Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Canisius | Atlantic 10
Tonight's Matchup
St. Bonaventure enters tonight's 7 o'clock contest two games above .500 for the first time all year. The Bonnies sit at 5-3 overall and hosts a 2-4 Canisius club coming off a 59-35 home loss to Duquesne on Saturday. This will be the 43rd all-time meeting between the Little 3 rivals, with Canisius leading the all-time series, 22-20.
Last Time Out
The Bonnies overcame a near sold-out arena, 27.5 percent shooting and more turnovers than host Marist, but it was able to snap the Red Foxes' 12-game home-court winning streak with a gutty 45-40 win Saturday evening. The win snapped what was the 14th-longest home-court winning streak in the nation. The Red Foxes last home loss was to No. 16 Oklahoma on Dec. 9, 2009. The Bonnies also forced the nation's leaders in protecting the ball into 12 turnovers, including seven in the first half and four before the first media timeout. The Red Foxes – who have made five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, and six in seven years – came in averaging just 9.6 giveaways a game.
Numbers That Could Make A Difference
Canisius owns the NCAA Division I record for consecutive games with a made 3-pointer, a streak that is currently at 491 straight games dating back to Jan. 8, 1994 when it was 0-for-9 from long range. The Golden Griffs also boast one of the nation's best 3-point shooters in Micayla Drysdale, who is currently connecting from distance at a 46.2-percent clip, good for third in the MAAC and 32nd in the country.
On the other side of the ball, the Bonnies have had trouble all year defending the 3, currently allowing opposing teams to connect 39.6 percent of the time. That total is 12th in the Atlantic 10 – just .005 percent from being the worst in the conference – and 317th in the entire country (out of 333 teams).
Scouting Canisius
-- Canisius was picked to finish 7th (out of 10 schools) in the MAAC Preseason Poll
-- Micayla Drysdale is a Preseason All-MAAC Third Team selection, and two freshmen – Jamie Ruttle and Jen Lennox – have already won MAAC Rookie of the Week this year
-- 80.4 percent of the team's scoring has come from either freshmen or sophomores
-- Canisius coach Terry Zeh is a 1990 graduate of St. Bonaventure, and assistant coach Jacey Brooks spent the past three years as a St. Bonaventure assistant
-- Eight of the 12 players on the Griffs' roster hail from Ontario, Canada
St. Bonaventure - Canisius All-Time Series History
Overall: Canisius Leads, 22-20
At St. Bonaventure: St. Bonaventure Leads, 12-7
At Canisius: Canisius Leads, 13-7
At Neutral Site: Canisius Leads, 2-1
Most St. Bonaventure Points: 98
Most Canisius Points: 93
Fewest St. Bonaventure Points: 29
Fewest Canisius Points: 41
Largest St. Bonaventure Margin: 26
Largest Canisius Margin: 42
Since taking over the Canisius College women's basketball program on April 16, 2004, seventh-year head coach Terry Zeh has developed Canisius into one of the top programs in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The 2009 MAAC Coach of the Year, Zeh enters the season with a 104-81 record, ranking second in program history for victories and winning percentage (.562). Zeh needs three victories to set the program record, with Sister Maria Pares holding the record with 108 wins during her tenure.
Canisius became the first women's basketball program from Western New York to qualify for the NCAA Tournament when the Golden Griffins won the MAAC Championship in 2005, Zeh's first season as head coach.
Zeh is the only Canisius women's basketball coach to win 20 games in two seasons at the Division I level.
Zeh has led Canisius to its only two postseason appearances at the Division I level.
All-Time Against The Metro Atlantic
Heading into tonight's game, St. Bonaventure is 73-60 all-time against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foes. This will be St. Bonaventure's third and final MAAC opponent of the year, as earlier this year the Bonnies dispatched of Niagara, 68-47, and on Saturday evening trumped unanimous MAAC favorite Marist, 45-40. The Bonnies have played Niagara the most, owning a 36-26 series lead following their win over the Purple Eagles earlier this year. The only MAAC members St. Bonaventure has never faced are Saint Peter's, Loyola and Manhattan.
