Game Notes: St. Bonaventure 
West Virginia | Atlantic 10

Tonight's Matchup
St. Bonaventure welcomes former Atlantic 10 Conference member West Virginia to the Reilly Center in its second-to-last non-conference game. The Mountaineers enter the game ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, making them the highest-ranked team the Bonnies have ever hosted in the Reilly Center. This will be the second of three games in six days for St. Bonaventure after playing just three games the previous 21 days, and it will be looking for just its fifth ever win over West Virginia. The two teams met 18 times from 1987-1995 while West Virginia was a member of the A-10, and the Mountaineers owned a 15-3 advantage during those matchups. The two have met just twice since then, once as part of the Florida Atlantic Holiday Classic in 2007 (WVU win, 64-37) and once in the opening round of the 2009 WNIT (SBU win, 68-63).

Last Time Out
Junior Jessica Jenkins scored 17 points to guide a trio of St. Bonaventure double-figure scorers, and the women's basketball team used a 13-0 run near the end of the first half to pull away and coast to a 62-54 win over Sacred Heart (7-5) Tuesday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn.

Difference Makers
Both teams pride themselves on their ability to keep the opposition from scoring, as WVU comes in holding opponents to just 46.7 points per game, while St. Bonaventure keeps its opponents to 51.7 per outing. In the most recent national statistics (released Dec. 20), both the Bonnies and Mountaineers were ranked in the top 20 in the nation in scoring defense.

Scouting West Virginia
-- West Virginia's 12-0 record is the best start to a season in program history
-- The Mountaineers return all five starters from a team which went 29-6 last year and was upset by San Diego State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament
-- WVU was picked to finish second in the Preseason BIG EAST Coaches' Poll, behind Connecticut
-- Seniors Liz Repella and Sarah Miles were both named to the Preseason BIG EAST Team
-- Miles, who was named the BIG EAST's Defensive Player of the Year last year, has not played since Nov. 26 with a knee injury and is out again today
-- WVU has held every opponent this year to under 60 points

St. Bonaventure vs. West Virginia Series Quick Facts
Overall: West Virginia Leads, 16-4
At St. Bonaventure: West Virginia Leads, 6-4
At West Virginia: West Virginia Leads, 9-0
At Neutral Site: West Virginia Leads, 1-0
Most St. Bonaventure Points: 95 (Jan. 16, 1993: 95-77)
Most West Virginia Points: 93 (Jan. 11, 1992: 93-51)
Fewest St. Bonaventure Points: 37 (Dec. 1, 2007: 64-37)
Fewest West Virginia Points: 54 (Mar. 1, 1988: 54-46)
Largest St. Bonaventure Margin: 18 (Jan. 16, 1993: 95-77)
Largest West Virginia Margin: 42 (Jan. 11, 1992: 93-51)

With a penchant for continuing to set new standards, Mike Carey enters his 10th season as head coach of the West Virginia University women's basketball team.

His achievements speak volumes: four 21-win seasons in six years (a school record); three consecutive postseason appearances (a school record); the second-best four-year span in school history amassing 82 wins (2005-08); 10 career victories over ranked opponents including the highest-ranked team in school history; the highest ranked road team in school history; victories over two eventual national runner-ups; the school's first-ever BIG EAST championship game appearance; consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (2007, 2008) and three trips in five years (2004, 2007, 2008).

In 2008-09, Carey engineered perhaps his best coaching performance as he guided the Mountaineers to an 18-15 record and a WNIT second round appearance with just eight healthy players. Along the way, the Mountaineers defeated eventual national runner-up and No. 5 Louisville, marking the program's highest-ranked road team ever defeated. WVU also defeated eventual WNIT champion USF at home.

All-Time Against The BIG EAST
St. Bonaventure hasn't had much success against the BIG EAST, as it enters tonight's game with a 9-50 mark all-time against member institutions. However, 34 of those 50 losses have come to Rutgers and West Virginia when they were members of the A-10, with Rutgers owning an 18-2 all-time advantage over the Bonnies. In its most recent meeting with a BIG EAST school, No. 17 St. John's defeated the Bonnies, 55-44, earlier this year in the Reilly Center.

