Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | UMass | A-10
St. Bona (14-7, 4-2 A-10) vs. UMass (6-15, 2-4)
Saturday, Jan. 29 | 1 p.m. | Reilly Center (5,480)
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure enters Saturday afternoon's game against Massachusetts looking to start an Atlantic 10 season at 5-2 for the second time in the last three years. The last time the Bonnies opened an A-10 docket at 5-2 they advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitational Tournament in 2008-09. Bonaventure is coming off a defensive-minded win Wednesday evening in snowy Philadelphia, 51-40, against Saint Joseph's. Those 40 points represent the third time this year the Brown and White has held an opponent to 40 points or fewer, a feat it achieved five times last season. The Bonnies will be looking for their first three-game winning streak since they won four straight from Dec. 1-Dec. 10. UMass enters having lost two straight and four of its last five. The Minutewomen own a 30-20 advantage in the series; however, Bona's has won each of the last two meetings. The Bonnies have played UMass more than any other school in the A-10, with Rhode Island and Saint Joseph's being the next closest, each with 45 meetings.
Last Time Out
Megan Van Tatenhove recorded game highs of 19 points and eight rebounds, Alaina Walker held Saint Joseph's leading scorer to a season low and the Bonnies clipped the Hawks (12-8, 2-4 A-10) Wednesday evening, 51-40.
Number Crunching
Both the Bonnies and Minutewomen enter Saturday's contest as two of the most proficient 3-point shooting teams not only in the A-10 but in the entire nation. UMass is the best 3-point shooting team in the conference as it connects at a 39.8-percent clip from beyond the arc, while the Bonnies are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league, connecting at a 38.1-percent rate. Those totals rank the Minutewomen as the 5th-best 3-point shooting team in the country and the Bonnies as the 8th-best 3-point shooting team in country. UMass's Cerie Mosgrove and Megan Zullo shoot 49 and 44.2 percent, respectively, from beyond the arc, ranking them as the second and 13th-best 3-point shooters in the nation.
Scouting Massachusetts
-- The Minutewomen statistically have the worst defense in the A-10 (70.5 points per game), while the Bonnies statistically have the best defense in the league (53.1 points per game)
-- UMass is 0-12 when it fails to score at least 70 points; the Bonnies have allowed just two teams all year to score 70 or more
-- The Minutewomen are 0-13 when they do not out-rebound their opponent
-- UMass has four players who average double-figure points (Watson, 13.6; Mosgrove, 13; Zullo, 11.7; Robinson, 11.4)
-- The Minutewomen were picked to finish 11th in the 14-team A-10 in preseason voting
-- Head coach Sharon Dawley is in her first season with the club, one of two new head coaches in the A-10 (Jeff Williams – La Salle)
St. Bonaventure vs. Massachusetts
Series Quick Facts
Overall: Massachusetts Leads, 30-20
At St. Bonaventure: St. Bonaventure Leads, 12-9
At Massachusetts: Massachusetts Leads, 17-6
At Neutral Site: Massachusetts Leads, 4-2
Most St. Bonaventure Points: 91 (Mar. 4, 1991: 91-64)
Most Massachusetts Points: 81 (Jan. 15, 1994: 81-68)
Fewest St. Bonaventure Points: 39 (Feb. 18, 1999: 59-39)
Fewest Massachusetts Points: 35 (Jan. 28, 2005: 49-35)
Largest St. Bonaventure Margin: 27 (twice: 2/4/93 & 3/4/91)
Largest Massachusetts Margin: 22 (Jan. 18, 2003: 70-48)
Sharon Dawley, the former women's basketball coach at the University of Vermont, has been named as the next head coach of the women's basketball program at the University of Massachusetts, Director of Athletics John McCutcheon announced on April 6, 2010. Dawley, who joins the Minutewomen after a highly successful tenure with the Catamounts that included two consecutive America East titles (2008-09 and 2009-10) and three straight postseason berths, will become the 10th head coach in program history.
In seven seasons at Vermont, Dawley posted a mark of 128-86 (.598) and holds a career record of 265-148 (.642) through 16 seasons as a head coach. She became the winningest coach in Vermont women's basketball history when the Catamounts upset No. 7-seed Wisconsin in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on March, 21, 2010, the program's first NCAA tournament victory.