Jenkins MIA
After scoring in double figures four of the first five games, junior Jessica Jenkins has been held to single digits in each of the last three games. Against Marist, the 3-point specialist failed to connect from beyond the arc for the first time all year, snapping a streak that dated back to Feb. 6, 2010.
The Great Escape
The Bonnies committed 16 turnovers on Saturday evening against Marist, while the Red Foxes had just 12 giveaways. This marked the first time this year St. Bonaventure committed more turnovers than its opponent and won the game (1-3). The win against the Red Foxes also represented the first victory of the season for the Bonnies against a team with a winning record (1-2).
Trend Setters
St. Bonaventure turned the ball over just four times in its win against Lafayette, 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.
Among The Nation's Best
The Bonnies enter this week tied for 7th in the nation in free-throw shooting along with No. 1 Connecticut. The Brown and White are currently connecting at an 80-percent clip from the line. St. Bonaventure is also ranked inside in the top-50 nationally in turnovers per game (14.6/17th) and scoring defense (54.4/38th).
Consistently Inconsistent
Chelsea Bowker has either been great for the Bonnies this year, or not so much. In five games, the sophomore forward has been held to zero or single-digits points. However, in her other three 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 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 Saturday evening.
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.
Don't Foul Them
St. Bonaventure has three players shooting over 80 percent from the free-throw line. Megan Van Tatenhove leads the club, and is 40th in the nation, at 88.5 percent, followed by Armelia Horton at 85.2 percent and Jessica Jenkins at 81.5 percent. Jenkins was connecting at a 91.3-percent clip heading into the Marist game, but a 1-for-4 performance dropped her percentage significantly.
Deadly From Distance
Jessica Jenkins is rapidly moving up the St. Bonaventure career 3-point list. The junior currently sits in sixth place on the all-time list with 148 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.
Home Starting To Feel Like Home
In three home games prior to the matchup against Lafayette on Dec. 1, junior Megan Van Tatenhove had cracked double figures in points just once, averaging 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds. However, against the Leopards she scored a game-high-tying 19 points and grabbed four rebounds. In four road games this year, the Wisconsin native is averaging 18 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, including both of her double-doubles.
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 14.6 times per contest. However, the more symbolic stat from that statistic is that St. Bonaventure is 1-3 when it has more turnovers than its opponent, and 4-0 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 second on the team in distributing the basketball, issuing 1.8 assists per game.
A List Of Firsts
With St. Bonaventure's loss to St. John's on Nov. 29, a few "firsts" happened for the Bonnies:
-- Their first home loss of the season (now 3-1)
-- Their first game this year allowing an opponent to shoot higher than 42.5 percent
-- Their first game this season scoring 20 or fewer points in the second half
Looking For Another Sub-30
St. Bonaventure held Quinnipiac to 27.8 percent shooting in its win on Nov. 21. Three days later the Bonnies held Niagara to just 28.8 percent shooting, including a 20.8-percent clip in the second half. Against Marist on Saturday evening, the Bonnies held the Red Foxes to a season-low 28.6 percent. The 27.8 percent Quinnipiac shot 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.
Trying To Re-Ignite
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. Since then, she has played just 103 minutes in six games and has scored just seven points, going a combined 2-for-12 from the field in those contests.
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.
Trying To Stay Afloat
With the win over Marist on Saturday, St. Bonaventure's record is two games over .500 for the first time this year. The Bonnies have either been at, or below, .500 for the majority of the season. That record signifies 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.
You Gotta Know When To Hold 'Em; Know When To Fold 'Em
Despite turning the ball over only 14.6 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 14 assists while coughing up The Rock nine times, for a 1.56 ratio. Redshirt junior Armelia Horton has 22 dimes, compared with 20 giveaways, for a 1.10 ratio.
Next Up
The Bonnies travel to the University at Buffalo on Friday evening for a 7 o'clock tip against the Bulls. It will be the team's final meeting with a Big 4 member this year. It will also be the last game for 10 days until it takes to the floor again against Middle Tennessee State in San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 20.
