Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | West Virginia

For the third time in six days, the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team will take to the court as it looks to defeat its second BIG EAST opponent of the year in a contest against West Virginia Friday evening.

The Bonnies will be searching for their first win in Morgantown as they are winless in their previous nine trips – all coming when both teams were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Mountaineers have been nearly impossible to beat at home in non-conference contests under head coach Mike Carey as WVU has posted a 61-3 mark, including a 69-37 triumph over Youngstown State in its season opener last Friday.

The Mountaineers won last year's meeting, 62-53, at the Reilly Center when they were ranked No. 6/7 in the nation. After holding WVU to just 15 first-half points on 18.2-percent shooting (4-22), the Mountaineers shot a blistering 66.7 percent (18-27) in the second half en route to scoring 47 points – the most second-half points the Bonnies allowed all year.

Senior Jessica Jenkins enters Friday's game needing just 16 points to become the 19th member of the 1,000 Point Club. Jenkins has scored 16 or more points in a game 21 times in her career, and 20 of those occasions have come in the last two years.

With 10+ points, Jenkins would move into a tie for 15th on the career double-figure point games list, having accomplished that feat 48 times. Also, classmate Megan Van Tatenhove needs just six points to move into sole possession of 14th place on the school's all-time scoring list, and 18 points to move into solo 13th.

Bonaventure defeated No. 25/RV St. John's on Saturday, 64-58, overcoming a 10-point road deficit with eight minutes remaining. With a victory against WVU, Bona's would earn a win over two BIG EAST schools in the same year for the first time in program history. The Brown and White will face one more BIG EAST foe in its non-conference slate as they battle Villanova on Dec. 29.

So far this year the Bonnies have proved that height is just a number, as they have out-rebounded both St. John's and Canisius despite having a lack of size. Bona has just two players who stand 6-foot or taller. St. John's has eight players 6-foot or taller, and the Bonnies held a 30-27 rebounding advantage. Canisius has four players 6-foot or taller, and Bona controlled the boards, 33-29, in its 74-58 win Monday night.

The contest with WVU will be the third of four straight rematches of games played last year to start the 2011-12 season for the Bonnies. In those four games last year, 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 Friday and at the Reilly Center against Morgan State Sunday.

Scouting West Virginia
~ After starting last year 16-0, WVU closed the year at 24-10 after losing at Baylor in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament
~ The Mountaineers were picked 9th in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll as they boast just one senior, Natalie Burton, on the roster
~ Taylor Palmer scored a career-high 33 points on eight 3-pointers in WVU's season-opening win over Youngstown State last Friday
~ In the ESPN/USA Today national poll last week, West Virginia was Receiving Votes; however it is not this week despite winning its opener
~ Head coach Mike Carey is eight wins shy of 500 for his career

Road Warriors
Already 2-0 on the road this year, the Bonnies will be looking to extend that mark to 3-0 against the Mountaineers. Bonaventure has had a winning road record in each of the last four seasons. The only other year beside the last four that happened was when the 1991-92 club went 7-6 away from the Reilly Center. Over the last four years, Bona is an impressive 36-25 on the road.

Three Times The Charity
St. Bonaventure boasts three of the best five free-throw shooters in A-10 history in terms of made free throws in a career. Hilary Waltman, who graduated in 1999, ranks second on the all-time conference list with 588, Sue Shay, '92, ranks third with 524 and Dana Mitchell, '10, ranks fifth with 474. By owning three of the top five free throw shooters in a respective conference, Bonaventure is the only school in Division I history which holds that honor.

Something About 58
The Bona women have held each of their first two opponents – St. John's and Canisius – to 58 points. The Bona men held their only opponent of the year, Cornell, to 58 points in a win last Friday. Additionally, the Bona men face Cleveland State Friday night, and the Vikings held Vanderbilt to 58 points in their upset of the 7th-ranked Commodores Sunday. Finally, to complete the '58' theme, St. Bonaventure University was founded in 1858.

Next Up
St. Bonaventure – for the second week in a row – will have just one day off in-between games as the Bonnies open their home schedule against Morgan State on Sunday at 1 p.m. from the Reilly Center.