Under Dawley's guidance this past season, Vermont earned an automatic NCAA berth as a No. 10 seed after successfully defending its America East Tournament title. The Catamounts defeated top-seeded and No. 21-ranked Hartford in the conference championship game, 55-50. UVM posted a record of 27-7 in 2009-10, the third-highest wins total for the program all-time and led the nation with 18 road victories.
We're Number One
St. Bonaventure is the only school in the nation that has decreased its loss total every single year since the 2004-05 season: 2004-05: 19; 2005-06: 18; 2006-07: 15; 2007-08: 12; 2008-09: 11; 2009-10: 10. Going back even further, the Bonnies have not increased their loss total since the 2002-03 campaign. In that year they lost 22 games, and the following year in 2003-04 finished with 19 losses, a total they tied the next season to start the streak.
Something About 19
In the second half of its win over Saint Joseph's on Wednesday evening, St. Bonaventure held the Hawks to just 19 points. That's now the third time through the first six A-10 games that the Bonnies have held an opponent to exactly 19 second-half points. The first time they turned that trick was against La Salle after they allowed the Explorers to score 35 in the first half – the most first-half points any team has scored against the Bonnies all year. Bonaventure then repeated that 19-point feat the following game opposite George Washington on Jan. 15 to help earn its first-ever win at the Smith Center (1-16).
She'll Leave You Wanting A Walker
Sophomore Alaina Walker often matches up with the opposition's best offensive player, and in the last two games she's been at her best. Against Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, Walker locked down on the Hawks' leading scorer, Michelle Baker, as she finished with a season-low-tying four points – and all four came while Walker was on the bench. Against Rhode Island last Saturday she clamped down on Megan Shoniker, who came in as the A-10's second-leading scorer at nearly 20 a game. While she scored 17 transition- and free-throw aided points, Walker held Shoniker to her fewest made field goals (three) in the last nine games and a season-low-tying one 3-pointer. The Pomona, N.Y., native has been filling her own stat column as well, as against the Hawks she finished with six points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists; against the Rams she finished with eight points, a game-high-tying eight rebounds, a career-high-tying five assists and a career-high four steals.
Seeing Double And Triple
Jessica Jenkins scored 13 points in St. Bonaventure's game at Saint Joseph's Wednesday night, and she has now been in double-figure points in nine of her last 10 games. After opening A-10 play with an 0-8 3-point shooting performance against Duquesne, Jenkins is 19-33 (57.6 percent) from beyond the arc in the last five games. Her 19 3's are good for the second most in conference play. Those long-range shots have also helped her rapidly move up the program's all-time 3-point list, where she currently sits in 4th with 189 made 3's, just nine shy of moving into sole possession of 3rd.
Van Tatenhove En Fuego
With her game-high 19 points against Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, junior Megan Van Tatenhove increased her A-10 points per game average to 18, currently tied for 5th best in the conference. After back-to-back single-digit point totals to close the non-league ledger, Van Tatenhove has been in double figures in all six A-10 games and she's led her team in scoring in four of those contests.
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 14.1 times per contest, good for 13th in the nation. However, the more symbolic figure from that statistic is that St. Bonaventure is 4-5 when it turns the ball over more times than its opponent, and 10-2 when it has fewer.
Mirror Image
After finishing in the top 10 in the nation in four different statistical categories last year, the Bonnies are looking at repeating those finishes in exactly the same categories again this year. St. Bonaventure is 12th in the nation in free throw shooting (76.7 percent), 8th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (38.1), 18th in the nation in scoring defense (53.1 points per game) and 12th in the nation in turnovers per game (14.1).
Leaders In The Clubhouse
With the season just more than two-thirds of the way over, St. Bonaventure is leading the A-10 in several statistical categories, including scoring defense (53.1), free throw percentage (76.7) and rebounding defense (31.1). The Bonnies are also ranked in the top three in three other statistical categories, including 3-point percentage (38.1/2nd), defensive rebound percentage (71.3/3rd) and 3-pointers made per game (6.7/3rd).
Next Up
St. Bonaventure will remain at home next Wednesday to complete its first back-to-back home contests of the A-10 season. The Dayton Flyers, currently tied with the Bonnies for fourth place in the A-10 at 4-2, visit the Reilly Center for a 7 p.m. tip.
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