Marist (4-3) @ St. Bonaventure (9-1)
Sunday, Dec. 18 | 12:00 PM | Reilly Center (5,480)
Game Notes: Marist | St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
Fans attending Sunday's doubleheader with the men's and women's basketball teams are asked to consider donating to the Wilson Family Assistance Program. Tatiana Wilson, a freshman women's basketball player, lost her home and all the family's possessions in a fire early Tuesday morning. More information can be found by clicking here.
Opening Tip Items
St. Bonaventure will be in search of its sixth straight win – and third in a row over Marist – Sunday afternoon against the 4-3 Red Foxes. Bonaventure's current five-game winning streak is the longest during the regular season since the 2009-10 team started its year 11-0.
Marist – which went 31-3 last year – and St. Bonaventure have each become two of the best mid-major programs in the nation. The Bonnies have advanced to the WNIT Second Round three straight years, and the Red Foxes have been to the NCAA Tournament six consecutive seasons.
The Bonnies could be without senior Megan Van Tatenhove for the second straight game as the Preseason First Team A-10 pick is still recovering from a head injury suffered last Saturday while diving for a loose ball against Buffalo.
In last year's meeting with the Red Foxes, the Bonnies overcame a near-sold out home opener at Marist for a gutty 45-40 victory. Following that win by SBU on Dec. 4, Marist went on a nation-best 27-game winning streak before seeing its season come to an end in a five-point loss at Duke in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Chelsea Bowker knocked down five 3-pointers in last year's meeting en route to a game-high 17 points. Armelia Horton netted 12 and Van Tatenhove finished with 10 as those three accounted for 87 percent of the Bona scoring on a night where Jessica Jenkins finished with just three points.
The Bonnies are in search of their 10th non-conference win of the season. With a victory against Marist, the Brown and White will extend its streak to six straight years of double-digit non-conference wins. The stretch is currently the longest in program history. The only other season aside from the previous five years that St. Bonaventure claimed double-digit non-league wins was 1992-93 when it won 11.
Senior Jessica Jenkins – one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation – has gradually diversified her scoring game since stepping foot on campus. As a freshman, 77.4 percent of Jenkins' 151 points came off 3-pointers. She lowered that percentage to 71.7 her sophomore year, decreased it even further to 69.2 her junior campaign and this season it's at an all-time low of 64.1 percent. What's more impressive is that Jenkins has increased her scoring average and 3-pointers made each season. She's just 33 3-pointers shy of breaking the school and Atlantic 10 Conference 3-point record of 291 in a career.
With their 63-49 win over Niagara on Friday night, the Bonnies moved to 9-1 on the season, their second-best start to a year in school history. The 2009-10 squad – which commenced its campaign at 11-0 – is the only club with a faster start than the 2011-12 Bonnies.
Scouting Marist
~ Marist has had eight days off since a dropping a 49-36 decision at Boston University on Dec. 10
~ The Red Foxes are 11-14 against Atlantic 10 Conference institutions all-time
~ Since head coach Brian Giorgis took over the program before the 2002-03 season, Marist is 128-49 (.723) on the road
~ Marist received 46 votes in the Preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll after finishing last season at No. 21 in the Coaches' Poll
~ For the fifth consecutive season, the Red Foxes were the unanimous choice to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
~ Senior Corielle Yarde leads the team in scoring at 14.6 per game
Next Up
St. Bonaventure hits the road when it travels to Hamilton, N.Y. to face Colgate University on Thursday, Dec. 22. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. from Cotterell Court as the Raiders and Bonnies meet for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
