a triathlete all summer. She's now starting to see the work pay off, as she's tied or broken her career high in points four times already this year, including five 3-pointers in the Bona win at Marist on Dec. 4, and then equally that career high at Buffalo on Dec. 10.
Among The Nation's Best
As a team, St. Bonaventure is the fourth-best free shooting club in the entire nation, currently connecting at an 80.4 percent clip. Both Megan Van Tatenhove and Armelia Horton are shooting 88.9 percent, ranking them as the 34th-best free throw shooters in the country.
Looking For Another Sub-30
Four times in the last seven games St. Bonaventure has held its opponent below 30-percent shooting. St. Bonaventure held Quinnipiac to 27.8 percent in its win on Nov. 21. Three days later, the Bonnies held Niagara to just 28.8 percent, including a 20.8-percent clip in the second half. Against Marist on Dec. 4, the Bonnies held the Red Foxes to a season-low 28.6 percent, and against Canisius on Dec. 7 they did the same thing as they held the Griffs to just 29.4 percent. The Bonnies held just one opponent below 30-percent shooting last season when they finished as the 9th-toughest scoring defense in the country at just 52.7 points per game.
National Trend Setters
St. Bonaventure turned the ball over just four times in its win against Lafayette on Dec. 1, setting the record for fewest turnovers by any team in the country so far this year. It also breaks a regular-season program record of six, set last year in a win over George Washington. The program record for turnovers is three, also set last year in the Bonnies' final game of the season in a loss to visiting Northwestern in the second round of the WNIT. Within the Atlantic 10 Conference, the four turnovers ties St. Bonaventure for the second fewest in the history of the league with Duquesne. Saint Joseph's and Temple share the record with just three giveaways.
Van Tatenhove Still Kinda En Fuego
Junior Megan Van Tatenhove had her streak of scoring in double figures snapped at five games on Dec. 10 at Buffalo, but the Wisconsin product found a way to make up for it in other ways. The team's leading scorer dished out five assists and got into the act defensively as she had six steals, establishing career highs in both categories along the way.
Deadly From Distance
Jessica Jenkins is rapidly moving up the St. Bonaventure career 3-point list. The junior currently sits in a tie for fifth place on the all-time list with 154 made 3's, and if she continues at the pace she has the last two seasons, will head into her senior year in sole possession of third place. With four 3-pointers tonight, she will surpass 1991 graduate Roni Hergenroeder and into sole possession of fourth on the all-time list.
Reignited?
Senior Cara Gustafson got her final campaign in the Brown and White off to a fast start as she scored 11 points in 27 minutes off a career-high-tying three 3-pointers 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 right ankle sprain. In the six games after, she played just 103 minutes and scored just seven points, going a combined 2-for-12 from the field in those contests. However, against Canisius on Dec. 7, the Nebraska native reignited and scored all 11 of her points in the first half as she logged 26 minutes of action.
Career Houdini
So far this year, Chelsea Bowker has either had career nights for the Bonnies, or done her best Harry Houdini impression. In six games, the sophomore forward has been held to zero or single-digits points. However, in her other four games she has had career outings. Bowker started this year with point totals of three, six and zero in the team's first three games, respectively. However, the Salem, Ohio native then exploded for a then-career-high 16 points against Quinnipiac on Nov. 21. But then she disappeared for the next two games, scoring one and six points, respectively. Bowker re-appeared on Dec. 1 opposite Lafayette when she tied her career high with 16 points. She then followed that performance up with a career-best 17 points against Marist on Dec. 4 before pulling another Houdini in her next outing on Dec. 7 versus Canisius when she finished with just two points. And then in the team's next game against Buffalo on Dec. 10 she eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the first time when she finished with a career-best 21 points.
Zahn All Nylon
After missing the first eight games of the year – and not even dressing for the first six – with a shoulder injury, freshman Ashley Zahn made her first appearance in the Brown and White late in the Bonnies' win over Canisius on Dec. 7. The Canandaigua, N.Y. product played five minutes and finished with eight points. With just three seconds remaining on the shot clock, Zahn hit nothing but net from the right wing for 3 in her first career field goal attempt. She then hit nothing but net on her subsequent 3-point attempt from the baseline, and nothing but net on two free throw attempts.
The Great Escapes
The Bonnies committed 16 turnovers on Dec. 4 against Marist, while the Red Foxes had just 12 giveaways. That marked the first time this year St. Bonaventure committed more turnovers than its opponent and won the game. The Bonnies then duplicated that feat against Canisius in their next outing when they finished with nine turnovers to the Griffs' eight, but still won the game handily.
Using Her 'Arm's
Redshirt junior Armelia Horton has broken career highs for assists twice this year already. The Harlem, N.Y. native came into this year with a high water mark of three assists in a game. She broke that mark with a five-assist effort in the Bonnies' win over Niagara on Nov. 24, and then exactly one week later broke that career high with a seven-dish performance in a win over Lafayette on Dec. 1.
Turnover Duplication
After finishing 2009-10 as the 7th-best ball-protecting team in the country with just 13.6 turnovers per game, the Bonnies are nearly equaling that total so far this year as they are giving the ball away just 14.3 times per contest. However, the more symbolic figure from that statistic is that St. Bonaventure is 2-3 when it has more turnovers than its opponent, and 5-0 when it has fewer.
Frosh Friends Making New Friends
Freshmen Doris Ortega and CeCe Dixon came to Bonaventure as a package deal from the same high school in Manhattan, and they're starting to let their presence be known on the court. In the Bonnies game against St. John's, Ortega played a career-high 27 minutes off the bench, while Dixon also came off the bench to log 28 minutes. The 55 minutes is the most combined game action the two have seen yet this year, breaking previous highs of 46 in the season opener against Binghamton and 52 at Morgan State. Dixon is doing her best to make friends of her new teammates as well, as the 5-foot-3 guard currently is third on the team in distributing the basketball, issuing 1.7 assists per game.
You Gotta Know When To Hold 'Em; Know When To Fold 'Em
Despite turning the ball over only 14.3 times a game, only two St. Bonaventure players who have played at least 20 minutes per contest have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Freshman CeCe Dixon has issued 17 assists while coughing up The Rock 13 times, for a 1.31 ratio. Redshirt junior Armelia Horton has 26 dimes, compared with 22 giveaways, for a 1.18 ratio.
A List Of Firsts
With St. Bonaventure's loss to St. John's on Nov. 29, a few "firsts" of the year happened for the Bonnies:
-- Their first home loss
-- Their first game allowing an opponent to shoot higher than 42.5 percent
-- Their first game scoring 20 or fewer points in the second half
Don't Remember November
For the first time in four years, the Bonnies finished the month of November without a winning record. The last time Bonaventure failed to achieve that was during the 2006-07 season when it went 3-4 in November.
No Longer Treading Water
With the win over Buffalo on Dec. 10, St. Bonaventure's record is four games over .500 for the first time this year. The Bonnies have won four straight, and six of seven, to get away from a previously unheard of .500 record. When Bona was at, and below, .500 earlier this year, it was the first time that anyone on the 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 and had its record level at 13-13.
Next Up
After having a few days off for Christmas, the Bonnies will travel to Connecticut to face Sacred Heart on Dec. 28.
