St. Bonaventure (1-0) @ Canisius(0-0)
Monday Nov. 14 | 7 p.m. | Koessler Athletic Center (2,196)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Canisius
Opening Tip Items
Fresh off a victory over No. 25/RV St. John's on Saturday, 64-58, St. Bonaventure has a quick turnaround as it faces Little Three rival Canisius Monday night.
St. Bonaventure defeated Canisius last year, 74-41, representing the largest margin of victory for the Bonnies in series history. The Griffs did not place a single player in double-figure scoring, and the Brown and White held Canisius to below 30-percent shooting from the field – something it did to an opponent five times last year.
The Griffs hold a 22-21 all-time series advantage; however, the Bonnies have won five straight and 11 of the last 13 meetings. Furthermore, Bona's has not lost at the Koessler Center since Nov. 20, 1999, a string of three consecutive wins on the Griffs home court.
Bonaventure will be looking to continue its Big 4 dominance of the Griffs, Niagara and Buffalo. With its win over UB last December, Bonaventure has now swept each of its Big 4 rivals for the third consecutive year, and in the process claimed its 12th straight win over Big 4 schools. In 2007-08, Bona's 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.
The contest with Canisius will be the second of four straight rematches of games played last year to start the 2011-12 season for the Bonnies. In those four games, Bonaventure went 1-3 collectively against St. John's, Canisius, West Virginia and Morgan State. The Bonnies have already revenged their loss to St. John's last year, and will be looking to do the same in Morgantown to WVU on Friday and at the Reilly Center against Morgan State Sunday.
The win over St. John's was the program's first ever road victory against a nationally ranked team and just the third over a nationally ranked team in school history. The other two triumphs both came at home – against No. 14/13 George Washington, 63-60, on Feb. 16, 2008, and opposite No. 21/24 Michigan State, 63-52, on Dec. 7, 2008. The win over the Red Storm was also the program's first over a BCS opponent since it won at Wisconsin, 56-51, in the Third Round of the WNIT on March 26, 2009.
Senior Jessica Jenkins enters Monday's game just 30 points shy of becoming the 19th member of the 1,000 Point Club. Jenkins has twice scored 30+ points in a game, each coming last season. She tallied 31 points with the help of eight 3-pointers against Duquesne on Feb. 12 and then set a career high with a 33-point performance behind nine 3-pointers a couple weeks later against Charlotte on Feb. 26.
Scouting Canisius
~ Canisius averaged 53.5 points per game last year, which ranked 313 out of 333 Division I schools in that category
~ More than 28 percent of the Griffs total offensive output last season came on 3-pointers (an average of 15 points per game from long range)
~ The Griffs return three of their top five scorers; however, not one player on the roster last year averaged double-figure scoring
~ Sophomore Jamie Ruttle (8.9 ppg; 4.5 rpg) is the club's leading returning scorer and rebounder; named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team
~ Canisius was picked to finish 6th in the 10-team MAAC, and does not have a single senior on its roster
~ Head coach Terry Zeh is a 1990 St. Bonaventure graduate
Most Wins Ever
The 2011 women's basketball senior class of Amanda Johnson and Cara Gustafson graduated as the all-time winningest class in St. Bonaventure basketball history – either men's or women's – with their 85 victories from 2007-2011. However, current redshirt senior Armelia Horton surpassed that total with a win in the season opener against No. 25/RV St. John's and now is the all-time winningest player in St. Bona history, currently owning 86 wins. Tim Waterman, who played for the men's team from 1975-79, previously held the record with 81 wins.
Next Up
St. Bonaventure will head to Morgantown to battle the West Virginia Mountaineers in a showdown on Friday evening. Tipoff against the club's second BIG EAST opponent of the year is slated for 7 p.m.