December to Remember?
With a win tonight, St. Bonaventure would claim its seventh win in December, something it has never before done. With its current six wins this month, the Bonnies have now won six games in December for the fifth time in program history. Four of those times have come in the last five years, with the 2008-09 season being the only time since 2005-06 the Bonnies failed to win six games in December.

Helping Hands
In each of its last three games, and four of five overall, nine Bona players have logged double-figure minutes. The most notable addition to the rotation has been junior Jennie Ashton, who after playing just 43 total minutes in her first two seasons has already played 91 in 12 games this year. The Austin, Texas, native is coming off a career-high 19 minutes in the Bonnies' win at Sacred Heart on Tuesday, and has scored 11 points this year after netting just a combined 13 in her first two campaigns.

Offensive Outburst
Bonaventure heads into tonight's contest coming off its best offensive performance of the year against Sacred Heart. While the Bonnies scored just 62 points – their sixth-highest point total of the year – they shot a season-best 52.4 percent from the field and a season-best 66.7 percent from the 3-point line. All nine Bonnies who played scored, marking the first time all year that nine-plus players saw action and all scored in a game.

You Gotta Know When To Hold 'Em; Know When To Fold 'Em
Despite turning the ball over only 14.4 times a game, only one St. Bonaventure player has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Redshirt junior Armelia Horton currently has 37 dimes and 35 giveaways, for a 1.06 ratio. Freshman CeCe Dixon is close, as she has issued 18 assists while coughing up The Rock 18 times, for exactly a 1.00 ratio.

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-percent clip. Both Megan Van Tatenhove (87 percent) and Armelia Horton (86.7 percent) rank inside the top-30 free-throw shooters in the country. The Bonnies also rank in the top-15 in the nation in turnovers per game, currently giving the ball away just 14.3 times a game – good for 13th best in the nation. (Stats and rankings from most recent NCAA statistics).

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 14.4 times per contest. However, the more symbolic figure from that statistic is that St. Bonaventure is 3-4 when it has more turnovers than its opponent, and 6-0 when it has fewer.

Looking For Another Sub-30
Four times this year already 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.

A (Relative) Texas-Sized Homecoming
Austin native Jennie Ashton returned to her home state of Texas last week, and left with back-to-back career nights in front of family and friends. On Dec. 20 against Middle Tennessee State, she nearly doubled her career high in points as she finished with a career-best five in 10 minutes. The following night she again logged 10 minutes, marking the first time in her career she had played double-figure minutes in consecutive games.

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.

Van Tatenhove 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. She then followed that up by getting back into double-figure scoring with point totals of 21 and 12 against Middle Tennessee State and UTSA, respectively, in the UTSA Holiday Classic; good enough to place her on the All-Tournament Team.

Deadly From Distance
Jessica Jenkins is rapidly moving up the St. Bonaventure career 3-point list. The junior currently sits in fourth place on the all-time list with 163 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.

Career Houdini
So far this year, Chelsea Bowker has either had career nights for the Bonnies, or done her best Harry Houdini impression. In nine 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. Since then, she has totaled just seven combined points in the Bona's last three games.

Lovin' New England
With its win over Sacred Heart on Dec. 28, St. Bona has now won six consecutive games in New England, dating back to a 56-48 loss at the hands of Rhode Island on Jan. 19, 2008. Here's a quick glance at the last six trips SBU has made to N.E.:

Jan. 2, 2009 @ Bryant, 67-58
Jan. 4, 2009 @ Yale, 68-35
Dec. 2, 2009 @ Quinnipiac, 77-67
Feb. 2, 2010 @ Massachusetts, 69-54
Feb. 27, 2010 @ Rhode Island, 63-53
Dec. 28, 2010 @ Sacred Heart, 62-54

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.

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.

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. And then, for the third time this year, the club committed more turnovers than its opponent and won when it had 15 to Sacred Heart's 10 in a 62-54 win on Dec. 28.

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.

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 1.4 assists per game.

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 Sacred Heart, St. Bonaventure's record is five games over .500 for the first time this year. The Bonnies have won eight of 10 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
St. Bonaventure will wrap up its 15-game non-conference slate on Sunday afternoon when it returns to Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center for a 1:30 tip against Kent State.